Were the ALCO RS3’s built to run long nose foreward, short nose foreward, or either direction?
In other words, in what direction were they normaly run? Long nose forward or short?
NH RS-3’s were all set up for long-hood forward operation. Some RR’s had it the other way, or even had dual control stands. It’s best to check each road. For starters, look for a small capital “F” on one end or the other. F = Front.
Paul A. Cutler III
Weather Or No Go New Haven
had a friend who modeled the Misabe Range, with RS3’s, and I recall he always ran them long hoo dforward…he was pretty serious about those kind of things, so I would guess that was what was meant to happen…
C&O’s two RS-3s were designed with the short hood as the front.
Like some other first generation diesels (EMD’s GP-7 for example) the RS-3 could be set up with either nose as the front. It was up to the railroad buying them to decide which way it wanted them. For example, Great Northern ran both their early high-nose GP’s and their RS-3’s long hood forward, next door neighbor Northern Pacific had their GP’s and RS-3’s set up short hood forward.
A few railroads even had dual controls so the engine could be easily operated in either direction, but still one end or the other was designated with an “F” as the front.
NYC 8223 was built, and still runs, long hood forward. I would presume that was the case for the rest of the NYc RS-3’s.
Thanks for the replies, I found my answer to be “Both” as you all have said.
I also did some more research in a photo archive and found that the railroad I am modeling (EJ&E) ran their RS-3’s (I think they were 3’s) short hood forward according to all the pics I saw.