Years ago MRC did a primitive model of this loco… It needs to be done again… so those of you talented modelers out there please spend precious hours of modeling time to make a wonderful model of this loco so just about the time you get it done Atlas… Rapido… Hornsby and Kato (maybe even Con Cor) will all announce they are doing one in N Scale….. I really only want this one loco this time…. but will there be a next time… You bet. Even though I am very happy with the selection and quality of todays locomotives…. I have always liked the Gators and never got to see one in action… that I can remember… lots of F's Geeps and SD 24's and 26's , 45's Geep 40 etc…… oh and dcc ready with onboard sound of course.. a smoke unit would be nice but it is not a deal breaker….
Well hopefully I can spread some joy. I was asked to do an Alco RSD 15 about 6 months ago by a customer who purchased on of my DT6-6-2000. It is on my list, some parts have already been started. I think it will be available in the spring of next year. Hopefully it will be worth the wait? -James
What makes the Rowa (Model Power, Con-Cor) RSD-15 so miserable is not impossible to fix, certainly not to the point that scratchbuilding is required. The original MRC is a high-nose, the second Rowa/MP/Con-Cor is a low-nose. First, the darn things are everywhere, and dirt cheap. What makes them so darn ugly is the thick handrails and the open pilots, and the amazing latex paint dips they came in that will come right off with brake fluid. Deal with those issues and you're well on the way. The chassis have been replaced with a combination of Atlas B-40 drives with Atlas six-axle trucks from the C-628/630 by several (parts are available), or, if you want to go old-school and have one still pull like a moose, replace the motor with a beefier one and rebuild the trucks to put the traction tires on the unpowered (inner) axles and move the pickups to the outer two. Worked for me. I have a four-pack with etched wire, redone pilots, big motors, and I'd never work that hard to scratch them instead. This is the working definition of the locomotive that nobody wants to invest in because they just KNOW as soon as they do a manufacturer will introduce it and you're clobbered as a supplier. All the necessary mechanism parts are on the Atlas lot. Bachmann certainly has the ability to pull the trigger on anything they want. Heck even BLI may take it on this millennium. Everybody looks at the other guys.... still looking..... still looking.... There's lots of gently rounded and angled contours on that particular body. Unless somebody comes up with a better printer than Shapeways (and it just might be here already...Jim...nudge....) RP isn't quite there....yet... or it hasn't been seen in the flesh. And you'll still really have to have etched parts to get the handrails on an RP shell. I left the side-sills on my MP ones and cut the handrails off above and replaced with wire. If you want one TODAY, do a full rebuild on the shell and stop waiting, because the surfaces on the MP shell are still better than what you can get on Shapeways at least. One of these days though.... you're going to see an 'off the printer' RP shell that you can shoot paint on without more prep work and it will be the equal of injection. It's sure not the 3D design models, it's the printing results, and I still think that's just a matter of time here until there's another paradigm shift.
To follow up on what Randy had said about using an Atlas B-40 mechanism, here is what John Sing is working on: http://www.pbase.com/atsf_arizona/n_scale_rsd15&page=all Regards, Wolf
Atlas only need to shrink down their O scale model: http://www.atlastrainman.com/Locomotives/tmorsd715.htm
There you go, they can do it in O scale, and they've done it in as many roadnames as some of their N scale locos so not being a popular prototype doesn't wash as an excuse.
Yes, that's right, the Pbase album above shows the progress on building a good-running N scale RSD-15. It's progressed forward since these two pic's were taken, filled in the 'air gap' under the fuel tanks, and started on the wire handrails: And a RSD-7: Here's the mechanism: James Norris, what mechanism were you thinking to put under your 3D printed RSD-15 shell? By any chance planning to use the same Atlas B40-8 mechanism and use the Atlas C628 trucks schema?
I have a BLI one from an earlier run they are very nice models, figured my chances of ever getting an N scale one are pretty slim. I do have an old Model Power one somewhere but throwing away everything except the basic body shell and milling mechanisms to fit and coming up with an acceptable looking and running loco at the end of the process is beyond my skills so I'll wait for Atlas or BLI to realise there is a market for an N scale one. I figure I have about 30 years of life left so I might see one before I join that big model railroad club in the sky.
If you can get a hold of an rsd12 you can cut the nose down to make an rsd15. Now on you old model power loco it would be interesting to see how you end up making what you want. Would there be a way to wire it for DCC? I have an atlas RS11 that I want to make into an RSD12. I am hoping that by swapping the frames with an rsd4/5 would work. Won't know until I try. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free
The RSD12 is a considerably shorter body over the radiator. John Sing's project is what I'm talking about. There's several guys here that have done that project. John has seen my quad in action. The only thing I've got going for mine is that I'm quite sure they will outpull an Atlas mechanism about 2:1. Side view: The major mechanism changes were swapping the motors with Kato (Con-Cor) PA1 motors (which dates this), and then redoing the trucks so the traction tire axles go to the inside as idlers, and the solid wheels go to the center on the geared drive. Then rebend the contacts so that the center wheels get pickup (think of how the Trix U28C is and it's an imitation of that). Has worked VERY well, and also eliminates the wobble. So they rumble along with my YK unit coal train of 30 cars up a 2.5% grade, never overheat, and just keep going, and going, and going. Any good, beefy five-pole motor can be jury-rigged in there - plenty of room. I'd started to convert my four over to the Atlas B40 chassis drive concept - until tractive effort tests on the C630 proved to me that I'd need about double the number of locomotives to do it, so unless you're a tractive-effort fanatic like I am there's no particular reason to recommend this approach. If you look closely, you can see the secret though - the wheel plating was worn off about 15 years ago, its down to raw brass, and combined with a whole lot of real lead in there, gives it the footing advantage. The downside is that you're still into those darn soft plastic gears and axles, and they do wear out. I've replaced several worm gears over the years. If new and good ones came out, same deal - if they pulled, I'd probably retire these with honors, but you know, instead of waiting 20 years I've had a lot of fun with these in the meanwhile. Oh, and I do custom brass handrail jobs, too. More than anything else, that's the upgrade that makes these palatable.
I briefly considered doing an N scale Indiana Hi-Rail layout and got out to see their operation in the late 1990s (or very early 2000s). At any rate, I did see 442 in Defiance Ohio (before IHRC went under and 442 headed south), my understanding is that IHRC had problems keeping the alligators running (a lot like the Mehano made models - scale features galore). My motive power plans were to use a couple "fixed-up" Mehano C-420s and an RSD-15... with some fixes applied. I went another direction with my N scale collecting and the IHRC layout idea got dropped. I suppose it would be nice to see a major manufacturer do an RSD-15 again... EDIT: If I recall correctly, someone will have to invest many hours designing the locomotive in a CAD program and then offering it for sale on Shapeways before a major company will announce that they too have a model about to be released. Therefore I'm not sure traditional scratch building will trigger a response from the big boys... if that worked then we would have N scale HH600/660s by now.
Considering that only 75 examples of the locomotive were built it is not surprising that the model hasn't seen but one basic release. However given the fact that almost anything that carried a UP or ATSF roadname has seemed to have been offered by someone I do find it rather surprising that a newer version hasn't made its way to market just for the fact that the ATSF owned the Lion's share of them. Alco products have seen a fairly good representation in the last 10 to 15 years except for the C-636. Even the 420 got a new release. So just maybe it will come about. Considering that Kato decided to produce the E-5 and had a good seller out of it numbers that were produced shouldn't be a factor.
Just a thought guys, BLI does make n scale stuff. Their catalog shows the PA. Has anyone thought about doing an email campaign to see if they would make this model for you guys since they already make one in HO? Just a thought. It would be interesting to hear their reply. Their email is info@broadway-limited.com Address is: Broadway Limited Imports, LLC 9 East Tower Circle Ormond Beach, FL 32174 I just sent them an email asking if they have ever thought about manufacturing one of these. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free
If you add the almost identical RSD7 the total increases to 104, only nine units less, and with more original owners, than the U25C which Hornby thinks viable in N scale.
