SAW, was Sunset, Atlas, and Weaver, boards with licensed Lionel plug-in boards. There was a SAW Gen2 board that had a lot of problems. Eventual the EOB (Engineer On Board)Boards, from TAS, (Train America, Studios, Mike Reagan, Youngstown, Ohio), solved most of the problems, and added speed control. Today, we can do similar upgrades from ERR with Lionel approval. One of TAS's first major achievements was a unique bottle board that fit the Atlas SW models. Getting all that stuff, under an SW hood, was a major achievement, IMO. Electro-couplers on a Switcher model, what a novel idea at the time.
I had an EOB board damage both can motors in an Atlas model. I thought the engine was off, but was in one of the low speed steps, not moving. Smelled bad, was hot to touch. Motors never did work right again. I replaced both can motors, EOB board was fine. SAW boards were not as robust as the EOB boards. IMO.
One of the unusual characteristics of the EOB boards was a non-linear acceleration pattern. Once you got uses to the ramp-up and ramp-down, it was a pretty good experience.
Had sound, electro-couplers, head and rear lights, no gingerbread lighting.
