Rock Quarrys and 4-4-0's

So I started a new project just as a fun sort of thing, it started out as an experiment/test track but I'm also doing some new things with it. It's all fun and games, right?

Anyway the theme for the new layout is a rock quarry set sometime around the 1880's. The inspiration was the winning on the auction site of an old timey Bachmann 4-4-0 freight set, you know the one. You also know that the B-mann is...to put it mildly, not the best running or pulling locomotive in the world. It can barely pull its 4+caboose freight train around the layout, and when I added a combine and coach to the mix it was completely lost.

As you may also know Atlas has recently (within the last few years) released its own version of the 4-4-0, so I ordered an undecorated unit. It got here today.

First impressions, man this thing is fra-JEEE-lay! As in, the pony truck fell off as soon as I took it out of the box and one of the boiler stays was already gone, fragile. The pony truck is pretty easily fixed, but it means you have to turn the loco upside down and pry up on the base plate, which means either you pull the whistle off the steam dome or risk breaking off that fragile plastic whistle. A brass unit may have been a better choice for this part.

At any rate, with the pony truck and whistle both installed the examination went on. I compared it side-by-side with the B-mann (note: the Bachmann 4-4-0 in the pictures is not the one from the train set; this one is a newer release and was used primarily because it has a knuckle coupler installed. The dimensions are the same) and dimensionally everything actually looks pretty even although the Atlas certainly shines in the (small and fragile) details. The undec/unpainted Atlas has a clear headlight which is kind of hard to see details on, but the reason for that is this loco has a working headlight (unlike the B-mann), or at least it does when the clear unit is painted.

The tender is closer coupled, and it's cast-on (fixed, non-swiveling) trucks have bigger wheels and no copper springs showing, which also means the loco is a bit shorter than the B-mann although the tender dimensions are pretty close (I didn't break out the micrometer). The top of the tender looks a bit funny to me, too, since the fuel load (coal, cast in) only takes up the center instead of spreading all the way to both sides as the Bachmann does. From the pictures and plans I have seen the Atlas is technically correct, although the load (usually wood) was generally heaped high enough to overfill the fuel bunker and cover the tender top as on the Bachmann. An Atlas Accumate coupler is affixed to the rear.

Drivers are approximately the same size and the pony truck is attached via an arm (remarkably similar to the Atlas Pacific) rather than directly to the cylinders like the B-mann. The Bachmann actually weighs a little more, coming out on my super precision kitchen scales at 1.4 oz while the Atlas only clocked in at 1.3 oz. Also unlike the B-mann unit there is no weight in the cab, which means you can see right through it. There is no bottom or lower back wall to the cab on the Atlas (meaning there is no flat surface where the driveshaft goes through), so it looks a bit unfinished since the cab walls are just hanging out in space. The undecorated Atlas also comes with a straight stack in the box that you can add on in place of the diamond stack that is already fitted to the model.

The only real visual quibble I have about the locomotive, aside from the unfinished looking cab (that you really don't notice unless you are closely examining it due to the tighter spacing on the tender) is the driver centers, the spokes are almost not there at all. NZT Products makes the fix, but from what I understand it's not for the faint of heart.

On the track, neither pulling a train, the Bachmann takes a higher starting voltage and runs faster at all throttle settings. The Bachmann is also slightly more forgiving of track work, the Atlas derailed twice on its first trip around while I have never had an issue with the Bachmann. Oddly enough it seemed to me that despite its higher voltage requirements the Bachmann started a bit smoother, although the Atlas was not rough at all by any means. Somewhat leery of its lighter weight, I attached a train to the Atlas

Holy smokes this thing really pulls. I don't know what it is but I suspect the weight distribution is better on the Atlas despite its overall lower weight, the Spookshow article shows the split frame construction which surely makes a difference. With only 2 flatcars (I pulled the body off the tank car), the gondola and a caboose the Bachmann slips and struggles all the way around the track, but the Atlas took off smoothly with the same train and pulled as if it didn't have a train attached at all.

So I started adding cars to the smug little Atlas, and before long it was happily steaming around the track with two boxcars, three flats, a gondola, a bobber caboose, and Athern/Roundhouse Overland coach and combine in tow, nary a slip or a struggle in sight.

The only thing the Bachmann has going for it now is price. So you can't get the Atlas for 15 bucks apiece at the train shows, so what, they have just made the brand new Bachmann 4-4-0's overpriced at any level. The Bachmanns in my collection that don't immediately go on permanent display will either be converted to Nn3 or sold off (I don't need very many Nn3 4-4-0's after all...in fact I have all I really need at one) and the Atlas has found a permanent place on the Rock City layout.

In my opinion, if you want to run 1880's era 4-4-0 locomotives the Atlas is the only way to go.