by Tony Cook/photos by the author except as noted
Three decades ago, Atlas Model Railroad Co. introduced two freight car models that launched a new era for the manufacturer. Shown in late 1993 at the annual Chicago hobby show, Atlas debuted an HO scale tank car and an N scale covered hopper. As Atlas celebrates a century in the hobby industry in 2024, we’ll travel back to what I would consider the origins of the more modern offerings we know today. This article will not focus on the many decades of Atlas as a company primarily involved in pioneering pre-fabricated track components, but instead will examine the company’s rolling stock releases in the 1990s that served to establish the range of models enjoyed over the last three decades.
Prior to the arrival of these mid-1990s rolling stock offerings, Atlas had imported a range of N scale models, which included locomotives and rolling stock from a variety of sources in Europe and Asia. The 1:160 line got its start in the late 1960s and this scale has been the most reliable for locomotive and rolling stock from Atlas over the years. For its HO line, Atlas first marketed locomotives beginning in late 1974; however, 1:87 rolling stock was not a common fixture. The only Atlas HO freight cars came in train sets in the mid-1970s and were pre-assembled Athearn models. This expansion and innovation beginning 30 years ago marks the start of the line of freight cars that continues to grow to this day.
ABOVE: Prior to the 1990s, Atlas essentially did not offer any HO rolling stock, though the catalog did carry a number of N scale freight cars from 1968 onward. The HO scale Great Northern 40-foot boxcar is an Athearn-made model sold in Atlas train sets during the second half of the 1970s. The jewel case holds an N scale helium car from the manufacturer’s early days of 1:160 model trains.
As this time of change rolled to a conclusion at the end of the 20th century, the company added a new era of O scale releases in 1999. Prior to this new era of “Atlas O,” the manufacturer had participated in the two-rail scale 1:48 segment in the 1970s with a limited product line. What I note as important change in the 1990s is Atlas, and the hobby in general, moving toward higher fidelity models and enhanced features and technical innovations.
At one time the annual Chicago Hobby Show was a marquee event for manufacturers to debut new products. Atlas came to the 1993 show with those new-tooling HO and N freight cars. The tank car reproduced an American Car & Foundry (ACF) 14,000-gallon prototype used in kaolin clay-slurry service. The new N scale model reproduced Pullman-Standard’s popular PS-2 two-bay covered hopper. The N scale two-bay, which would be offered in short order in HO from Atlas, was promoted as having “a whole new level of detail.” Produced in China, it came ready-to-run with Rapido-type (Arnold) couplers.
A first-production Atlas HO scale ACF tank car model was reviewed by David Frost in June 1994’s Test Track column. The review opens by recounting the company’s position in the hobby, “Atlas, the well-known manufacturer of HO scale trackwork, N scale freight cars, and HO and N scale locomotives, has released its first HO scale freight car.” Frost states the positives of this tank car reproduction and notes it “raises the ante in the model marketplace.”
ABOVE: The start of Atlas’ contemporary HO scale freight car line began 30 years ago with this Brazilian-made American Car & Foundry 14,000-gallon clay slurry tank car model. The model’s box simply labels this a “Modern Tank Car.”
For collectors, this initial production is one to seek out as it was made for Atlas in Brazil (I believe by Frateschi). The model possesses fine detail and is nearly ready-to-run with X2f “horn-hook” couplers supplied and metal wheels mounted in the trucks. There is a small parts bag with end railings and safety placards that the user can install. Early editions include “Made in Brazil” on the box and the underside of the tank. The assembled HO tank car differs in design approach from later Atlas HO freight cars; you can spot these cars easily by their use of large plugs to secure the roller bearing trucks to the body. I was under the impression that only this HO tank car used this design, though reinspecting my now-vintage examples of 1990s Atlas freight cars, I find many of the Chinese-made releases lacked screw-mounted trucks originally.
Fully assembled rolling stock in HO was still somewhat uncommon and certainly not the standard it has become in the last quarter-century. Athearn was evolving with new management following the passing of founder Irv Athearn, but “blue-box” kits continued to reign at this point; though new tooling brought improvements, the market was pushing forward with new releases like its 1994 Gunderson Husky-Stack well car kit in HO. Competition included Accurail, Bowser, InterMountain Railway Co., Kadee, Kato, Life-Like’s Proto 2000 and 1000 lines, Roundhouse, Stewart Hobbies, Walthers, and others.
ABOVE: These freight cars have enjoyed continuous production runs since their 1990s introduction. The gray Boston & Maine is a Pullman-Standard PS-2 covered hopper, while the mineral red Great Northern is the line’s twin open hopper. These models have moved to Atlas’ “Trainman” sub-brand in recent years.
Atlas shows its Pullman-Standard PS-2 two-bay covered hopper at 1994’s Chicago Hobby Show as another addition to its new HO freight car line. At this same time the company’s HO General Electric U33C/U36C diesel locomotives were arriving. Atlas began the 1990s with the HO motive power offerings consisting of a revised edition of its EMD FP7 — first sold in 1975 and produced by Roco — and the conclusion of its Kato-made diesels with a GP7. At this time, the subcategories of Classic, Master, Trainman, and others would not be seen until the 1990s were finished. The company’s “Right Track” track planning software was available on a 3.5-inch floppy disk and compatible with systems running Windows 3.1. This software is available today as a download from Atlas online and continues to see updates and enhancements.
The HO two-bay or twin open hopper with offset sides arrived in mid-1995. Reviewed in the October 1995 issue, the model is noted as following a 1934 AAR standard design. Atlas’ HO scale International Car Company wide-vision caboose joined the line. This modern caboose (lacking roofwalks and end ladders to access the roof) with extended cupola on its roof represents one of the first 1:87 reproductions to include separate grab irons (which came bagged with the end railings)…
