Me too but it has to be pre 1968 CPR. There are a few old ones kicking around but I can’t find a factory painted version on the internet history searches. Atlas made a nice RS3 quite some time ago but not in CPR colours as far as I can tell so the ones out there must be undecorated originally and after market painted.
It may be an excellent price because that web page is nearly four years old.
I preordered the RS-3 in SP&S livery (Executive Line) years ago, back in late 2018 (product release was due in Spring of 2019, I think). Nothing on the website has changed since then. I emailed once in 2019 or 2020 to ask if my preorder was still on the books and got a short reply that they were still working on the product (and I don’t recall whether my question about my preorder was answered). Issues were referenced: Partners. Suppliers. Covid. Whatever.
I moved on. Found an SP&S DCC RS-3 on eBay, which I love. I decided DCC is not my jam, though, and I found a DC-only Atlas Kato RS-3 for $20 at a swap meet in custom SP&S broadstripe.
I’m sure the Bowser loco will be a fine and exquisitely detailed product someday, but I doubt that my “preorder” is even extant anymore.
-Matt
I stand corrected. I just looked and sure enough, the page is updated and they’re saying December now. If I had read carefully through the entire thread before spouting off I would have seen Rick J’s comment. When will I learn that my opinions and a sawbuck will get me a cup of coffee?
-Matt
Self-correction is good, Matt, and always appreciated by members of the forum. Not everyone on this forum admits his mistakes. You are a good man. [Y]
Rich
I found a page with a phone order line:
| Orders | 800-327-5126 Monday to Friday 9:00am to 5:00pm ET |
|---|
Thanks Rich. I’m happy to be wrong in this case. Those look like beautiful models and the photos show how faithful they are to prototype – at least to the level I am able to discern.
At the time of my preorder the RS-3 was my favorite thing in the world apart from Batdorf & Bronson Decaf, but over the years my affections have moved to the RS-1, which I adore above all other Alcos. No attempt at sultry curves, just an industrial workhorse whose cab roof looks like someone hauled a slab of sheet metal out of their workshop and bent it over the top of the engine to keep the rain off. If Bowser ever manages to put out an SP&S RS-1 in the dark oxide red, dark green/black, and yellow tiger stripe, I’ll be camped out at their doorstep waiting for it.
-Matt
I have three Atlas Classic RS-1 switchers, a Santa Fe and two C&WI. They were the workhorses at Dearborn Station in Chicago, shuttling passenger car consists back and forth between the station and the coach yard. Love those RS-1s!
Rich
Agreed. I have two Atlas RS-1s and two Athearn RS-3s, all repainted for my fictional railroad. The Atlas are by far the smoother runners. When I was still running DC, I had an Atlas RS-3 and an FL9. Both were the smoothest runners on my roster. I regret getting rid of them when I started my current DCC layout. Both would have been worth the effort to upgrade with decoders although at the time, I don’t think I could have fit a sound decoder and speakers in the RS-3.
I have an Atlas RS1 and an RS3, both still undecorated. I believe both have Kato drives. The amazing thing about both of these locomotives is they simply do not derail.
Any problem track areas I had, these would run through them without problems.
-Kevin
I realize we’re way off the Bowser topic now, but I’ll just quickly add – I have one Atlas Yellow Box RS-1, a Great Northern. It’s not as quiet as my Atlas RS-3 – it has a charming little growl – but as you say, Kevin, it never has problems on the track. Like the RS-3 it is smooth like pouring syrup over your pancakes.
I just ran across my VO-1000 the box said $299 marked down to $229 by Modeltrainstuff, with a Loksound decoder, I love it. I was looking for my voltmeter which is still MIA.
Actually the projected date was 2-3 years ago. Trainworld was and still is taking preorders. I canceled my preorder for a WM RS-3 at least 2 years ago , why? Because at my age I can’t see pouring hundreds dollars more into a hobby where I have plenty of engines and RS-3’s.
Bowser Mfg Facebook page has posted a couple pics of pre-productions samples. Here is one.
The Pennsy version has the Pennsy roof antenna, and it isn’t exactly straight, but it’s pre-production
Trainworld’s current estimate is 12/31/2021
Got my first two Bowser SD40-2 locomotives yes they are great locos but like my Scale Trains better,Bowser and Scale Trains are the only SD40-2’s I will buy.
The C&NW re-engined a ton of its Baldwin switchers with EMD engines, and that picture upstream is clearly one of them.
See the “Diesel Spotter’s Guide” for more info, or look for prototype photos online.
In many Atlas RS3s, I milled out the fuel tank and installed the speaker there facing down then a DCC sound decoder (I don’t remember who’s brand) up on the top of the frame.
Back on track with the Bowsers. Very nice runners and lookers.
One Red (Redbirds) and two White (Snowbird) LV ALCO C628 and two READING ALCO C630
I could be in the market for a WM RS3, If it looks better then my Atlas RS3.
You and I are in the same boat. I turn 70 at the end of this month and I don’t really need any more locos. I have more on my roster than I can use during an operating session. It’s not a case of need. I want this one. I just replaced the roof on my house and it didn’t cost me as much as I feared so I’m feeling a little rich right now and might make this a Christmas present to myself.
I didn’t know this had been announced several years ago. That indicates it’s like so many other new products in this hobby. Manufacturers announce a new product years before they are actually ready to deliver it. I don&
Hmmm. I am not even 55 yet, and I already have more locomotives than I need!
I went on a buying-spree from 2017-2020 to fill out my roster, and that is done now. However, I keep looking for goodies.
-Kevin
Gee… I’m only 36, yet I need another loco like I need a hole in the head.
Of course, if the right deal, or the right unit comes along…
My one & only Bowser is an Executive Line DS 4-4-1000 W LOK Sound, I paid $189.00 + shipping from Trainworld in Brooklyn, pre orderd it over 3 years ago and waited over a year for it to arrive (pre-covid), Great Runner.
Bayway Terminal NJ