Now that these have been out for awhile can anyone tell me what they think of these loco’s?
How do they run and how is the detail compared to the Atlas counteparts. I’m thinking of getting a New York Central next time I spot one. Thanks
Bruce
Well, I had one…Don’t get me wrong, it looks very nice and it is a well made model. My problem was that it was very noisy. It had a fair growl going forward that was 2x time worse going backwards. Also, it doesn’t have a lot of room for sound, etc. so that was a minus for me.
But, as I said, detail was very good, and it ran well but was too loud for me.
I own three of them. I think they are good value in the mid price range. Don’t expect them to perform as well at low speeds as the higher end locos but are good runners on the mainline. The hand rails are fairly flimsy so they need to be handled with care. I had no problem putting digitrax decoders in mine. I can see where finding room for sound could be a problem but there was a thread a few weeks back and somebody described a solution. I would like to add sound to mine at some point.
I have two Athearn/MDC RS3’s. They run well but as noted above, are noisy. I probably wont be converting them to DCC because of the severly limited space inside the shell.
I would probably be running one on a switching layout at very low speeds, would the noise be down to a tolerable level? Thanks
Bruce
It should be. The gearing is 21:1 so it can creep quite well.
Noise doesn’t bother me so long as the loco doesn’t move in a jerking sort of way. I’ve got a few Atlas Alco S-2 and S-3 switchers that are so noisy they sound like the real thing!
I have both Atlas and Athearn RTR RS-3s. The Atlas units run a little smoother but the Athearn shells look a lot nicer.
Why not Jeff?
Mine not only has DCC, but a Soundtraxx DSD and speaker!
And here is a tip for anyone with an old MDC RS unit with the super fragile handrails. The Athearn handrails WILL fit!
i would just recomend getting an atlas one
i got mine for about $70
and looking around real quick, it looks like athearn’s are going for about the same
i love my Atlas one it’s a D&H, very nice loco, one of my favorites,decoder instilation was extremely easy, and their is still plenty of room for when i put sound in
Given a choice, I would have prefered Atlas to Athearn. I’ve always thought Atlas ran a bit smoother than Athearn, even though they have always been in a comparable price range. At the time, the Atlas RS-3 did not come DCC ready so I went with Athearn. I’m going to expand my RS-3 fleet and will likely fill out the roster with Atlas. Not that I am unhappy with the Athearns. Like I said, Atlas is just a notch above them in my book.
The Atlas/Kato drives are likely a bit smoother, but the MDC/Athearn shell is more accurate that Atlas’s. I have one of each, my MDC one is from prior to the Atheran buyout and actuall has a P2K mechanism in it. The old MDC kits sometimes came with an Athearn Blue Box-type drive or the P2K.
Neither was offered factory painted for Reading,but the new Athearn ones do - so I will probably acquire a few of those as well.
–Randy
jeffrey,
Why do you say that you won’t be converting the Athearn RS-3’s to DCC? They have a 9-pin plug and a “decoder well” that fits a Digitrax DH123-size decoder with ease.
As for noisy, I would recommend the same old Athearn tuning as modelers have done for years. But please note that while these will always be louder then Atlas models, they are way ahead of both the original MDC drive and Athearn Blue Box drives of yore.
Atlas has the better drive and has more power. But the Athearn is the better and more accurate model of an RS-3. So if silky smooth operation is more important, then go Atlas. If prototypical accuracy is more important, go Athearn.
Paul A. Cutler III
Weather Or No Go New Haven
Not mine! Mine are two of the old ones. There’s no plug of ANY kind and as for the motor and drive, it’s almost a twin of the Athearn BB system. The top of the motor almost touches the shell. The only thing different is the bearings. Athearn’s are square pieces of bronze and MDC’s are round pieces of plastic.
Jeff,It sounds like you have the old MDC RS3 with the Athearn drive.ALL of the Athearn RS3 releases comes DCC ready with the new drive line.
Brakie: You’re right about my two being old. In fact, they’re ancient. To convert them is going to require that I use the same process on them as I do my BB’s to isolate the motor. The trick is going to be getting a decoder small enough to fit. There’s almost no room inside the shell.
Jeff,Would a N Scale decoder work?
jeffery,
You said you had “two Athearn/MDC RS3’s”. Since the only version that was made by Athearn was the new one with the DCC plug, you can perhaps understand my confusion.
As for room for a decoder, I have a old MDC RS-3 (original drive) sitting in front of me as I type this. As I take off the shell and hold it over the chassis, there looks to be plenty of room for an HO decoder at one end of the car body over the gear towers. What I would do is either secure the decoder to the underside of the body, or suspend the decoder over the gear tower.
BTW, talk about growlers…these old beasties are geared way down and sound like a rock crusher compared to Atlas or even the new Athearn version.
Paul A. Cutler III
Weather Or No Go New Haven
The old MDC RS-3 2350 series WAS Athearn drive.
As said, round bearings instead of square.
Only way they came, I think.
At least with Athearn, they’re bulletproof, as my 45 and 50 year old “F” units can attest, and my Brother’s 35 year old Geep.
As far as old Athearn steam, I’ve still got the remains of one chassis, and never again…
Here’s a pic that illustrates the problem with space that I have with these units. The red X’s indicate where there is some space, and it ain’t much, maybe an inch. Any ideas about what decoder would fit? It would have to be hard-wired and cheap. The lower in price the better, and as few wires as possible. The tight fit between the top of the shell and the motor can make wiring a nightmare. Keep in mind that I am partially paralyzed and have limited use of my fingers.
Curmudgeon,
The only thing that was “Athearn” about the original MDC RS-3 was the motor. The drive shafts, worm gears, universal joints, bearings, gear towers, trucks, and gear ratio were not Athearn.
The MDC RS-3’s also, at a later date, got a Proto2000 drive very simular to a P2K FA-2…without the spinning fan. The flywheels, however, did have a v-notch for the fan drive.
jeffrey,
There should be plenty of room at those red X’s for a DH123D decoder. Or if you feel like there isn’t, a DN123 should work, too. The trick is going to be keeping the decoder off the gear tower. You can tape the decoder to the shell, but that means you have to leave extra wire to get the shell off. Or you can try to get the decoder to “float” by sticking it over the gear tower and taping all the wires to the motor top…creating a cantilever support. This works even better with the smaller N-scale decoder.
At least there’s no milling with a Dremel tool involved… [:)]
Paul A. Cutler III
Weather Or No Go New Haven