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Post by rails4dmv on Jun 3, 2016 12:45:35 GMT -5
Just got this announcement from Atlas. www.atlasrr.com/commuter/NJT/#.V1G6feQS7gwDidn't see this one coming, but man, what a surprise..... I'm hope this will be a continuing product line for Atlas & Metro North, MARC & SEPTA cars are in the works. If Atlas announces Comet cars down the road, Walthers has to be seething. MTH's R17 subway cars (and they hinted different subway cars are coming), updated Metroliners, the 8600 cars & Budd RDC's from Rapido & now this Atlas announcement. Man, it's a great time to be a commuter modeler! |
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Deandremouse
Member
Posts: 60 
Primary Railroads: Metro North, LIRR, Amtrak, ADIX
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Post by Deandremouse on Jun 3, 2016 13:57:36 GMT -5
Bruh this saves me so much work I can use the multi levels for MARC And AMT as well
THANK YOU ATLAS. It's about Dang time
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Post by slowfreight on Jun 3, 2016 14:08:25 GMT -5
Still no Budd Bilevels?
Sorry...just had to throw that out there. Any love for commuter/transit modeling is still a good thing.
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Post by backshophoss on Jun 3, 2016 15:43:45 GMT -5
I believe Atlas has pulled off a coup by doing the AL45DP and the BBD MLV's,got the announcement
from a MRH ad email.
So far the only scheme is NJT,with a few of special "slogan" cars.
THERE'S a HARD preorder Deadline of 07/11/16,reported delivery date of October '16
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Post by ihphobbymike on Jun 3, 2016 21:38:08 GMT -5
Probably won't be a continuing product line for them, I know this very well. But, this is going to be a good weekend for commuter/transit announcements! One still has yet to be made at tomorrow's Model Transit Show! I think this board will get a little discussion activity in the next few days!
Mike Bartel
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Post by rails4dmv on Jun 4, 2016 8:58:09 GMT -5
I'm definitely putting an order in for the NJ Transit set. Hopefully the set is successful and Atlas will come out with other commuter sets.
Atlas has produced so many NE regional commuter locomotives within the last 10-15 years, it's about time they started to produce RTR commuter passenger cars to match.
What I didn't see in the announcement is if the passenger cars will have interior lighting or if the cab cars will have working headlight/marker lights.
Working toilets, I'll pass on that feature....lol.
If not, I hope it's not a nightmare of a job to open the cars up to add lighting into the cars.
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Post by acelaphillies on Jun 4, 2016 13:33:13 GMT -5
I'm definitely putting an order in for the NJ Transit set. Hopefully the set is successful and Atlas will come out with other commuter sets. Atlas has produced so many NE regional commuter locomotives within the last 10-15 years, it's about time they started to produce RTR commuter passenger cars to match. What I didn't see in the announcement is if the passenger cars will have interior lighting or if the cab cars will have working headlight/marker lights. Working toilets, I'll pass on that feature....lol. If not, I hope it's not a nightmare of a job to open the cars up to add lighting into the cars. The cab car will definitely have headlights and market lights. It said the cab was DCC ready as well. I think I saw that the regular cars will be lit and have full interiors, but I may be mistaken. |
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Post by slowfreight on Jun 4, 2016 16:14:29 GMT -5
I'm going to politely not get involved in the hyper-negative discussion of these things on the atlasrescueforum. I know the crowd here is dominated by east-coast modelers so these should be well-received in this group. And realistically, I don't think the price per car is too bad...unless you're Kyle and need 25 of them :-p For sure, these will be worlds better than the IMW cars...and will take much less effort to get operating without derailments compared to a resin kit.
I think I can resist purchasing, but I've ridden the coaches quite a bit and had the good fortune to see one of the dual-mode units in action without wire. And IIRC, it was hauling Comet V cars, not multi-levels. Fun stuff, but I must stay focused...at least until I get some of these other commuter projects finished.
I'm sure they were nice rides if you had to take them every day, but when I was waiting at Newark Airport station, I was always much more excited from a sheer fun standpoint to have a Silverliner train show up.
Mike at IHP, is it time to dust off your Comet III tooling yet?
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Post by slowfreight on Jun 4, 2016 16:20:31 GMT -5
Probably won't be a continuing product line for them, I know this very well. But, this is going to be a good weekend for commuter/transit announcements! One still has yet to be made at tomorrow's Model Transit Show! I think this board will get a little discussion activity in the next few days! Mike Bartel OK...it's tomorrow. The suspense is killing me! |
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Deandremouse
Member
Posts: 60
Primary Railroads: Metro North, LIRR, Amtrak, ADIX
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Post by Deandremouse on Jun 4, 2016 18:43:52 GMT -5
Probably won't be a continuing product line for them, I know this very well. But, this is going to be a good weekend for commuter/transit announcements! One still has yet to be made at tomorrow's Model Transit Show! I think this board will get a little discussion activity in the next few days! Mike Bartel OK...it's tomorrow. The suspense is killing me! IHP's Next HO Scale Project: SEPTA Silverliner V MU Cars |
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Post by ihphobbymike on Jun 4, 2016 20:22:36 GMT -5
Correct! IHP is doing HO Silverliner V MU cars in plastic. The first modern plastic US MU commuter cars in HO scale.
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Post by rails4dmv on Jun 5, 2016 8:29:00 GMT -5
I'm definitely putting an order in for the NJ Transit set. Hopefully the set is successful and Atlas will come out with other commuter sets. Atlas has produced so many NE regional commuter locomotives within the last 10-15 years, it's about time they started to produce RTR commuter passenger cars to match. What I didn't see in the announcement is if the passenger cars will have interior lighting or if the cab cars will have working headlight/marker lights. Working toilets, I'll pass on that feature....lol. If not, I hope it's not a nightmare of a job to open the cars up to add lighting into the cars. The cab car will definitely have headlights and market lights. It said the cab was DCC ready as well. I think I saw that the regular cars will be lit and have full interiors, but I may be mistaken. Thanks, I found the separate links for the passenger cars & the cab cars. That's what I get for speed reading! I'm glad Atlas decided to do the lighted cars. What I don't get is some of the negative reactions I've been reading on some of the boards about this Atlas announcement. Some stating that this was too regional. Athearn has been successfully releasing the F59PHI & BBD commuter car set for years now. And Athearn just announced another release of the same sets last month, this time with the F59PHI having factory DCC & Sound. Last time I checked you can't get too much more regional than the Minnesota Northstar. You can't even find those sets for sale anywhere online. Kudos to Atlas. I'm hoping this is a success and more commuter sets will be announced by Atlas in the future just so it will tick off the Negative Nancies... |
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Post by ihphobbymike on Jun 5, 2016 10:34:10 GMT -5
While it's an interesting and exciting announcement, I wouldn't get too worked up yet about the idea of the commuter floodgates opening as a result of this. Atlas knows that the locomotive is a one-off (it wouldn't be the first), but the cars can be decorated and sold for other agencies that operate (or may operate) the design in the future. AMT is one (they say their licensing is very difficult to get), MARC may be another. SEPTA is soliciting bids for bilevels, but no decision has been made yet (or even hinted at) and this comes from the very top. If this is the first in a series, it will likely be with other agencies' paint schemes, and maybe locomotives. Even Atlas is not certain how these will sell and they are not getting ahead of themselves in speculating about other projects. But, since they are a NJ company, it was a natural decision for this particular market niche.
Athearn only did the regional names for the Northstar for the same reason they did all the other ones: the tooling was done. A short run (which it probably was) was a good way to move some more plastic.
Keep in mind that for a project of this expense to be done, it has to be amortisable. This means that you have to be able to market many versions of either paint or physical variation from the basic tooling. That's why they are even doing the NJT scheme with safety wraps. That's how you make your money in a project and get your investment back.
I agree with acelaphillies on the regional thing, and I think that some of the folks that thought this project was too regional are the same folks that want that oddball short line diesel with the bent grabirons they had for four months in 1994, or whatever it was, and they want it with sound and DCC and full lighting. Then again, I already got some flak for doing the Silverliners, which are Eastern commuter cars, instead of Chicago commuter cars. As if the East always gets precedence by default. *Sigh, thinking about all the profiles I see of Midwest and UP-based layouts*
We've got movement in HO commuters (modern cars, no less) from two manufacturers now. Not in resin, and not in 3D. That's progress.
Mike Bartel
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Post by slowfreight on Jun 5, 2016 14:05:36 GMT -5
We've got movement in HO commuters (modern cars, no less) from two manufacturers now. Not in resin, and not in 3D. That's progress. Mike Bartel I think that's a real win here, no matter who ends up being the target market. And I don't see any of this stuff sitting on shelves in stores. Be it F59, MP36, AEM7...everything done has sold decently. Come to think of it, considering how well the foobie F59 has sold, the dual-mode is probably a great choice because it's got some plusses for proto modelers and will work just fine for the many more people who simply want a locomotive that "looks right." I'm sure most of the foobie RailRunner F59 buyers don't even know it's not a correct engine--but the Atlas one will be! |
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Post by ihphobbymike on Jun 5, 2016 14:36:24 GMT -5
I hope you're right about the sales thing ('tho some models seem to sit longer than others). I'm investing a ton in the Silverliners and I will want to get it back!  Mike Bartel |
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