I have had this loco for quite a while and it has never run on a layout until recently. It seems to run at half the speed of most of my other locos but it is not binding or over heating. The gears are not cracked and it doesn’t make any odd noises. I’m just wonering if this is normal for this particular locomotive?
I have a seldom-run P1K RS2 with similar characteristics. It just runs slower than my other engines (that is to say, it ran slower until last weekend when a gear broke). Don’t know what it is about them, but I do much prefer my Yellow Box units.
Are your other locos Protos
Protos up the 2000 run a lot slower than Kato Atlas Athearn Bachmann
I have several types P2K, Atlas, Athearn and Kato. I have a pair of P1K F-7’s that I reshelled with an Intermountain F-7A & B that run much faster than the RS 3.
My P1K RSC-3 (6-axles) runs slower than my P2K GP9s, as I recall. I run DCC, so I’ve tweaked the CVs to make them run well together as an MU.
My PROTO GP9 and FA2 run slower than Atlas- Kato- Walthers-Bachmann diesels
If your RS3 runs slower than your GP9 it must really creep along
Bob,
As I said on the Atlas Forum, P1K never made an RS-3…only RS-2’s. And yes, running slow is normal for these units. Proto was constantly changing gear ratios, and these got slow gearing.
Paul A. Cutler III
There are two versions of this loco:
The Life-Like RS-2 (early version) has an open frame motor just like the Life-Like and Atlas Alco switchers (S-1, S-3, S-2, and S-4).
The Walthers RS-2 (later version) has a flat can type motor similar to that of the Atlas RS-1, RS-3, RS-11, etc.
I have two of the Walthers RS-2s, and they run just as smoothly as my Atlas RS-3s.
I have a P2K SD50 that runs much slower than my Athearn/Atlas/Kato units. But it sure puts out enough tractive effort to pull the paint off my walls!