I am considering getting a new loco. I have riden in an RS-3, so I think it would be cool to have one on my railroad. I have looked at both athearn and atlas RS-3s, and they seem pretty compairable, even though the atlas is a little more expensive. I have read that while the athearn model looks nicer, the atlas runs just a little bit better. I have an old athearn BB, and it seems to run pretty well, though. I also noticed that the athearn model was DCC ready, while the atlas is not. How hard is it to install a decoder in the atlas for someone who has not hardwired a decoder before? Is it worth the extra time and money to go with atlas, or should I just go with athearn?
I picked up a used Atlas RS3 and I find it runs great. Right now I run it occasionaly only because I have a DCC layout and the decoder I bought for it fried. However in saying that I belive I got a bad decoder as I have installed a a few of them and never had any problems and it did work for a bit but the stopped and shorted out. I used a TCS decoder in mine which wasn’t DCC ready but the TCS board(s) are pretty simple to put in all you really have to do is wire the two boards together which is real easy and wire the motor on a little more complicated but not much just have to make sure the motor is isolated from the body or else it’s gonna cook the decoder as soon as you put it on the track. Of course thats in N-scale so I can’t say what it would be like to put one in a HO scale but if it’s anything like the N-scale it was pretty easy.
It depends on how much of a stickler for detail you are. Atlas has the edge on the mechanism for sure. But the Atlas shell is less accurate than the Athearn in several areas, including the cab roof contour, window size, long hood length…I forget what else. If these things don’t matter to you than you would likely be happy with either. And even though I feel the Atlas has the better mechanism, the Athearn can run pretty well too, especially with a break in.
I have both. The Atlas run a lot better and putting a decoder and LED lights in is easier than you think. They were all board replacements. The Athearns are a quick plug 9 pin decoder install. Both of my Athearns had the cracked axle gear problem and the mechanisms needed the regular Athearn tune up of shimming the worms and motor bush spring shortening. They are a little lighter on their feet also. Speed matching between the two makes was not too bad to do. I sometimes lash up 5 to 7 Alco RS units on the clubs layout. It makes a very impressive train with all those ALCOs up front.
I have not seen any revues of the Spectrum RS units. If someone has any of them I would like to hear how they are.
Bottom line, the Atlas runs better, the Athearn has better details. My Atlas ones are all the older ones with Kato drives, they are superb. I have 2 Athearn ones, one had contact issues and needed some help to get runnign reliably. The other was fine out of the box.
The newest Atlas ones have a decoder socket, the older ones use a fairly simple board replacement. The Athearn ones have a 9 pin plug in for a decoder. I also have an older MDC kits that has an early Proto2000 FA drive, that one takes a decoder install akin to an old Athearn Blue Box.
None of them are completely accurate for Reading. I’m limiting upgrades to the horns and the cab drip rails, and the bell under the front frame.
It’s true that on the average, Atlas loco’s run much better than Athearn. Atlas is up there with KATO on running properties. Athearn has always tended to be weaker in the chassis and mechanism with some QAQC issues here and there. The RTR tends to be rougher running, some are coffee grinders, while others can be quite smooth. I have an RTR SD50 that cog’s a bit but is pretty smooth for a standard RTR Athearn, but I’ve heard of alot of people complain about their SD’s and GP’s. I haven’t had a chance to run many of mine so I’m hoping they are all decent. I have a lot of SD45’s and Tunnel motors from Athearn since they do SP and D&RGW loco’s nicely as far as the shells and paint and details go.
have at least one of each ,atlas hands down on running &build ,athern has some nice but delicate details seams I’m always knock en the hand rails loose . J.W.
Just to add more confusion, this one is a Proto 1000.
It’s actually an RSC-3, with 3-axle trucks instead of 2. The 3-axle trucks allowed the engine to run on lower-quality track, since the weight was distributed over 6 axles instead of just 4. For modelers, this has the added advantage of more pickups and therefore more reliable power.
This engine had no DCC plug. I first wired in a DH123, which was easy, and later replaced it with a Soundtraxx LH unit, which took some squeezing. Now, it’s a solid, reliable engine that clanks up to speed as only an Alco can.
TCS for Athearns with the 9 pin connector is the T1A (no harness - it’s a buck cheaper than the T1 which comes with wires and a 9 pin plug). For the Atlas the board replacement is the A4X.
Yeah, I have noticed that on my pair of Athearn RTR RS-3 locos. One runs fairly quietly (or should I say less noisy) while the other makes a fair amount of noise although both locos run “smoothly”.
Any suggestions on how to quiet down these locos? The noise seems to come from the drive train.
There are two possible sources usually in Athearn loco’s. The motor itself makes a chirping sound and some have polished the commutator contacts. The other are the gears. I don’t know if the problem is still the same as the old blue box but some used to put in Pearl Drops abrasive tooth paste and run it on a test track for a good while in each direction and then clean out the gear boxes and put in a plastic compatible lube.
Wow, now that’s a novel approach. The loco is an RTR, bot Blue Box, but I am willing to try anything. Thanks for the tip. I will report back on the results.
The bulbs in the Athearn RTR RS-1 are ATHG63843 and “No Resistors Should Be Needed For The Light Bulbs” according to the instruction sheet that came with the loco.
So, I assume that these bulbs are 12 volt. Can anyone verify that?
Also, does anyone know the size of these bulbs in millimeters (mm).
I would not assume they are 12 volt. I always assume they are 1.5 volt and work my way up. This prevents burn outs of bulbs and/or LEDS (LED’s are never 12 volt). It seems most manufacturers are using lower voltage lighting these days (either for LED’s or small incandescent bulbs). I own one RTR RS-3 and the bulbs are rated to 1.5 volt . All my other RTR athearns use the same bulbs and they are 1.5 volt.
if you use the 9 pin plug attached to the factory circuit board you shouldn’t have to worry about adding resistors. if for some reason you do remove the board and hard wire the decoder then you would have to add resistors.
