Atlas Model Railroad Co. Product Review

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This review was taken from the May, 2001 issue of Model Railroader Magazine and is reproduced with permission of Kalmbach Publishing Company, Waukesha, WI.

Upgraded HO Scale Alco RS-11 from Atlas

Review by Marty McGuirk, Associate Editor

Can you teach an old dog new tricks? Well, if the canine in question is the Atlas HO scale RS-11 the answer is most definitely “yes.” On the surface this model may look like a slightly polished version of the locomotive Atlas released in late 1985. However, the improvements and changes are so great that it qualifies as an all-new model.

Alco introduced the RS-11 as a head-on competitor to the highly successful EMD GP9. While it gained a reputation as a reliable workhouse among railroads that had previously rostered Alcos, the RS-11 was hardly a match for the Geep. According to Diesel Locomotives: The First 50 Years a total of 426 RS-11s (327 for the U.S. market, 99 for Mexico) were built between February 1956 and May 1961.

The RS-11 retained its basic appearance over the course of its production. Alco offered the RS-11 either with or without dynamic brakes; with a choice of 1,200-, 1,400-, or 1,800-gallon fuel tanks, or a split 2,400-gallon fuel/water tank for passenger units equipped with steam generators. (Southern Pacific and New Haven were the only U.S. railroads with such RS-11s.)

The oddest ducks of all RS-11s were those bought by the Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific, which later went to the Central Vermont. These units had the dynamic brakes in the short hood, smaller cross-mounted fuel and air tanks, and Montreal Locomotive Works lightweight trucks instead of the more common AAR type B trucks.

On RS-11s built after 1959 (Phase II engines), three of the air intakes were grouped toward the cab instead of being equally spaced along the middle of the hood as on the Phase I models.

The Atlas model includes the key spotting features of a Phase 1 RS-11 with dynamic brakes molded into the long hood, AAR trucks, a 1,200-gallon fuel tank, and five air intake openings evenly spaced long the sides.

Railroads owning the Phase I RS-11 (The details on these may not be an exact match for the Atlas model) included the Chicago & North Western; Delaware & Hudson; Green Bay & Western; Lehigh Valley; Main Central; Missouri Pacific; New York Central; New York, New Haven & Hartford; New York, Chicago & St. Louis (Nickel Plate); Norfolk & Western; Northern Pacific; Pennsylvania RR; Southern; and Southern Pacific.

When Atlas introduced its RS-11 back in 1985 the model used the firm’s RS-3 frame, which meant the model was about a foot too short overall, with the long hood shortened to compensate. The trucks were also spaced inward a scale 6”. The new model corrects these discrepancies and matches the prototype in all key dimensions.

But that wasn’t the first thing I noticed when I took the RS-11 out of the box. Except for the addition of the two end handrails the model is completely assembled and detailed right out of the box. Although the individual grabs are painted, the handrails are attention getters. A comparison of the new body shell to the old one (shown on page 24) reveals the many improvements – big and small – that can be found all over this model.

The RS-11 features typical Atlas construction, with separate handrails and frames, body, and cab that drop onto a metal chassis. The shell is held in place with clips on each corner. To remove the shell, carefully squeeze the sides to disengage the clips, then lift the body clear. Be sure to remove the handrails from the ends of the cab before removing the body.

Under the hood the RS-11 also features improvements, the most noticeable of which is the addition of a circuit board that includes a socket for a Digital Command Control decoder. Remove the factory installed jumper plug from the socked, plug in the DCC decoder of your choice, and the engine is converted to command control. A small arrow near the plug indicates the location of pin 1. You can also replace the circuit board with an Atlas Master dual-mode decoder (no. 340). This is the same one included with the Atlas GP38, and it’s a fairly simple replacement.

Our sample ran smoothly and reliably through its speed range, although compared to the latest crop of diesels I found it slights noisier when it as running long hood forward, which is the way the CV’s - and many other railroads’ – RS-11s were set up to run.

The speed range, between 3 and 58 scale miles per hour, seems ideal for a road unit like this one, although the top speed is short of the 92-mph gearing Alco offered on the passenger version. The model should pull about 25 cars on straight and level track.

The model includes dual directional headlights. A nice touch is the illuminated number boards. These are quite believable, with only the numbers lit, not the black background. The number boards are also well sealed and don’t allow any stray light to pass around the edges.

Our sample came painted and lettered in Central Vermont’s late 1970s-80s “Larson Green” paint scheme. The paint and lettering colors were matched to samples provided by the Central Vermont Ry. Historical Society, and they are a dead match to the prototype. The grab irons and handrails are painted yellow. I did find it was easy to chip the paint on the handrails, so if you plan to handle the model a great deal you may want to give the handrails an overspray of clear finish to protect them.

Out of the box the RS-11 is ready-to-run, with Accumate automatic knuckle couplers installed. The coupler height and wheel gauge both checked out perfectly.

Atlas RS-11 set a new standard for ready-to-run diesels when it was introduced “way back when.” If your roster includes any of those burly brutes you may want to retire them in favor of this extensively updated new model. –

HO Alco RS-11 diesel

Price: $94.95

Manufacturer:

Atlas Model Railroad Co.

603 Sweetland Ave.

Hillside, NJ 07205

www.atlasrr.com

Description:

Plastic and metal ready-to-run locomotive

Features:

Directional headlight

Drawbar pull: 1.76 ounces

Engine weight: 13.5 ounces

Minimum radius: 18”

Performance:

Minimum, midrange, and maximum speeds on filtered DC, straight track:

Scale mph Load Volts Amperes

3.3 Free 3.0 .10

17.9 Free 6.0 .20

39.5 Free 9.0 .25

58.7 Free 12.0 .45

- Slipping 12.0 .45

- Stalled 12.0 1.0

Road names:

Alco Demonstrator

Central Vermont

Lehigh Valley

New York Central

Southern Pacific

Undecorated