Join the discussion on the following article:
Atlas HO scale Alco RS-11 diesel locomotive
The very first run(s) of HO RS-11’s offered by Atlas decades ago, made by Kato in Japan and packed in boxes that were mostly yellow and white, had a wheelbase (distance between the centers of the trucks) that was too short to match that of the real locomotives. Atlas corrected that in later runs, made in China and packed in mostly red and mostly black boxes. The earlier releases also lacked separately applied hand grabs, crew members and other details included in the later ones.
And in addition to what Stephen says, the frame from Kato also fit the RS3, which further explains the short wheelbase of the RS11 model, since the RS11 was a bit longer than the RS3. Just wish they would make a non DB equipped model now! Hopefully Atlas will one day soon make a scale sized handrail sets for these improved (detail wise that is) units. Always nice to see a featured model painted NP, again wish that Atlas would do the as delivered scheme. The P2K one was close, but not quite correct in the layout of the side curves. I know Atlas could do it better! Come on guys!