Had not heard of it myself. Thanks for the link. I agree, a good looking small loco. I think it's a 4-wheel chassis, kind of hard to see and little info, with a long wheelbase.
It's also big enough to make it easy to squeeze in a motor, decoder, and maybe even sound in HO.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
Just Googled Republic RX500, and struck gold. The 'photos for' shows quite a few nice broadsides, good views of both ends and a number of interesting industrial establishment paint jobs.
It is a four-wheeler, with what appears to be a 'rubber springs on a diagonal' suspension for the axle bearings.
Interesting note, Allegheny Ludlum (a steel mill) specifies the hood end as front. Duke Power (at a named power plant) has the F at the cab end.
Couldn't find any dimensional data on a really quick look-around, but the two hard-hat steel workers riding the A-L loco seem to indicate that the hood access doors are about 5'6" tall. Anyone sufficiently interested can probably e-mail Republic and get the necessary dimensions.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - with diesel-hydraulic locomotives)
LensCapOn Just learned of the Republic RX500 small switcher. (Slow guy here) For all of you who love playing with old Hustlers and MDTs here is something new to think about. Looks like a scratch build would not be that hard, for scratch building. Heaven help my budget if anyone produces this at a good price point. Either do a search or hope my links work. http://www.republiclocomotive.com/rx500_industrial_locomotives.html http://www.northeast.railfan.net/diesel143.html
I suspect that spells doom for older EMD and Alco end cab switchers as well as the aging 44 and 70 tonners that is being used by industries.
Still a interesting locomotive could be used on a very small short line railroad that handles maybe 2-3 cars a day.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
De gustibus non est disputandum or "In matters of taste, there can be no disputes", but I think this loco is outright ugly. A design which could be found in the 1940´s, purely utilitarian, no frills, bells and whistles. Certainly OK for the job it is supposed to do, but I wish the times of a Raymond Loewy would be coming back.
Just for a little side bar, yesterday my family and I rode behind a 44 tonner that formerly belonged to the Maine Central in Black with red horizontal nose stripes on both ends pulling a DL&W passenger coach named " Mount Holly " This is owned and operated by theSouthern Prairie RR. out of Ogema, Sk. We ran about an hour west to an old elevator at the ghost town of Horizon where they used a run around to get the power back on point. Great day and lots of fun with my Grandson who is a real train nut.
Inside the elevator office there is a great "N" scale diorama of the former townsite with a mirrowed background so that you can see the other side of the buildings. In side the elevator there is a restored 1928 1& 1/2 ton GMC grain truck. Very nicely done.
We left and returned to the original station in Ogema even though for a long time it was cut in half and used for grain storage on a near by farm but was hauled home and rewfurbished with many collectables to look at in the freight roon (like a three wheeled velocipede) etc. and the living quarters were finished nicely in an early time period as well.
great day alround.
Johnboy out.............................
from Saskatchewan, in the Great White North..
We have met the enemy, and he is us............ (Pogo)
You can get a new one for about $1,000,000. Unlikely to find on EBay.
Paul
Modeling HO with a transition era UP bent
BRAKIE I suspect that spells doom for older EMD and Alco end cab switchers as well as the aging 44 and 70 tonners that is being used by industries. Still a interesting locomotive could be used on a very small short line railroad that handles maybe 2-3 cars a day.
I couldn't tell from the linked pages - is Republic fabricating new frames for their switcher?
BRAKIEStill a interesting locomotive could be used on a very small short line railroad that handles maybe 2-3 cars a day
Why would 2-3 cars per day be the limit? With 50,000 pounds of tractive effort, it should operate about the same as traditional small switchers like an Alco S-2 or EMD SW-1. Here's a photo of it hauling more than 2-3 loaded cars at one time, let alone "in one day".
Layout Design GalleryLayout Design Special Interest Group
chutton01Then why did you post that link to Ohio Locomotive Works in a different thread, which seems to be anti-doom for such EMD end cab switchers (problems with intra-forum beaming prevent me from linking to Brakies 'New-Life for older EMD switchers' thread)
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/231825.aspx
chutton01 BRAKIE I suspect that spells doom for older EMD and Alco end cab switchers as well as the aging 44 and 70 tonners that is being used by industries. Still a interesting locomotive could be used on a very small short line railroad that handles maybe 2-3 cars a day. Then why did you post that link to Ohio Locomotive Works in a different thread, which seems to be anti-doom for such EMD end cab switchers (problems with intra-forum beaming prevent me from linking to Brakies 'New-Life for older EMD switchers' thread)As for asthetics, I think these 4-wheelers looks fine, especially for the jobs they will be purposed for - not everything needs to look like a EMD E-8. Come on folks - form follows function, dang it! Searching around other forums seems to indicate these switchers have been in production at least since 2011, maybe earlier - ETA: yes earlier, apparently since 2007. I couldn't tell from the linked pages - is Republic fabricating new frames for their switcher?
Then why did you post that link to Ohio Locomotive Works in a different thread, which seems to be anti-doom for such EMD end cab switchers (problems with intra-forum beaming prevent me from linking to Brakies 'New-Life for older EMD switchers' thread)As for asthetics, I think these 4-wheelers looks fine, especially for the jobs they will be purposed for - not everything needs to look like a EMD E-8. Come on folks - form follows function, dang it! Searching around other forums seems to indicate these switchers have been in production at least since 2011, maybe earlier - ETA: yes earlier, apparently since 2007.
I'm not going to get into a long discussion since you seem to be clueless on tiny short lines that doesn't need a large engine.1-3 car daily is their norm.That's roughly 720 cars a year plus/minus..
This little buggy will help those tiny short line save fuel costs..
There is one (1) youtube video. Also, the Republic site says it has an AC drive. Is that the first for such a small engine?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUMTlXivDbI
BRAKIEI'm not going to get into a long discussion since you seem to be clueless on tiny short lines that doesn't need a large engine.1-3 car daily is their norm.That's roughly 720 cars a year plus/minus.. This little buggy will help those tiny short line save fuel costs..
Interesting info in the links down the left side: Tractive Effort, Power Calculations and AC Traction vs. DC Traction. Worth a read.
George V.
Well.... arailroad that moved only 2 to 3 cars per day would probably not want a locomotive much bigger than this one.
OTOH, a railroad that moved more than 2 to 3 cars per day might want this locomotive too.
Can't y'all be right?
BTW, as much as I like switchers, that thing is too ugly to model.
- Douglas
These switchers are built right here in South Carolina, about an hour from where I live. The railroad museum I volunteer at scheduled a tour of the plant about two years ago.
Modeling the Pennsylvania Railroad in N Scale.
www.prr-nscale.blogspot.com
A couple thoughts after reading threw the thread.
The RX500 doesn't strike me as ugly, maybe simple and bland.
It looks surprisingly close in size to an old Aethern Hustler.
Most models offered wer much larger than the prototype. A Plymouth MDT was a 25-40 ton little hydraulic. Do a search for one to see a photo. Or copy this to browser.
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=3277057
Grantline offers the only model the size of that small an engine. http://grandtline.com/products/images/5000%27s/ho_locos/7090_91.jpg