Review

Ford's F-Series pickup is the best-selling American vehicle line, car or truck, of all time and the best-selling truck in history. This year, the F-Series marked aa quarter-century as the best selling vehicle in the United States and thirty years as the top pickup.

In 1996, Ford introduced the tenth generation of the F-Series. The new F-150 was name Motor Trend "truck of the Year" and Ford's new pickups racked up 746,111 sales in the 1997 calendar year. In succeeding years, sales increased, topping 900,000 in 2001.

The specific prototype upon which this new Atlas MOW model is based is the 1997 Ford F-150 two wheel drive pickup with the SuperCab extended cab and short standard-side cargo bed. However, the appearance of the specific trim level and body style selected by Atlas stayed largely the same through 2003 and a bottle of silver or chrome paint will take care of the minor trim differences between the years.

North American railroads own thousands of Ford F-Series trucks and use them for a variety of tasks from inspection to light maintenance. There are even some in railroad police service. The versatile pickup can carry tools, test equipment, firefighting gear, or other loads as needed, and is less costly to deploy than a larger truck. Railroad trucks are used for years, so the Atlas model would be suitable for use on a layout set anytime from 1997 to today.

When Atlas introduced their HO and N models of the 1997 Ford F-150 pickup, I thought it was almost impossible to have too many of these on a modern-era layout. Not only was the Ford the best-selling vehicle that year, an estimated two-thirds of the F-150 sales were the SuperCab that served as the prototype for the Atlas replica.

As has been reported before, Atlas did an excellent job on the F-150. Working with Ford, Paul Graf and his team produced a model that scales out very well compared to the published spec for a two-wheel drive 1997 Super Cab with a 78-inch cargo bed. Bumper-to-bumper, the model is about four scale inches too long, but it's almost exactly the right length for a SuperCab with the Flareside body, which is another variant offered by Atlas, so I have a feeling some compromise was made to keep tooling and production costs reasonable. The width is withing half-scale inch of dead-on 1:87 scale. The N-scale model is equally close to the mark.

In both scales, the tooling is sharp, and body lines and trim are well defined. One thing I do like is that Atlas designed the model so the view through the wheel wells is blocked. I don't insist on a detailed engine compartment, but it bugs me when you can look straight through the wheel opeing and see daylight on the other side.

Details include interiors and separate headlight and taillight inserts. While such things are expected in HO, they are still exceptional in N scale. I was very glad when Atlas added exterior rearview mirrors to the HO version; the early production models I bought some years back always looked incomplete without them. I could wish for them in N scale, but they would either be grossly out of scale or impossibly fragile.

One special touch I appreciate is the matte finish on the paint jobs. In my mind, a MOW truck shouldn't look like it just came off the showroom floor. These are working trucks that spend a fair amount of their time off the pavement.

The printing is clear and opaque right down to the "Quality in Motion" motto on the N-scale CSX truck and the reversed "Burlington Northern Sante Fe Railway" on the BNSF logo.

A couple of nits to pick: First, I like the opening tailgate on the HO model, but the piece looks more like it outh to be on a bank vault. While the matte black simulated bed liner disguises the thickness when the tailgate is closed, it's pretty obvious when it's open. Second, I wish the models were easier to disassemble. I add a bit of bright silver and amber to the backs of the headlights, which really improves the model's overall appearance. The major components come apart with some delicate work with a hobby knife or dental tool, but the headlight inserts have been secured in place and require some finagling to pop them loose. Careful gluing is needed to secure the headlights back in place when the painting is done.

Based on pictures of other BNSF MOW equipment, the Atlas model seems to be missing the rear conspicuity stripe and gross weight markings, but there is enough variation among prototype trucks that this might not be an error on Atlas' pert. If you wish, you can use the decals from Oddballs Decals set 645 to finish the job. All of the models need unit numbers and I would suggest going online to find reference photos for size, style, and placement unless you live in an area where you can see the prototype trucks.

Like their original F-150 model, Atlas has come through with another much-needed ready to run vehicle for the modern layout. They've sweetened the deal by providing a lot of quality and detail for a reasonable price.