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Finally, Atlas’ MP15DC has been produced in Norfolk Southern black.

IT HAS BEEN a long wait - almost exactly three years - but it’s nice to actually have Atlas’ excellent MP15DC in my hands wearing the black dip of eastern thoroughbred Norfolk Southern. It’s only taken the New Jersey outfit four runs of the multi-purpose EMD to get around to producing this big Class 1’s fleet in HO!

As this is my first MP15DC, I thought I’d share a few pictures I took of my new toy. It makes for an interesting comparison with Athearn’s Genesis line MP15AC, an impression that was reinforced by the Atlas model’s arrival in the same package as a second run Athearn machine wearing the green and yellow of Missouri-Kansas-Texas. Despite the ‘upmarket’ Genesis branding, these two locomotives retail at roughly the same $100 street price, so its fair game to play them off against each other.

My original thoughts about the MP15AC can be found in my review from last year.

First impressions are a tad unkind to the Atlas model. Taking the MP15DC out of the box, it feels slightly plasticky against the Athearn product. The MP15DC also requires around quarter of an hour of assembly time, to fit things like horns, end handrails, multiple working equipment boxes and cab sunshades, but this is hardly a major issue.

Accuracy wise, both appear to be spot on. There’s a little more detail on the underframe of the Athearn model, and, of course, the MP15AC has those wonderful Blomberg trucks - acknowledged by most model railroaders to be the pinnicle in tooling for these much repeated items. Athearn also wins big on the quality of the etched grilles. While the front radiator mesh is nice on the MP15DC, the one that sits on top of the bonnet is not quite so good, and features a noticeable upward bow. The bell also lacks in comparison to the Athearn versions, but on the other hand, the handrails are probably just a touch nicer on the Atlas product

Where the Atlas locomotive does score as well as the Athearn model is on the paint job. As we’ve come to expect from both companies, the finishing is first rate. It also runs superbly, which is another thing that we take for granted from Atlas.

This post shouldn’t be seen as me being down in any way on the MP15DC. It’s a great model, one of Atlas’ best and certainly up to the high standard of its other recent releases. All it really needs to complete, at least for my contemporary modelling era, are ditch lights, some slight underframe additions, a new horn, radio antennas and a nice comprehensive weathering job!