Conrail Patch Atlas Kato C424

I'm almopst done adding CMR ND-1226 Conrail patch decals to an Atlas Kato HO ex-Reading Alco C424.

The lettering diagram that comes with the set is for an ex-Reading GP35. Checking prototype photos, no two Conrail patch jobs were exactly alike. CR 2495 was about the closest to what you can do with this CMR set, so that's what I did for the number.

I note that CMR also has a set ND-2010 that will specificlly do CR 2496, whose Reading diamond was either never patched out in black before the number was applied, so it's visible under the new Conrail nunmber on the cab side, or the black paint wore off.

I also added a Digitrax DH165A0 decoder with warm white 3mm LEDs soldered directly to the LED leads on the decoder and the Atlas factory light bars shortened to match.

T The C424s didn't last very long after the Conrail takeover, and as I understand it, only two, 2491 and 2492, got blue paint, and only 2491 got the whole Conrail wheel-on-rail emblem. The rest were retired with patches, and some ran with their old lettering and numbers for months before being patched. Most wound up in steel mill related service in the Youngstown and Mingo Jct, OH areas.

CMR does two Conrail patch sets for ex-Erie Lackawanna locos. Set ND-2008 is for C424s, while ND-1222 is for SD45s.

As i've said here, Atlas Kato HO locos, especially the C424s lately, are among the best current bargains in the hobby on eBay. I may well do an Erie Lackawanna patch next.

Finishing The Yard Trackage Update

I'm about 95% finished replacing a few of the tracks in Zenith Yard, which had previously been Shinohara Code 70, with code 83 sectional Kato Unitrack. There was nothing wrong with the Shinohara track, and there's a lot of it left both in Zenith Yard and in other spots on the layout, but after converting the rest of the yard to Tortoise switch machines and DCC, I still had three twin-coil switch machines left in the yard, and I wasn't going to be able to do anything with rewiring those without going way under the table, which I'm no longer really able to do. So I left the twin coils in place, pulled out the affected Shinohara switches, and replaced all that track with Unitrack, which meant I could wire the Unitrack switch machines without going under the table.

Here are shots of the latest progress:

Two of the three switches I replaced are #6, using Unitrack #6, which are almost perfectly congruent with the old Shinohara #6. I really thought they, or somnething similar, should be the hobby's wave of the future, since they are mounted on a simulated ballast base, and they have switch machines integral to the switch and invisible under the ballast. The best option for the future would be to include DCC decoders that can be addressable in the whole factory assembly.

However, when I went to order a #4 switch for the engine terminal area, I found Kato has completely changed these, and likely will also change their #6. These now come with an architecture much closer to Atlas Custom Line, with a manual switch machine as the factory option and an electric remote switch machine as an add-on. In addition, instead of being invisible, the add-on electric switch machine is now a somewhat clunky outside item -- just not quite as totally clunky as the Atlas.

I really think this is a step back, but almost certainly I won't be undertaking a new larger size layout in my lifetime. Up to now, I sort of thought that in the unlikely event I ever did, I'd think very hard about using Unitrack, but Kato Unitrack doesn't look like it's going to go the way I sort of think a new generation of track will go, with both switch machine and decoder integral to the switch under a simulated ballast base. But that's no matter to me, I'm grateful for what I've been able to do.

Next step will be restoring the scenery that's been torn out, adding a few new structures to the yard area, and disguising the Unitrack plastic look.

Atlas Kato C424

Here's an Atlas Kato Reading C424 that I recently found on eBay. I'd put it on my watchlist, and as sometimes happens, the seller offered me a 20% discount, which I decided to accept. When the loco arrived, it was in mint condition, probably never out of the box. There was no wear at all on the wheels.

I've converted a lot of the Atlas Kato locos I first got 40 years ago to DCC, and they're still among the best-running locos I've ever had. In detail, they're still generally comparable to Walthers Mainline or ScaleTrains Operator level, but where DC Mainline or Operator level locos are now over $100, if you look carefully, you can still find Atlas Kato locos in the $60-80 range on eBay, which says to me they're among the best current bargains in the hobby especially when, like this one, they're new old stock.

I got this one to upgrade with CMR ND-1226 Conrail patch decals made specifically for the Reading C424. I'll post photos when the project is done.