Hello to all i have a pretty simple questina here it is what were RS3s used for??? Specifficaly the Rutland Railroad. Thanxs in advance[8D] Tim
Freek, it may be easier to list what RS-3’s were NOT used for! General freight, coal & iron ore hauling (I’m partial to the LS&I fleet) and even commuter trains. When the GB&W rebuilt some to 2,000 HP, they were known to have quite a bit of “jump” to them. Good switchers, road units, even helpers. Extremely versatile locomotives, indeed!
Mick
On the New Haven, anything.
A single unit, local freight and local passenger.
Two units more local freight and commuter trains.
Three units long haul general freight…
The NH’s were steam generator equipped for passenger service.
so it would be alright to run thme for mainline service???
Absolutely—snortin’ and smokin’ all the way!
Mick
Cool i think I will get that Atlas N scale Rutland sometime this winter[^]
Think GP7/9 when it comes to Alcos RS units…Like the GP7/9 these RS units was go everywhere do anything type of locomotives.[:D]
Yeah, I run GP9’s in consists with my Alco (Milwaukees all.) They look great. I just picked up another Milwaukee GP9 from M.B. Klein - a real bargain at $40 for a P2K, and they were running a 10% off sale on top of that! I added in a decoder and a resistor for the headlights, and #2387 joined the fleet a half-hour later.
Rutland’s RSs went everywhere and did everything. They’re cool looking to boot.
Many roads used them in passenger service because of their quick acceleration. And their high tractive effort made them great freight service off all types.
Nick
I’ve always thought of them as Alco’s Jeeps. On my on road, I plan to use them as both commuter power and road switchers. They will be a significant part of my diesel fleet. The problem with them is the shell is so small, it’s hard to fit a decoder much less a speaker. It might be necessary to have a dummy unit for sound. Atlas RS-3s are not DCC ready. Athearn has come out with a DCC ready RS-3 but I would prefer Atlas running quality. I have one Atlas that I am working on retro fitting with a decoder. If that works out, I will stay with Atlas.
Atlas RS-3’s are fairly easy to convert to DCC using either the TCS A1X decoder (they keep changing the names, and some have more functions, but it definitely starts with the A!) or the NCE DA-SR or a Digitrax DH163A0 (or the K0 if it’s the older one with a Kato drive, btu the only real difference is the K0 decoder includes a couple of pieces of stiff wire on the track terminals so the connectors slip over them. I find it more reliable to solder things so I don;t bother, and the K0 decoder costs a few dollars more for those pieces of wire). The silly center single light bulb goes away (although you CAN use it), I repalced it with a pair of golden-white LEDs and 1K resistors on each LED. I cut back the light guide inside and used heat shrink to attach the LED to the light guide.
ANyway, RS-3’s were used for anythign and everything, even, as mentioned, passenger service, when equipped with a steam generator. “Alco Geep” is about it, except Alco developed the RS series when EMD still though cab units were the way to go. And then EMD blew it with the horrible BL, and FINALLY got it right with the GP-7.
Yeah, I’m an Alco fan [:D]
–Randy
i heard they where like swichers
The RS3s, like all Alcos with the 244s, were purchased originally as a concession to the Unions to guarantee full employment of locomotive shop forces.[}:)][(-D][:-,]
Seriously, they were used for about anything. Like their PA brethren, when they ran, they could out-accelerate and out-pull just about anything on the line.
They were built with single or (optional) dual controls, and were intended to run long hood forward when equipped with a single control stand.
Performance and reliability were usually improved with replacement of the turbocharger and/or the prime mover exhaust stack, and not a few railroads did that in some form or another.
Just remember, the passenger units had the steam boiler in the short hood, with it’s exhaust stack in a streamlined fairing attached to the rear exterior wall of the cab between the windows.
Despite their shortcomings, many of the RS3s lasted into the 1960’s and longer as-is, and a number of RRs including Katy and Frisco re-engined theirs with EMD 567 prime movers sitting under a modified GP7/9 long hood. These “morphodites”, “Josephines” and “Christines” lasted in some cases into the 1980s in main line service, and even longer after resale to short lines.
Mick, are you sure you didn’t mean the opposite–the RS3s were indeed used on general freight, coal and commuter trains.
I think the answer is quite simple. The RS-3s were used to make the train look cool.
I’m ducking now.
Dave
You like LS&I? I model it.
Any idea what year did the RS-3 come out?
The Alco designation “RS” stands for Road Switcher
[swg]
Im not 100% sure, but I think early 50s. Maybe 1953, but dont quote me on that.
ftwNSengineer:
That works for me. I’m modeling the transition era so I’ll be able to add one of these to sparse collection: NW2 and 2-8-2. Thanks
The RS-3 went into manufacture in May 1950.
The New Haven got theirs soon after.