Atlas HO GE U30Bs, Frisco

Discussion in 'General Electric (GE)' started by meteor910, Jul 2, 2011.

  1. friscomike

    friscomike Administrator Staff Member Administrator Frisco.org Supporter

    Yippee, my hobby dealer called and said my order (of years ago) had arrived. Both road numbers arrived although the distributor said the XR was out. I am happy. ~mike
     
  2. mike_newton

    mike_newton Member

    U30B straight out of the box:

    IMG_0245[1].JPG

    I apologize for my poor picture taking skills.
     
  3. FriscoFriend (Bob Hoover RIP 4/12/2018)

    FriscoFriend (Bob Hoover RIP 4/12/2018) Passed Away April 12, 2018 Frisco.org Supporter

    Are the grills see-thru metal or part of the plastic shell as they were with the earlier released B30-7? If so, that goes in part to them being black. My personal preference would have probably been to painting them white and then weather them from that direction.
     
  4. meteor910

    meteor910 2009 Engineer of the Year Staff Member Frisco.org Supporter

    Thanks Mike. What does the horn look like?

    Well let's see - from Mike's pic, looks like we need plow pilots, rotary beacon, whip antenna, speed recorder (probably, it's on the other side, first axle), drop step, replace the gyra-lite, some added painting accents, and maybe a few other things. Not bad - irritating, but not overwhelming. As good as Atlas is, and they are my co-favorite in HO (because they got the o/w color right after learning they botched it up horribly on their first attempt (GP7), and because they like the Frisco). I only wish they could be as good as Athearn on railroad specific detail.

    Ken

    ps - Does the rear show any unit numbers? Nice looking crew and builders plate, and I like they show a black gasket around the window glass.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 24, 2013
  5. Larry F.

    Larry F. Member

    Ken, the S-2b conversionis really easy. I cut off the short hood of a RS2 and grafted it on after cutting off the cab. Filling he walkway and fill in handrail and there you go. A two evening project. Larry
     
  6. klrwhizkid

    klrwhizkid Administrator Staff Member Administrator Frisco.org Supporter

    The first of my two arrived today and I will be documenting a Tsunami sound installation for posting in the DCC sub-forum for everyone's benefit. Look for it sometime in the not-too distant future.

    I noticed some issues that will have to be dealt with for lighting:
    1) The upper headlight system uses a single LED and a big light pipe for the headlights and number boards. This light pipe gets in the way of Prime Stratolight (roof beacon) installation. I am also leaning toward putting 1.2mm 1.5v 15ma bulbs in the upper headlight openings, but that will require some rework of the light pipe at the same time that I deal with it for the Stratolight (Details West RB-106).
    2) I noticed the size of the openings for the rear headlights; they appear over-size.
    3) When eliminating the dual nose light in favor of the Pyle Gyralight, I will use a Detail Associates #1001 casting, filed thin then drilled for a 1.2mm 1.5v 15ma bulb and will eliminate the SMD LED that is mounted in that position.

    A Tsunami #828046 TSU-AT1000 GE FDL-16 board will fit just fine in the locomotive and a 16mm x 35mm x 4mm speaker will fit right into the included enclosure. The frame already has the 16x35 opening cast right in.

    U30b inside.JPG U30b Head end.JPG U30b rooftop.JPG U30b Speaker enclosure.JPG U30b Rear.JPG U30b Motor.JPG
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 16, 2013
  7. HWB

    HWB FRISCO.org Supporter

    If you ordered from Wholesale they are shipping today!
     
  8. meteor910

    meteor910 2009 Engineer of the Year Staff Member Frisco.org Supporter

    Thanks for the pics Keith. My 846 and 853 were allegedly shipped this morning.

    Another issue is the horn. The Atlas horn looks to be a three-trumpet horn. The Frisco U30b's, as with their other types of 2nd-gen road power, carried several different types of horns, but virtually all of them were five-trumpet horns. I just rattled through all of my U30b pics (lots of 'em!), and have just a few that clearly show the horn. But, most look to have the good-old Leslie 5T-RF (3 front, 2 rear) as on the DW-191 part. I have a pic of 846 in full "XR" scheme that shows a five trumpet Leslie, with all five forward (that's the way mine will be!), and yet a few others show a five trumpet Nathan, 3-2. There also is a five-trumpet horn that GE used that is on a few of the Frisco units - use the Utah Pacific horn for this one (DH-60).

    The rear hood face is an enigma. Most of the units in this series of U30b's show the rear as Atlas has modeled it, with lit number boards. However, some of the U30's show no number boards on the rear (858). Others, in the lower number series, show no number boards but have the unit number painted on. I have a rear pic of 853 that shows the same as Atlas has done it, so we are OK on that one. 846 also looks to be OK, but I have only glancing views to prove it. These changes may be time and/or unit specific exceptions.

    Yes, the rear lights look to be a bit oversize in diameter. But, the U30b pics show them to look larger than the front headlights as well, but I'll bet they are the same size - the front ones are in a surrounding housing up top, while the rear lights are just there stuck on the end panel. Does not look like a major problem, though they do look a bit big.

    Many of the U30b's also show vast quantities of axle cables going up to the cab. One is obviously for the speed recorder, while the others are likely for the wheel slip warning devices. Wheel slip was a concern on the 3000HP U30b's.

    Unless you can find some of the Sunrise nose gyra-lites, it does look like some filing will be required. Utah Pacific has a brass one, DA has a plastic one, and I think there are others, any of which can be carved/filed down to fit on the front gyra-lite housing on the Atlas.

    Ken
     
  9. klrwhizkid

    klrwhizkid Administrator Staff Member Administrator Frisco.org Supporter

    The rear headlight openings on the model are as large in diameter as the number boards are tall. On the prototype, the headlight is just over 1/2 the height of the number boards. A picture of the rear of one and the head of another http://www.locophotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=104832 illustrates that the front and rears were same size.
     
  10. meteor910

    meteor910 2009 Engineer of the Year Staff Member Frisco.org Supporter

    Yeah, I see what you mean now when I scale it like you suggest. Hmmm - what to do? That twin nose gyra-lite looks to have oversized lights as well, while the front headlights look OK.

    BTW, how does it run? Like the other Atlas'? Hope so.

    K
     
  11. FriscoFriend (Bob Hoover RIP 4/12/2018)

    FriscoFriend (Bob Hoover RIP 4/12/2018) Passed Away April 12, 2018 Frisco.org Supporter

    I printed off Keith's photo of the rear of #858 and compared the vertical position of the rear lights in relation to the handrails to the left of them. The top of the top one is exactly at the bolt at the bottom of the second handrail down from the top splitting the color separation between the orange and the white almost perfectly. The bottom of the lower one does seem to go slightly lower than the one on the prototype, but I mean slightly. Another thing to do look at its distance from the top of the rear door. It looks darn close. Also the prototype photo is take at an angle and I believe that the lenses themselves on the model may not be as big as they seem when viewing them straight on if that makes sense. Prototypically there may be a 2" difference but no more. Bottom line, I agree with Ken that they are not a major issue and since they don't have a housing I don't know how one would fix them anyway.
     
  12. Iantha_Branch

    Iantha_Branch Member

    Just for anyone still looking for a U30B wholesaletrains.com has all 4 numbers in both sound and non sound available still.
     
  13. klrwhizkid

    klrwhizkid Administrator Staff Member Administrator Frisco.org Supporter

    Ken, I don't know how it runs, I already have it in at least 20 pieces in the process of adding the prototypical Pyle Gyralight, Prime Stratolight, twin bulb headlights on the cab, and an SMD LED for the number boards in the cab. I would like to add class lights but space is going to be getting tight for all the wires.

    If you look back at my post #66, I have added a picture of the motor. It looks like a Mabuchi design that has phosphor-broze brush holders with small blocks of carbon brushes that make contact with the armature. They're decent motors but not on the level of the older Atlas-Kato or even the more recent Atlas-China motors that have cylindrical brushes in tubular brush holders.
     
  14. meteor910

    meteor910 2009 Engineer of the Year Staff Member Frisco.org Supporter

    Keith - I think you mean the Details West #115 Pyle GyraLite casting. Is that the one most will favor using? I don't have one - is it brass or white metal?

    Detail Associates #1001 is a very nice casting, but it is plastic, and will need to be filed thinner. The Utah Pacific #NG-85 is a good casting (brass) but it is in the box which will need to be filed off and the light filed thinner. If you can find them, the Sunrise #H-109 is flat and ready to go, but is a white metal casting not as nice as the brass or plastic ones. Their H-108 Gyralight is like the Utah Pacific piece, but is white metal. Others (Overland?) may have made this part also.

    Ken
     
  15. FriscoFriend (Bob Hoover RIP 4/12/2018)

    FriscoFriend (Bob Hoover RIP 4/12/2018) Passed Away April 12, 2018 Frisco.org Supporter

    Keith installed a light package and Tsunami in B30-7 and below are front and rear shots of the finished product. He can weigh in on the detail parts that he used but I believe he said the gyra-light casting was brass and he had to file it down. I also took a shop of the rear of the loco and the headlight lens openings are definitely smaller but they may have been that way on the prototype as well vs. the U30b.

    866 Rear.JPG #866 Front (1).JPG #866 Front (2).JPG #866 Rear (1).JPG
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 29, 2013
  16. klrwhizkid

    klrwhizkid Administrator Staff Member Administrator Frisco.org Supporter

    The Pyle Gyralight on Bob's B30-7 is a Details West 115 filed down to about 1/16", I think in the negotiations with Atlas we would have been better off without the double headlight in the nose, especially if the alternative would have been the nose casting that was on the B30-7. Aside from filing flat, the holes for the headlights have to be filled. I decided that I will be using the Detail Associates #1001 Pyle Gyralight casting, which is plastic and easier to file down.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 16, 2013
  17. FriscoFriend (Bob Hoover RIP 4/12/2018)

    FriscoFriend (Bob Hoover RIP 4/12/2018) Passed Away April 12, 2018 Frisco.org Supporter

    The drop steps are there but in the down position. Compared to the spare parts furnished with the B30-7 the sunshade is not there nor are any other parts including horn-hook couplers! Regarding the sunshade, I'm not even sure the channel for it is there and if it is it is in the white vs. the orange area of the body paint.

    For what it's worth here are some other things that I noticed.

    (1) The locomotive is packed in a clear bubble pack with a clear sleeve almost identical to the packaging on the Athearn GP15-1's instead of the white bead board formerly used in other offerings including the B30-7's. This allows for ALL detail parts to be factory installed including the drop steps and the end rails.

    (2) Compared to the B30-7, the corner nose grabs are much more detailed including an actual ring the grab passes through on the corners. Definitely metal.

    (3) The XR logo on the sides of #846 is absolutely beautiful and perfect compared to the prototype photo that I supplied Atlas.
     
  18. FriscoFriend (Bob Hoover RIP 4/12/2018)

    FriscoFriend (Bob Hoover RIP 4/12/2018) Passed Away April 12, 2018 Frisco.org Supporter

    The drop steps are there but in the down position. Compared to the spare parts furnished with the B30-7 the sunshade is not there nor are any other parts including horn-hook couplers! Regarding the sunshade, I'm not even sure the channel for it is there and if so it is in the white vs. the orange area of the body paint.

    For what it's worth here are some other things that I noticed.

    (1) The locomotive is packed in a clear bubble pack with a clear sleeve almost identical to the packaging on the Athearn GP15-1's instead of the white bead board formerly used in other offerings including the B30-7's. This allows for ALL detail parts to be factory installed including the drop steps and the end rails.

    (2) Compared to the B30-7, the corner nose grabs are much more detailed including an actual ring the grab passes through on the corners. Definitely metal.

    (3) The XR logo on the sides of #846 is absolutely beautiful and perfect compared to the prototype photo that I supplied Atlas.
     
  19. FriscoFriend (Bob Hoover RIP 4/12/2018)

    FriscoFriend (Bob Hoover RIP 4/12/2018) Passed Away April 12, 2018 Frisco.org Supporter

    Keith and All:

    As I said previously, when given the choice by Atlas, I consulted two or three other prominent Frisco modelers and the decision at the time was unanimous and seemed to me by what was conveyed somewhat of slam dunk. It was not said directly, but inferred that we might as well get them to furnish lights if that was an option vs. nothing at all. I did go back and look at models of prototypes offered without nose lights, i.e. Chessie in particular, and the nose did not have the blank plate and was smooth. I believe that I read somewhere that at a particular juncture in time, whether mandated or not, GE started constructing all of their locos with the blank plate so that nose lights could be more easily installed.

    In relation to my feelings about the matter now that the actual dual nose-light has been more closely scrutinized, the actual light castings are indeed spaced wider than I expected and do need extra filing to accommodate a single lens casting. Having said that, this being a hobby where it seems like more and more of us want operating lights on our models, I believe most people will be glad to have them. Having said that, what bothers me more is that for a model of this quality that Atlas failed to include the roof beacon.
     
  20. meteor910

    meteor910 2009 Engineer of the Year Staff Member Frisco.org Supporter

    My 846 and 853 came today. Overall certainly OK, but not as good as I hoped. I was sorry to see the top of the radiator grill was unblackened, or done nicely like their B30-7 was. That will have to be addressed.

    The right side sight glass is also not highlighted. It should be blackened - steady hand with a toothpick!

    The unit runs nicely. My 853 was a bit faster than the Bowser/Stewart U25b, and definitely faster than the B30-7, but they all ran well together. My B30-7 might just be a little sluggish as it hasn't been run much.

    The overly large rear headlights don't bother me as much as I feared.

    The colors all look great together. My how far we have come!

    It bothers me, though, that the U30b does not seem to be as good of a model as its B30-7 mate.

    Ken
     

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