After an exhaustive 15 year search I finally captured this rare and elusive beauty, the Atlas Classic HO RS-3 Lehigh and Hudson River switcher. Despite way-high prices, lost auctions and the scarcity of these models, I perservered. Finally late one evening last week a listing too good to ignore popped up on Ebay, a buy-it-now in new condition. One click later and the prize was mine for a fair price. I can't say what grabbed me first--the lightning emblem or the dusky shade of green. But I finally got to see and touch what so many have clamored to own.In model railroading bliss,Rob
Congrats!
Ed
Well that does look super. Nice catch.
Hey, seriously, congratulations! Interesting loco, roadname, and history there!
I've had an interest in Mexican railroading for years, but sometimes it is very difficult to find good locos and rolling stock for the various Mexican railways, though they seem to come in bunches lately.
Not trying to steal your thunder, but I recently received this in from ScaleTrains and I think the paint scheme is pretty cool:
Rivet Counter HO Scale EMD SD40-2, NdeM/Two Tone Blue (scaletrains.com)
It has been a very bittersweet month for me as it pertains to model trains. Within the past year a model locomotive was announced by one of the major manufacturers (I'm not stating their name here for a good reason--I don't have my refund yet though it is pending), and I went through the waiting period when you are excited about the item, and then it's late of course with slow ocean shipping, etc., and then it finally comes in and gets through the distributor to my local train store to me. Then I opened it and realized immediately there was a major paint problem. The nose and a part of the long hood are one color; the cab and deck piece are another color, and the roadname was pad printed in another color. All 3 of those colors are supposed to be the same matching shade!
(The store was full of holiday customers and I was just there to pickup my engine. I sold other trains through the dealer to buy this, and didn't really want to hassle my local dealer though I will if manufacturer doesn't pay me directly.)
I contacted the manufacturer, whose apparently very kind customer service rep said "send photos; it must be a one-off mistake". and "You are the first to complain". Then tonight I learned that all the engines in the run are painted the same; the 3 spare bodies they have on hand are all the same, and they do not plan to make replacement bodies (that would be imo the only correct solution). I have the option of keeping the (very expensive to me) model, or possibly (it has not been fully authorized by the management of the manufacturer) returning it to them for a refund of my purchase price.
Now I most often take the manufacturer's side, because many years ago I did work for a manufacturer and I am generally understanding of what they go through, but words cannot convey my disappointment in the engine that I just boxed up for return.
The only bright side is that the refund for the expensive diesel will more than buy me the next ScaleTrains NdeM SD40-2 that I just ordered today.
But I'm still very sad, and venting as I write this.
I apologize to anybody who has read down this far. This is supposed to be a happy time of the year.
John Mock
Rob,
A goal finally achieved after a long pursuit is always rewarding. I can't say that the acquisition of my brass NYC NE-2 2-6-6-2 Mallet took anywhere that long but I sure have been pleased with its performance and glad that I could finally procure one.
Congrats on the new addition to your roster. I like the dark green paint scheme.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
Tom--
Love the NE 2-6-6-2.
They actually ran on the NYC branch line into Newberry Junction, Williamsport, PA to connect to the Reading Railroad. There have been photos of those engines published in the Williamsport Sun-Gazette. It's a way cool steamer to have!
John
Congrats Rob!
That is a very nice looking locomotive, and I am sure it will run as well as it looks.
Patience is a virtue!
Cheers!!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Good score! By classic, I'd venture you mean yellow box. Thus, it will run well, and do so practcally forever. Dan
Outstanding! And the timing for Christmas just can't be beat.
Over the years there were so many items I looked for in vain - until they finally showed up on Ebay.
Perserverence does pay off!
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
A 'beauty' of a locomotive. A lovely color too.
David
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
Congratulations on your find!
Locomotives for lesser known roads are, indeed, very difficult to find.
Dearborn Station in Chicago was owned by five railroads, and the 4-track mainline from Chicago's south suburbs into Dearborn Station was owned by the Chicago & Western Indiana RR. The C&WI switched the passenger cars at Dearborn Station. Ha! Try and find a C&WI switcher. Like the OP, it took me years to come up with two of them.
Rich
Alton Junction
Good for you. Had I discovered it you might have had some competition. I don't model the Lehigh and Hudson River but my freelanced railroad has a dummy interchange with it which disappears into a tunnel. I looked at the geography of my railroad and the L&HR was the most likely interchange partner in that location. Right now, the interchange track is just a fiddle track but I could make it a live interchange with the L&HR loco pulling the interchange traffic out of the tunnel. You are going to get more out of that loco than I would have so it's probably a good thing you found it.
Thanks everyone for your kind compliments and best wishes. Everyone have the most wonderful holiday.
This loco is a black box Classic and it runs so smooth you'd think there was no motor in it. With the added feature that all these Atlas RS-3s seem to possess--a two inch coast after throttling down. Magic flywheels. -Rob, OP
On my old DC layout, my Atlas engines were the best runners on the roster. I haven't purchased any factory DCC Atlas locos for my current layout because they haven't had what I wanted, but I repainted a few of my old RS-1s and equipped them with decoders for my new layout. They still run superbly even though they are pushing 40 years old.
Say what one may about the current state of model trains, retail, and marketing, the fact is is that it is technology and the internet that have made this sort of acquisition possible in a way that would have been almost impossible to imagine just a few decades ago. In the past you were looking locally, now you can look nationally, indeed globally. And you never know when something of interest to a fairly narrow geographic part of the country isn't sitting unloved on some shelf half a continent away.
And it can result in better prices - let me give an example: in the early 1970s the Central Electric Railfan's Association published a book about The Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company -- the book was called TM. CERA members got their copies as part of their membership. It was a best seller in the upper Midwest and Milwaukee in particular, and due to an unfortunate accident, the printed pages that were prepared to satisfy demand for additional printings were destroyed in a flood. So it became a rarity, a collector's item, and here in Milwaukee if you were looking for a copy of TM, which originally cost $10, you were looking at $100, or even double that. Heck some guys were even making big bucks selling the water damaged loose pages that were found in some guy's garage!
Then the internet and suddenly all those copies sitting around in houses of CERA members all over the country became available, and all at once you could get TM for $40 or $50. Supply grows and prices drop -- just like the Econ 101 professor said.
Dave Nelson
Southgate 2 Good score! By classic, I'd venture you mean yellow box. Thus, it will run well, and do so practcally forever. Dan
The Atlas Yellow box RS3 Locos. have molded on grabs and the couplers are mounted on the bottom side of the plastic walkway platforms, which make the couplers mounted on a weak point. The Atlas Classic black box RS3 is a great improvment over the Yellow box. The Classic RS3 has seperate grabs and the couplers are mounted on a metal pad of the frame, a strong point.
Very nice L&H engine, I didn't realize Atlas had that paint scheme. Might even have to start looking for one myself.
By the time I started running engines on the L&H, they were painted blue with "Conrail" on the sides. I was "taught the road" by one of the last remaining L&H engineers still working, Tom McGovern. Hard for me to believe that it was gettting close to 40 years ago... (sigh)