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This
review is from Model Railroad News, October 2003.
Reprinted with permission of Lamplight Publishing Co.
THE
ATLAS O RS-1 DIESEL ELECTRIC
by David
Otte
Referred to
as the granddaddy of the road switcher, the American
Locomotive Company’s 1,000 horsepower all-purpose
locomotive made a lasting impact on the way railroads
utilized the diesel electric. No longer just a switcher, the
RS-1 proved successfully to railroad men that the diesel
could be used efficiently in many roles and in turn set in
motion the eventual demise of the steam locomotive in
America. Now, for the first time mass produced in O gauge,
Atlas O is presenting this historic locomotive as a
ready-to-run model for both 3-rail and 2-rail layouts.
Modelers can operate their tinplate versions with
TrainMaster Command Control and enjoy the realistic sounds
of RailSounds while scale modelers can utilize the same set
up with the aid of a power inverter (sold separately) or
choose a DCC ready version.
Granddad
Road Switcher
Mr. John
Farrington, President of the Rock Island Railroad has been
given the credit for the birth of the RS-1. During the late
summer of 1940, Farrington approached Alco with an idea for
a locomotive that could be used for both road and switching
service. There would be great cost savings for railroads if
a locomotive manufacturer could bring to market a machine
that could be on the road during the day for example and
used as a switcher at night. This means that one locomotive
could be available for duty almost 100% of the time, a very
economical investment. Alco immediately rose to the
challenge put before them by their long time steam
locomotive customer and began to build two 1,000 horsepower
units for the Rock Island. The manufacturer referred to this
model as a specification number E-1640, but by the 1950s its
more common name, RS-1, had become prominent in the railroad
industry.
There were
two very important components to the creation of the RS-1,
and they were the 539 engine and the American Association of
Railroads B type truck. The low profile 539 prime mover was
designed by Alco to directly compete with the Electro Motive
Corporations SW and NW switchers. This resulted in what was
later called the S1 and S2 Alco switchers. Each model was
equipped with a 660 horsepower or 1,000 horsepower turbo
charged engine respectively. Production of these units had
just begun to take off when the Rock Island put in its
request for a new type of locomotive. Alco began with the
1,000 horsepower S2, lengthened its frame by eight feet six
inches, added a short hood behind the cab to house a steam
generator for use in passenger service, hung an 800 gallon
fuel tank and battery boxes under the extended frame, and
placed the engine on a pair of road trucks. The choice Alco
made for this last design feature proved to be the dealmaker
for the road switcher. The AAR type B truck was not a new
design and had been used on several locomotives preciously,
such as Baltimore & Ohio’s #50 Box cab diesel. The
swing bolster, drop equalizer trucks were built by General
Steel Castings based on a variation of a Commonwealth
design. It has been said by many a railroad crew that no
other road switcher ever rode better!
Apparently,
Alco knew what it was doing, as this combination of design
elements formed a successful product line for this
manufacturer and the impetus for the other locomotive
companies to further develop the general purpose locomotive.
Between 1941 and 1960, 623 RS-1s were built, including the
6-axle truck version (RSD1) constructed for the US Army
during World II. It would be another six years before
Fairbanks Morse’s H15-44 and EMD’s GP7 would be
introduced into road switcher service. Alco later offered
up-rated models of the RS-1 in the form of the RS2 and RS3,
which had slightly modified car bodies. The RS-1 was used by
many US and even Mexican railroads (not to mention service
in Iran during the war years) too numerous to mention here,
so I will refer the reader to issue #58 of
Extra 2200
South for a complete model roster of the 1,000
horsepower Alco engine. Generally, the RS-1 had a
long service life, especially with second and third hand
owners, and some are still serving faithfully yet today. In
particular, the Arkansas & Missouri #22 comes to mind.
Built in April 1943, it was still being used to pull the
company’s passenger excursion train until being recently
donated – in operating condition – to Museum of
Transport in St. Louis. You can check it out on the web at www.museumoftransport.org.
The
1:48 Scale RS-1
The Atlas O
RS-1 is definitely what you would call a workhorse for any
layout. Like the prototype, it is well constructed and can
handle the everyday operations of a tinplate layout. That is
the first impression I got from this model as I removed it
from the foam-incased box. It is a hefty chunk of machinery
and weighs in at about five pounds. Most of this weight is
due to the manufacturer’s emphasis on using die cast metal
for every major component except the hoods and cab. The
frame, fuel tank, side frames, gearboxes, pilots, and
couplers are all made of metal. Furthermore, the sill
mounted hand rails are made up of stamped metal stanchions
and metal railing. Even the separately applied hand grabs,
which number 22 in all, are made of metal.
I immediately
become appreciative of this construction as I handled the
locomotive, removed its hoods and fuel tank to see the
internal workings, and reassembled all the pieces. This use
of metal parts allowed me to successfully examine, poke, and
prod the model without damaging any of the nice details. All
too often, manufacturers load up models with delicate
plastic details only to have modelers complain that they are
too fragile for operation. This is definitely not the case
with the RS-1 and this initial construction feature really
scored points with me.
However, the
use of metal parts does not put this engine in a tinplate
category along with post war era Lionel steamers and
diesels. The RS-1 is a full-scale model loaded with crisp
details. I checked its general dimensions, including the
overall length over the pilots, wheelbase, hood height,
truck wheelbase, and cab width with published drawings of
the Alco unit and found them to be accurate to within ± one
scale inch.
Besides the
size comparison, Atlas O had detailed their RS-1 to match a
specific phase of the production model. Generally, most
diesels locomotive have changes both internally and
externally made to their design by the manufacturer after
they have gone into production, and railfans came up with a
way to designate these variations. In the case of the RS-1,
there are three phases which changed the appearance of the
locomotive: Phase
I built between 1941 and 1942 included 13 locomotives with
square belly fuel tanks and 36 vertical slats in the
radiator shutters; the 395 Phase II units built from 1943 to
1957 had an oval fuel tank and 17 wider vertical slats in
the radiator shutters; and a Phase III model offered from
1957 to 1960 had a simplified sheet metal hood construction
giving the last 15 units built a noticeable lip to appear on
the end of the hoods.
Atlas O
wisely chose the numerously built Phase II model for their
prototype and followed it very closely. In fact, I was able
to determine that the prototype the manufacturer based this
model on was built in 1948 or before, as Alco began using
welded hood door hinges in January 1949 and the O scale
model displays riveted or bolted on hood door hinges. In
line with this detail, Atlas has also given their model a
rounded end fuel tank vent pipe, visible on the left side of
the long hood – an item that Alco changed in 1950 to a
squared off end pipe. Along with these little details, Atlas
O also got the more identifiable Phase II changes such as
the 17 vertical slats of the radiator shutters correct as
well. Of course, getting details right isn’t new for this
New Jersey manufacturer. Having reviewed all of their
locomotive releases to date, I always make the assumption
that they will strive to get the details right!
Now, that is
not to say they don’t make mistakes. From time to time I
have disagreed with their interpretation of a detail or two
and the RS-1 is not excluded. Looking at the top of the long
hood just in front of the cab, a small rectangular shaped
hatch is located here. No one in the real world knew exactly
what Alco designed this hatch for, but it appears in most
photos available to me as being oval in shape. Perhaps the
researchers at Atlas O have proof that shows otherwise, so I
will just note this as a questionable observation.
Other
attributes of this model include see-through pilot steps,
raised walkway tread pattern, separately applied air horn
and brake wheels, see-through metal walkway over radiator
fan grille, air hoses, widow glazing with add-on windshield
wipers, and two unique hand painted crew figures. The
modeler will realize that these figures are facing in the
long hood direction, which is proper as Alco meant the RS-1
to be operated with the long hood forward. One other notable
feature of this model is the AAR B style trucks. They are
beautifully rendered with brake cylinders, piping, sanding
lines, and metal springs installed separately along with the
handbrake chains on the front trucks. In my opinion, they
have to be the best AAR B trucks modeled so far in O scale!
Going hand in
hand with accuracy and detail is quality of decoration.
Atlas O succeeded in this area as well. Our sample came
decorated for the New York Central’s class DRS-1a No.
8103. This was one of 5 units delivered to the NYC in early
1948 along with a total of 9 more delivered later in 1948
and in 1950. No. 8103 was renumbered under the PennCentral
merger to 9903 and was later retired in April 1972. The NYC
RS-1s were delivered in the Lightening Stripe scheme with
black and white safety stripes on the pilots. The finish on
the O scale model is impeccable, and I was particularly
impressed with the neat application of the stripes on the
pilots not to mention the gray and white lightening bolts on
the hood sides. The model also includes fully readable
miniature Alco builder’s plates on the cab sides.
Operation
Okay, so this
looks to be a great scale model of the RS-1, but how does it
run you ask? Very well. As was started with their release of
the SD35, the Atlas O road switcher is equipped with
TrainMaster Command Control and RailSounds. This is a proven
operating system in all respects. There were no surprises
with the RS-1 as all the popular commands including: air
horn, bell, squealing brakes, CrewTalk, TowerCom, and front
and rear ElectroCouplers. Some of the other capabilities of
TMCC that came in handy were the abilities to increase or
decrease the volume of RailSounds, turn on/off the smoke
unit and give it a boost for super smoking action, setting
the desired momentum, and finally a “boost” command
which provided the locomotive with a little extra oomph to
get up a steep grade. In addition to TMCC, the RS-1 has
bright, directionally controlled headlights, illuminated
number boards, and a powerful smoke unit which produces
voluminous amounts of smoke – quite proper for a true Alco
diesel locomotive as they were referred to as honorary steam
engines by their crews. Of special mention, is that under
TMCC the locomotive always starts moving with the long hood
in the forward direction just like the prototype was
designed to operate.
Two can
motors, both with flywheels, propel the Atlas O RS-1
providing all wheel drive. While the manufacturer specifies
a minimum operating curve size of O36, I was able to
negotiate our sample through O31 curve. It ran smoothly
around the tighter radius track sections, but the engine
overhangs the track enough that I would still recommend the
larger size curved track. Overall the locomotive was a good
runner right out of the box with a low consistent speed
typical of AC powered equipment – about 12 scale miles per
hour. A longer break in period may produce better results
however. Between the weight, the power from two motors, and
the four traction tires, this O scale road switcher is a
great hauler and I had it pulling a consist of 27
recent-make scale-sized freight cars on a level track
layout.
If you do not
have a TMCC setup, do not feel neglected though. The RS-1
will also operate with a conventional transformer. I tested
the engine with out MTH Z4000 transformer and found the
Atlas O locomotive to be fully responsive to this power
source as well. There are a few things to take note of when
running in this mode. First, the modeler will want to
install the included 9-volt alkaline battery for
uninterrupted RailSounds. The battery connection is smartly
located in the real battery box behind the fuel tank. The
modeler needs to remove a retaining screw, move the battery
box cover forward slightly, then pull the cover out. The
9-volt battery clip lies inside this opening. Secondly,
there are a group of manually controlled switches under the
cab of the model so that the conventional operator can turn
on/off the smoke unit or the sound system. Finally, there is
a volume adjustment screw located here as well for getting
the sound level just right. If you are using an older AC
transformer without a horn/whistle button and bell button,
it is suggested that the modeler purchase a Lionel Sound
Activation Button for each of these sound effects. A “how
to” section in the included owners manual explains the
procedure for wiring these buttons to an older style
transformer so the exceptional digitally recorded air horn
and bell sounds can be enjoyed.
A
Truly All Purpose Locomotive
Having the
ability to run in command or conventional modes, along with
the fact it is only about 14 inches long, the Atlas RS-1 is
perfect for almost any size model railroad. It can negotiate
tight radius curves and
like the prototype, the Alco model can be used as a
yard switcher or over-the-road power. It is a perfect
addition to the roster for steam-diesel transition era
modelers and even for those modelers concentrating on
railroading in the 60s and 70s. On top of this, Atlas O is
offering their model in a variety of road names: Great Northern, Minneapolis & St. Louis, New Haven,
Pennsylvania, Santa Fe, Long Island, Rutland, and an
undecorated version. Recently, Atlas O announced additional
road names to be delivered in October 2003:
Jersey Central, Milwaukee Road, Rock Island,
Susquehanna, and Atlantic & East Carolina. No doubt,
given time, most modelers will be able to find an RS-1 in
their favorite road name making the Atlas O locomotive an
even more appealing model to the lager O gauge community.
RS-1 Diesel
Locomotive
MSRP:
3-rail: $399.95
2-rail DCC
Ready: $349.95
2-rail TMCC:
$399.95
Atlas O, LLC
387 Florence
Avenue
Hillside, NJ
07205
908-687-9590
www.atlaso.com
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