Looking for a bargain that added a mild challenge, I got another Atlas Kato GP7 from the early 1990s on eBay. The price on these can vary from around $60 to over $100, and at the lower end of the range, even with the added price of a DCC decoder, they're less expensive than current equivalents like the Walthers Mainline GP9 or the Bachmann GP7 in DC. Adding the decoder is a little more difficult than just plug-and-play, but it's still an easy intermediate project. Here's New York Central 5690 with Kadees, a Digitrax DH165K0 decoder and LED headlights, and Shell Scale numberboard decals.
The loco apopeared never to have been run when I got it, although it looks like it was outside its box long enough at some point to get some white spray paint droplets on the roof from being nearby when somebody was using a rattle can. I still need to touch some of these up. It also needs to get a winterization hatch.
New York Central 5686-5708 were built in 1952, originally clasa DRS-4H, reclassified ERS-15 in 1966. The class was equipped with dynamic brakes, unlike most other New York Central diesels, including the rest of the NYC GP7s.
Like all Atlas Kato HO diesels, it runs beautifully. Unfortunately, as I get older, it's harder and harder for me to apply the number board decals, and this may be the last Atlas Kato diesel I do.
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