Atlas O EMD GP15 diesel light road switcher

Atlas O’s new Trainman GP15 is a scale-detailed, dual-motored light road switcher that lists for $239.95, about $200 less than a Silver Series Atlas O diesel. The model also includes directional lighting and a DCC (Digital Command Control) socket and wiring harness.

Rebuilt road switchers. Introduced in 1976, the GP15-1 was part of a General Motors Electro-Motive Division rebuild program. The locomotives were available only with the trade-in of a GP7 or GP9, so that the trucks, traction motors, and main generators of those older engines could be recycled. The result was a 1,500-hp road switcher. Electro-Motive also built AC (GP15AC) and turbocharged (GP15T) versions.

The GP15’s low price gave railroads a cost-effective way to replace locomotives used in low-priority service, such as yard, local, or transfer work. Conrail had the largest fleet of GP15-1s, acquiring 100 in 1979. Many of these engines are still in service today.

Scale details. Our sample’s body came painted in Conrail Blue. The trucks, fuel tank, pilots, and snowplows are black, as on the prototype. All of the white printed lettering on the model is crisp and opaque. The locations of logos, lettering, and road numbers match photos of the prototype.

The model doesn’t have any warning stencils or builder’s plates, as found on Atlas O’s more expensive models. A modeler could add those details by applying decals from a Microscale O scale diesel data set. For our Conrail model, I’d use set 48-37 (white lettering).

Some of the paint and details don’t match the Conrail prototype. According to prototype photos, the step edges and handrails on the pilots should be white. Atlas O did correctly paint the uncoupling levers white.

Our sample had a bell mounted on the fireman’s side near the middle of the top edge of the long hood. Conrail GP15-1s had the bell mounted on the frame between the front truck and fuel tank on the fireman’s side. Atlas O placed the horn correctly on the front center of the cab roof.

This Trainman diesel has fewer separately applied details than more expensive Atlas O models. The GP15’s cab lacks crew figures and cab lighting. On both pilots, the m.u. lines are molded-in details. The windshield wipers are molded in but come neatly painted silver, so they look almost as good as those that are separately applied. The cab’s side window frames are also painted silver.

Our sample does have separately applied metal grab irons, safety chains, and uncoupling levers. The black walkways include safety tread. Standout detail features are the etched-metal radiator grills that allow you to see through the model just as on the prototype.

Atlas O may have sacrificed some detail on this model, but the company didn’t sacrifice scale fidelity. All of the GP15’s main dimensions matched prototype drawings published in the January 1990 Model Railroader.

Mechanism. Although we reviewed only the two-rail DC version, Atlas O also makes the GP15 in three-rail conventional and three-rail Lionel TrainMaster Command Control-equipped versions. Our sample follows long-standing National Model Railroad Association DC standards, so most of the instruction booklet is concerned with operating the three-rail version.

I removed the body shell by carefully disconnecting the cab handrails and unscrewing six body mounting screws. The mechanism is the same as on other Atlas O diesels. A can motor is mounted vertically over the kingpin of each truck. Each motor drives a worm gear that transfers the power to both axles of the truck through a set of spur gears.

Most of the model’s weight comes from its stamped-metal frame and die-cast metal fuel tank and trucks. Truck sideframes include separately applied brake cylinders and brake lines. There’s even a separately applied speedometer drive and cable mounted on the fireman’s side of the front axle of the lead truck.

Operation. Our sample started moving at 10 scale miles per hour, drawing 2.8 volts. The model’s top speed is 100 scale miles per hour, while a prototypical GP15 is geared for only 70 mph.

Although the GP15’s drawbar pull is less than average, it’s still enough to pull the equivalent of 42 free-rolling O scale cars on straight and level track. And that’s a pretty long train for EMD’s lightest road switcher.

The constant-intensity white headlights and the red marker lights are directional. When the engine moves forward, only the front headlight and rear markers light. The opposite occurs when the engine reverses direction.

The Trainman GP15 isn’t available in a DCC-equipped version, but a decoder can be installed. The model includes a removable secondary printed-circuit (PC) board, two plugs with color-coded wires that follow NMRA Recommended Practice 9.1.1, and a separate instruction sheet describing how to connect those plugs to the main PC board and a heavy-duty (6 amp) decoder.

It doesn’t have smoke or sound, but this Trainman GP15 is a great-looking O scale locomotive, and at a bargain price for the scale. Well done, Atlas.

O scale GP15 diesel

Price: $239.95

Manufacturer
Atlas O
378 Florence Ave
Hillside, N.J. 07205
www.atlasO.com
Description
Plastic and metal ready-to-run diesel locomotive
Road names
(2 numbers each)
GP15T: Chessie System
GP15-1: Conrail, Norfolk Southern, Union Pacific

O scale GP15 features

Digital Command Control wiring harness and decoder socket
Drawbar pull: 14 ounces
Eight-wheel drive and electrical pickup
Engine weight: 3 pounds, 9 ounces
Etched-metal grills
Fixed pilots
Kadee-compatible scale magnetic knuckle couplers (mounted at correct height)
Minimum radius: 36″
Nickel-silver RP-25 contour wheelsets (in gauge)
Separately applied wire grab irons
Twin can motors with flywheels