Rocky Mountaineer posted:david1 posted:I think the time has come to leave AtlasO behind and stop ordering anything from AtlasO. Time to move on.
I'm not sure I'm quite there yet, David1. But my enthusiasm has certainly fallen through the floor lately with Atlas-O. Folks talk about locomotives (or lack there-of), and all I can think about are the days when Atlas-O was at its prime... delivering products like the magnificent GP60M's and GP60B's in a variety of roadnames and power/dummy options. I think that may have been around 2005, and the detail level on those locomotives was WAY ahead of its time. Aside from maybe a "railsounds" update today, those GP60's could stand up easily to diesels being manufactured today. Hands down.
I've seldom had seller's remorse. However, when I sold off a bunch of stuff that included a set of GP60's (in favor of keeping my roster all-Legacy/DCS), it's the closest I've ever felt to wishing I hadn't. It might be heresy to folks who are focused so intently on prototype operations. But if I still had an ABBA configuration of GP60's, they'd look absolutely SWEET heading up a 3rd Rail El Capitan passenger train.
Sadly... I do think those leading-edge locomotive days are gone for good at Atlas-O, as the company has never really recovered from the untimely passing of Jim Weaver. I still think Atlas-O produces one heck of a detailed piece of rolling stock albeit a bit pricey. And I'm still keeping fingers crossed that the company will come through on Part II of the Maxi-IV well cars and containers -- actually containers are all I really care about, since I already have the cars from the first production run. But for those who missed out on cars from the first production run, I hope for their sake that Atlas-O delivers on the second Maxi-IV run.
But as far as being a serious contender in the O-Gauge locomotive world... if the last several years are any indication of what the future holds, it's time to quietly write the closing chapter on Atlas-O locomotive production.
David
No more pricey than MTH or Lionel. It was sad to see Weaver go as I have some product from them including the Milwaukee 261. As another writer said he is 70, I am a year behind him and don't know how much more I will buy. I am going to DC next August for the O Scale National more for a vacation and to return one more time to The Wall.
Dick
