No doubt about it, when you think about vintage n scale, you think about Atlas. I have so many fond memories of model railroading with my brother and my dad and Atlas was a huge part of it. In the early 70’s, they offered a variety of starter sets with a locomotive, a few cars a transformer and a oval of track. I have the image of the box cover burned into my brain. I actually bought a vintage Atlas power pack to keep in my collection because the cover matched the box of the starter sets.
The more common vintage Atlas starter sets came your basic diesel locomotives, mostly Santa Fe or PRR. I remember we had more than one Santa Fe set but I think we had a Pennsylvania RR set as well. My brother and I always wanted a steam engine like on the cover of the Atlas box. Then one day it happened. My dad pulled an Atlas steamer out of his pocket, I think it was a Pacific 4-6-2 but not sure. I do remember my brother yelling “a steamer!” and my dad trying to quite him down. I guess my mom wasn’t aware of this expenditure.
Some of the classic steam locomotives from Atlas that I remember include the 2-8-2 Mikado and the 4-6-2 Pacific. My dad’s railroad had multiples of both of these. I also remember the Atlas 0-4-0 switchers that still are selling for more than they were new on ebay. If you were into n scale as a kid, spend some time at ebay and check out some of the vintage N Scale Atlas trains. It’s kind of like going back in time! You will find some of the basic sets along with locomotives and some to of those old classic vintage Atlas cars like the Blatz Reefer, Peabody Hopper, Reading Gondolas, Jumbo 4 truck tankers as well as my personal favorite, the Warren Tank Car. That is the first n scale train car my dad bought me. The original one is somewhere in a box under my brothers care. I have another one on display in my office. The cost at the time was $2.50. Today, to me anyway, it is priceless.
The old vintage Atlas N scale trains started many in model railroading. Each week I snoop around ebay just looking but sometimes I grab a piece up and and it to my collection.
