OldEngineman BigDaddy: "It's been 4 years since the OP asked, I hope he came to a decision by now." I never bought the RS3. Eventually, I ended up getting 2 Proto 1000 RS2's (NH), a Kato RS2, and a Proto 1000 RSC2 (Milwaukee Road). The Kato (NYC) was a particularly nice find...
BigDaddy: "It's been 4 years since the OP asked, I hope he came to a decision by now."
I never bought the RS3. Eventually, I ended up getting 2 Proto 1000 RS2's (NH), a Kato RS2, and a Proto 1000 RSC2 (Milwaukee Road). The Kato (NYC) was a particularly nice find...
Rich
Alton Junction
If you want lack of detail, go with Bowser
It's been 4 years since the OP asked, I hope he came to a decision by now.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Although I like all of the RS-1 to RSD-5 Alcos, I am especially fond of the six-axle versions, RSD-4 and -5. Modeling the Santa Fe in the 1950s, Atlas was the only company that offered the RSD-4 in the black w/ silver stripes scheme. Well, as Paul pointed out above, the dimensions of the Atlas RS models are not quite right; especially, the long hood is several (prototype) feet too short, and they lack road-specific detailing. Then I saw at a train show a Division Point Santa Fe RSD-5, and in my mind this is simply the most beautiful brass diesel you can find.
(The pic might be laterally compressed; click on it to see the true dimensions.)
But the Athearn RS-3 IS generic in that they have only the little bitty side mount number boards, while all the RS-3's that SP&S bought had the big top-mounted angle number boards. And changing from the former to the latter on a decorated model is not-fun.
It appears Bowser will be solving that problem for me. As did OMI, previously.
Ed
I thing the arrival of Bowser's RS-3's has been pushed back to next summer, because of China problems.
Here's the deal: Athearn RTR RS-3's look better. They are much more accuate in appearance, with single bulb or twin sealed beam headlights, crosswise or lengthwise exhaust stack, 2 kinds of steam gen. or no steam gen., the correct horns per prototype, different fuel/water tanks per prototype, different radio antennas, finer handrails, different pilots, etc. The downside is that they are more fragile.
OTOH, the Athearn RTR's can have drive problems. The biggest one is that they suffer from cracked axle gears and generally need to be replaced at some point (easy to do). They also use the old Athearn motor instead of a modern can, so alignment issues can cause them to grind. This, too, can be fixed, but it's a little finicky.
The Atlas RS-3's run better. They have the Kato clone drive and thus are very smooth runners. They are heavier and so pull more cars. They never suffer cracked gears, and the motors are top notch and perfectly aligned.
OTOH, Atlas RS-3's have some pretty obvious dimensional problems, with the long and short hoods being the wrong lengths. They only offer it with the twin sealed beam headlights that are not positioned on the ends correctly, and this can mess up some paint schemes. They only offer it with one kind of air horn and no steam gen. On the newest models, they have redone the stack so it can be either crosswise or lengthwise but older ones have a pyramid shaped crosswise stack. The upside is that they are more robust.
The conclusion is that for looks, buy Athearn. For performance, buy Atlas. Not to say that Athearn RS-3's can't be made to run really well, and not to say that Atlas RS-3's can't be made to look better. It just depends on your interests and skill set.Ed,Athearn RS-3's are not "generic" as they have a lot of custom options in regards to stacks, steam gen., horns, tanks, and other details that makes them more prototypical. The Atlas RS-3's are truly generic with only the latest runs offering the two kinds of stacks and that's it.tstage,All the wiring in Athearn and Atlas are all black. Future runs of Athearn RTR RS-3's will be LED's.
I'm not an expert on engine performance, so I'll just say that the older Athearn units I had suffered from cracked axle gears. They ran fine after replacing them, but they still don't run as smoothly as the Atlas RS-3s I have. But I think the handrails and some details on the Athearn units seem a little finer then on the Atlas ones.
Jim
I agree with Tom,go with the Atlas RS-3.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
I bought one of those 'new old stock' RS3s a year ago. I put in a TCS decoder and have to say it is a very smooth running loco that just creeps on step 1. Mine has some road specific details ( CNR). I am very happy with it.
CN Charlie
I purchased a Athearn RS3 when it first came out. While it's a very nice looking unit, mine ran poorly. I also wasn't particularly impressed with the wiring (all black) and the use of grain 'o wheat incandescent bulbs for the front & rear headlights, which were glued in.
Needless to say, I wouldn't recommend them and would choose the Atlas RS3 instead. I have both a Silver & Gold version and they are terrific runners.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
I can't help with info on ones from 2007, but I got all three of the SP&S ones from a couple of years ago. I put decoders in them. They run beautifully. A guy thought they were brass. They DO look good. Only complaint is that they're generic.
Also, I have no idea about any changes over time that Athearn may have done.
I was considering buying a new-old-stock Athearn RTR RS3 from the 2007 production run.
Are these to be avoided? I've read mixed reviews on the RTR RS3. Some good reports, others not-so-good.
Can they be upgraded with parts from a later run?
Thanks...