introduction

Evans 52' Gondolas were a common site in the US in the last decades of the Twentieth Century. Atlas has released this N scale model of the railcar. Evans 52' Gondola. This Erie Lackawanna model is item 50 001 911.

history

The Southern Iron and Equipment Company (SIECO) of Atlanta, Georgia, began manufacturing gondolas in the mid-1970s. The Evans Company took control of SIECO in the early 1980s, producing the gondola under their own specifications. The gondola is still in use in North America today. This Atlas N scale gondola will find as many uses on your model railroad as the prototype did on the great rail lines of America. - Atlas

Evans Transportation Co. was acquired after a bankruptcy by Chicago-based leasing company Itel Corp.. At the time Evans controlled about 25,000 rail cars, having built rail cars until the mid-1980s. In 1987 Itel Corp. completed the deal of 20,000 rail cars and four maintenance facilities. Then at the end of 1991, Itel sold its rail assets to General Electric Capital Corp.*

the model and details

The injection-molded model is well molded without flash, sink marks, visible mold seam lines or ejection marks. For N scale the molding is sharp. Atlas trumpets the features as:

True scale dimensions with accurate detail
Separately applied end and side ladders
100 Ton roller-bearing trucks with offset shank AccuMate® couplers
Die-cast under frame

The separate ladders look good although, not surprising, the and the molded stirrups are a bit thick.

The wheel sets in the 100-ton roller-bearing trucks are molded in a brown plastic.

This little gon weighs .8 ounces. It measures 54 1/2 feet from end sill to sill. The couplers add another 5 feet. It rolled through my Atlas code 80 turnouts with no problem.

paint and markings

Atlas' painting and printing is remarkable even for N scale. The good ol' basic black paint does not obscure detail and has no drips nor runs.

Data printing is excellent. The white paint over black is solid. All data is legible. You can easily read, When empty return to EL RY Youngstown Ohio. However, Atlas did not include the air brake test stenciling and some other markings that can be seen in the builder photo that you can access via Click here for additional images for this review, below.

That same photo shows that EL 44466 was built by Pullman-Standard. Evans once had several manufacturing plants and I do not know if Evans subcontracted erecting rail cars. Erie Lackawanna ordered 400 of these cars, series 44200-44599.

Atlas offers this gondola undercoated and for six railroads.

Burlington Northern (Green/White)
Canadian National (Brown/White)
Conrail (Brown/White)
CSXT* (Black/Yellow)
Erie Lackawanna (Black/White)
Rio Grande (Orange/Black)

Each road name has four road numbers.

conclusion

Atlas' N Evans 52'6 Erie Lackawanna is a good looking model. The knuckle couplers are standard nowadays yet look good. While the wheels are plastic, they are molded in color. Paint and printing is remarkable. Molding is sharp and separately applied end and side ladders are a plus, even if they are a bit thick.

That the model is longer than the prototype and that the road number is associated with a non-Evans product.

This model rolled through my Atlas code 80 turnouts with no problem. It looks very good and so long as one is not a stickler for high accuracy, this gondola should make a good addition to your freight car fleet.

Recommended.
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Sources

* Robert Kearns. Itel Agrees To Buy Evans` Rail-car Fleet. Chicago Tribune. August 13, 1987.

* Charles Storch. Itel To Lease All Its Rail Fleet To Ge Capital. Chicago Tribune. January 01, 1992.