What do you think about Atlas silver series loco's

[dekker]

I have never had an Atlas engine of anykind but I am thinking about buying a silver series loco. I have about had it with Athearn. Not the Genesis line but the others. I wil take a Bachman Spectrum loco over Athearn non Genesis line anyday. Anyway what do you think? Thanks!

 

[mike8693]

For just a little more than the Athearn RTR they are incredibly better. They are a 1/5 as noisy, and can crawl down the tracks. The also look better imo. Only negative is the shells are a pita to get off. I would definetly recommend them.

 

[Rico]

I love my Atlas locos, they're slowly taking over the roster.
They (some) can be upgraded to gold features quite easily as well.
I have the Gold, Silver, Trainman, Classic, the Red Box, and the good old plain Atlas versions.
As Mike8693 stated they are not much more than their Athearn brethren.

 

[kbkchooch]

Ditto here!
I've got a bunch of them, not a bad one in the group.!!
Yes, the shells can be a Pita to get off, but the performance far outweighs this minor inconvenience!!!

 

[DCCinstalled]

You will not be disappointed! They run great as they look!

I have all golds myself but the silvers are just as nice if your not running DCC...

 

[mike8693]

I have all golds myself but the silvers are just as nice if your not running DCC...

or if your cheap like me and will put your own decoder in

 

[UP2CSX]

I have several older silvers that I've converted to DCC. I'll agree that the shells are secured better than Fort Knox but they are about the best running and detailed engines for the price I've seen.

 

[NH Mike]

All of my engines are at least 20 years old at the newest. The Athearns are the original blue box units and the Atlas are their first offerings from Kato - Japan. No question the Altas always ran whisper quiet and silky smooth right out of the box. Everything is DC. A few months ago I got back to railroading after a 21 year shut down of the railroad. I began inspecting and testing all the locos. Not one Atlas engine needed any kind of electrical or driveline maintenence while most of the Athearns had to be run through "the shop". Now that I have my main line and a few sidings back in operation I have run 100% Atlas power. Highballing over the main or creeping through poorly maintained sidings the Altas units shine.

I can't offer an experienced opinion one way or the other on what is now being sold but based on the past I would say my first choice today for a new loco would be another Atlas.

 

[blownoutcylinder]

I ended up with a wack of ATLAS's of the RS varieties and they are really nice--especially my DCC/sound one's--Great for keeping a furry nuisance from kidnapping anything----