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Model Forum / General / Railroads / June 2004Atlas/Roco engines
Were these made before DCC? I have seen lots of these on eBay, with the green/yellow boxes, and am wondering if they have DCC sockets or not. Also, I seem to recall that Roco drives are pretty good, that they were even used in early Kato's - can anyone clarify this for me?  SignatureFrank Eva http://www.digitalrailroader.org > Were these made before DCC? I have seen lots of these on eBay, with the > green/yellow boxes, and am wondering if they have DCC sockets or not. Long time before DCC. '70's into the '80's. > Also, I seem to recall that Roco drives are pretty good, that they were even > used in early Kato's - can anyone clarify this for me? They were excellent 1970's drives. Time moves on. The locomotive and drive design was Atlas and brokered to various manufacturers for production including Roco, Kato and now China and Korea. The Roco versions of many locomotives were disposed to Con Cor. ER imported others from Roco until ER went bung-foo a few months ago. CTucker NY > > Were these made before DCC? I have seen lots of these on eBay, with the > > green/yellow boxes, and am wondering if they have DCC sockets or not. [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > CTucker > NY I have about a half dozen or so of these early Atlas locos, four GP38's and I think two GP40's. As CTucker has stated, they were top-line plastic models back then but lack the detail found in current products. They are good runners, though, and since the prices have recently dropped quite dramatically they can be a good "bargain" loco to fill out your fleet. Speaking of those prices, they had been going for $70+ (which is way too much) at swap meets barely a couple years ago. I don't know what you're seeing now on eBay, but I've found them at recent swap meets for $30 - $35. No DCC sockets, or decoder provisions whatsoever for that matter. But the motor appears to be insulated from the frame and there is plenty of interior room available so they look like easy candidates for a hard-wired decoder. Don't know about the gearing but speed tables can fix that anyway. My opinion is that they run better than a "stock" Athearn, and don't really look any worse. The plan is to use them to fill out my fleet without having to spend the time/money necessary to get an Athearn running "right". Stevert >> Also, I seem to recall that Roco drives are pretty good, that they were >even >> used in early Kato's - can anyone clarify this for me? > >They were excellent 1970's drives. Time moves on. The drives used in the 80's for the Alco switchers were outstanding, nothing like the earlier Roco drives. -John Thanks to everyone who helped fill in my memory gap! Frank Eva http://www.digitalrailroader.org > >> Also, I seem to recall that Roco drives are pretty good, that they were > >even [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > -John |
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