Atlas O Premier Streamlined Passenger Car

The lightweight, streamlined passenger car was a product of the Great Depression. While the heavyweight steel cars built in the teens and 1920s were dependable and often luxurious, their dark colors and solid, battleship-like exteriors did little to lift the spirits at a time when the entire nation needed a pick-me-up. As noted railroad historian John H. White, Jr. put it in The American Railroad Passenger Car, “Some hope during these gloomy years was offered by a new design concept called streamlining. It presented a sleek, modern image of speed and innovation. What had been an obscure technical term in aerodynamics was made into a household word through an astute publicity campaign mounted by several railroad traffic departments. It succeeded in creating a general interest in railroading practically unknown since the opening of the first transcontinental line… According to Railway Age, ‘For the first time in many years, the words ‘sold out’ re-entered the ticket clerk’s vocabulary.’”

But as White notes, the real change in passenger car construction was in weight, not the streamlined appearance that was largely for show: “Weight, not air friction, was the chief obstacle to economic operation.” Unlike the heavyweights, the lightweight cars that debuted in the mid- 1930s featured sides and roofs that contributed to their structural strength, eliminating the need for the heavyweights’ massive underframes. Trucks went from six wheels to four, non-revenue space was decreased by using a vestibule on only one end of the car, and lighter, stronger, more rust resistant steel alloys came into widespread use. A typical new lightweight could be 15-20 tons lighter than the heavyweight car it replaced.

The majority of lightweights were 80’–85’ long, which scales out to about 21” in O gauge. Many O gauge modelers, however, find cars of this length impractical, as they require large curves and create long trains that can overwhelm a typical-sized layout. For those reasons, our Premier lightweights are about 70 scale feet in length — reproducing the look and feel of prototype streamliners in a model that will round O-42 curves with ease and look at home on most scale-detailed O gauge layouts.

Features:

  • Intricately Detailed, Durable ABS Bodies
  • Stamped Metal Floors
  • Detailed Car Undercarriage
  • Colorful, Attractive Paint Schemes
  • Metal Wheels and Axles
  • Die-Cast 4-Wheel Trucks
  • Fast-Angle Wheel Sets
  • Needle-Point Axles
  • (2) Operating Die-Cast Metal Couplers
  • O Scale Kadee-Compatible Coupler Mounting Pads
  • Constant Voltage Overhead LED Interior Lighting
  • End-of-Car Diaphragms
  • Separate Metal Handrails
  • Detailed Car Interiors
  • Sliding Baggage Car Doors
  • Detailed Brake Wheel
  • 1:48 Scale Proportions
  • Unit Measures: 19” x 2 7/16” x 3 1/2”
  • Operates On O-42 Curves

Check availability of this product on the Atlas Online Store

3-Rail Item# Road Name
April 2023
4-Pack MSRP: $479.80 2-Pack MSRP: $239.90 Single Car MSRP: $119.95
4-Car Set
3001474 AMTRAK (Phase 1) (Silver/Red/White/Blue): 70' Streamline Baggage 1007 Silver Treasure, 70' Streamline Coach 4822, 70' Streamline Vista Dome 9401 Silver Dome, 70' Streamline Observation 3342
3001477 Burlington Northern (Green/White): 70' Streamline Baggage 676, 70' Streamline Coach 1116, 70' Streamline Coach 1139, 70' Streamline Full Vista Dome 1395 River View   
3001480 NJ Commuter Transition Scheme (Silver): 70' Streamline Coach 3070, 70' Streamline Coach 3089, 70' Streamline Coach 3092, 70' Streamline Coach 3093
3001483 Penn Central (Silver/Black): 70' Streamline Coach 1589, Streamline Coach 2531, 70' Streamline Coach 1596, 70' Streamline Observation 4424  
3001485 Kansas City Southern (Green/Yellow/Red): 70' Streamline Baggage 20, 70' Streamline Coach 273, 70' Streamline Coach 277, 70' Streamline Observation 40
3001487 Rock Island (Silver/Black): 70' Streamline Baggage 855, 70' Streamline Coach Davenport, 70' Streamline Coach Herington, 70' Streamline Observation Centennial
2-Car Set
3001475 AMTRAK (Phase 1) (Silver/Red/White/Blue): 70' Streamline Sleeper 2150 Silver Flower, 70' Streamline Diner 8055 Silver Tureen
3001478 Burlington Northern (Green/White): 70' Streamline Vista Dome 4735 Silver Buckle, 70' Streamline Vista Dome 4736 Silver Brand
3001481 NJ Commuter Transition Scheme (Silver):70' Streamline Coach 3072, 70' Streamline Coach 3079    
3001484 Penn Central (Silver/Black): 70' Streamline Coach 2167, 70' Streamline Coach 2177
3001488 Rock Island (Silver/Black): 70' Streamline Diner Golden Banquet, 70' Streamline Sleeper Golden Meadow 
Single Cars
3001476 AMTRAK (Phase 1) (Silver/Red/White/Blue)
70' Streamline Full Vista Dome 9361 Ocean View  
3001479 Burlington Northern (Green/White)
70' Streamline Diner 1154 Lake Michigan 
3001482 NJ Commuter Transition Scheme (Silver)
70' Streamline Diner 5450
3001486 Kansas City Southern (Green/Yellow/Red)
70' Streamline Sleeper COLONEL FORDYCE
Officially licensed by Amtrak