Atlas what's up?

The 60 foot passenger cars are an entirely different subject than the California Zephyr passenger cars, which are full scale. I can not see Atlas EVER offering "short" versions of those spectacular CZ passenger cars. 

I recon if they can make 60 regular passenger cars than CZ cars shouldn't be a problem. I don't think anyone expects them to shrink the scale cars down just some in line with what Lionel and K-Line use to offer. I never saw much discussion about people wanting BO cars but CZ cars have been discussed on several threads.

Making shorty CZ cars isn't the problem.  Selling them is.  Atlas O's reputation is in full O scale model railroad equipment, with the exception of the rubber-scale Industrial Rail line.

Don't forget, Atlas O's 60' passenger cars are models of 60' prototype cars.

Rusty

My guess is that 60 foot passenger cars you previously saw, were the Atlas "Trainman" line passenger cars. 

This is an entirely different line than Atlas's "Master" line which are scale offerings.  The CZ cars are part of the "Master" line, which is the mainstay for AtlasO.

Jim

I don't know why they think they wouldn't sell as they are making BO which everyone else already makes.  MTH makes CB&Q CZ but you get either really small ones or really big from them. The older Lionel and K-Lines cars go for big dollars most of the time so why not make something that only one other company makes instead of something that everyone makes?

 I am just referring to being able to run CZ cars on 036 track. MTH Premiere 042 minimum, Atlas 072 minimum. MTH RK CZ cars 13 1/2 inches and look a little too compressed. Lionel 15"-16" can be run on 036 no problem.

  My point is why make something everyone else makes and something nobody makes? I wish I had all the links to the precious post as they were numerous wondering why no one made the CZ for the rest of the crowd. 

The simple answer is, if there wasn't a 60' version of any type of passenger car in the prototype world, Atlas O is not going to make it in their Master or Trainman line, because both of those lines are for scale sized model trains ONLY.  It has nothing to do with whether it would sell or not, it's a standard they set for those two lines and they are not going to compromise on that, guaranteed.  Just like Sunset/3rd Rail will not make smaller than scale trains either.

Having said that, Atlas O's "Industrial Rail" line specializes in traditionally-sized trains for smaller layouts/curves, so any request for trains that are truncated from full scale size stands a better chance at being made in that line.  Otherwise your only other recourse is hitting up Lionel, MTH, or Williams since they have no qualms of offering both.

He shrugged. 

--Greg

O gauge trains are a niche market.  Atlas has made a name for themselves by making scale trains.  Their customer base are folks who want scale equipment and trust Atlas to manufacturer scale equipment.  Thus, they manufacture the train items that their customers want.

If you think that there is a market segment that is not being filled, you could always do this yourself and manufacture and sell the trains items you think will sell.  I know of several hobbiest who have done this in the past.

Jim

The point is they are making non-scale cars already after they said it would never happen.

Wow.

They are making non-scale trains, but that's exclusive to their Industrial Rail Line only.  If you specified that particular line to Atlas O when making that request then you might have gotten a different answer.  Majority of inquiries they receive pertain to the Master & Trainman lines, so that tends to be the default mode of thinking.

Using the Trainman 60' passenger cars as a point of reference is not a valid point of comparison.  Those cars are based off of passenger car designs that actually were 60' in real life, so they are full O scale.  Now, if you ask Atlas O to make "shortened" versions of passenger cars (taking a prototype that was 70' in real life and compressing it down to where it's 60 scale feet in O for example) for their Master and Trainman line is completely different and that's where you'll get a "no" answer from them.

Actually that really is NOT the case. Atlas only purchased the "Industrial Rail" company approximately 5 years ago. Prior to that, Atlas did not produce ANYTHING that was not scale, in either HO nor O. Thus, even today, the core Atlas O business is ALL scale products.

John beat me to it to better define the Atlas O Trainman 60' passenger cars.  These cars were used by only a few railroads (some used the RPO and combine, some didn't), and I believe some of the roads Atlas is releasing these cars in are for roads that never really had them, especially the soon to be released observation.  So while the 60' cars are based on a prototype, some paint schemes are fantasy (Atlas says as much in their description of the observation).  The IR coaches are also 60'.  I think the OP is asking why not add the CZ?

plenty of 60' cars on the market, new and preowned now. do ya really need some more by another manufacturer? -jim

That's a fair question, and if that is indeed the case then that's where I mentioned previously about specifying the Industrial Rail line when talking to the Atlas O reps would apply because of the majority of inquiries they get are for their Master & Trainman lines.

K-Line made a 15" aluminum CZ set pulled by Western Pacific F-7 A-B-A Diesels; it is really nice.  Runs on O-31.  Might be hard to find.

An Industrial Rail version of the California Zephyr is the only way to make the cars 15" long or shorter.

Andrew