Bachmann RS-3

[curtwbb]

Hi Everyone,
I am looking to purchase a RS-3 to use at my club during operation nights. I currently have either steam or the type of early diesels that are A/B units, both of which are a pain to turn around to head in the opposite direction.

I have always liked the "RS" look but I have no experience with Bachmann diesels (just steamers). For those of you with one is it a good reliable puller?

[thewvnetwork]

I have the Western Maryland RS-3, and although I haven't had it all that long and haven't run it a whole lot, I would say its capabilities are right up there with the Spectrum 2-8-0 Consolidation steam engine.  Similar hauling capability, similar handling, etc.  just diesel instead of steam.     There are those who said the RS-3 isn't necessarily one of the best engines in Bachmann's offerings, but thus far I disagree with that.  The new S4 is nice too, but I suppose it would probably need turning around for point to point work as well. 

[jettrainfan]

I saw 2 Bachmann S4s from a club member, they can haul 22 cars no problem out of the box, but going up a good sized hill with no running start, they stalled right at the top. my Bachmann 2-8-0 can haul a 20 car train up the same hill at 75 throttle. I'd say its a bit less than 2 percent grade. Technically, you can run a S4 backwards and forwards. The RS3 was built with its cab moved up a bit for better visibility going long hood forward, so that could also be ran forwards or backwards... heck, I've seen a Dash 8 and a High hood SD40-2 from a yard job that they didn't bother turning around go long hood forward from berea ohio to Bellevue ohio. Sure it must've been pretty awkward... but its prototypical.

I've never owned or ran a Bachmann RS-3 (would've loved to own 3 Southerns... i can dream, can't i?) but i know that the Bachmann GP7 is a great puller, matches up with a bachmann 4-8-4 or bachmann 2-8-0 no problem.

[Jim Banner]

CPR, for one, ran RS3's long hood forward.  The union demanded it - the engineers who had until then run steam locomotives boiler forward liked to have that large mass of metal between them and the idiots that tried to beat them at highway crossings.  That did not change until the manufacturers started installing collision posts in the short hoods.  The down side of long hood forward operation was the amount of diesel exhaust that ended up in the cab, poisoning the crew.  Early units that ran short hood forward were not much better.  Many old time steam engineers hated the early diesels, although laying on the cab floor with a wet sack over you, or having to crawl into the tender water tank and close the hatch to survive the smoke and fumes in a long tunnel cannot have made a steamer much fun either.

Jim

[jward]

i have a bachmann rs3 as well as an atlas one. both run very smooth, but the atlas one has more weight and thus more pulling power. that said, i am impressed enough by the bachmann one that i will be buying several more as funds permit.

[curtwbb]

Thanks everyone. I see a new RS-3 in my future.

[MilwaukeeRoadfan261]

I saw 2 Bachmann S4s from a club member, they can haul 22 cars no problem out of the box, but going up a good sized hill with no running start, they stalled right at the top. my Bachmann 2-8-0 can haul a 20 car train up the same hill at 75 throttle. I'd say its a bit less than 2 percent grade. Technically, you can run a S4 backwards and forwards. The RS3 was built with its cab moved up a bit for better visibility going long hood forward, so that could also be ran forwards or backwards... heck, I've seen a Dash 8 and a High hood SD40-2 from a yard job that they didn't bother turning around go long hood forward from berea ohio to Bellevue ohio. Sure it must've been pretty awkward... but its prototypical.

I've never owned or ran a Bachmann RS-3 (would've loved to own 3 Southerns... i can dream, can't i?) but i know that the Bachmann GP7 is a great puller, matches up with a bachmann 4-8-4 or bachmann 2-8-0 no problem.

I once saw a CN freight in Michigan that was a short train with 3 big what appeared to be SD-50's, 60's or 70's with a standard wide nose and the lead unit was running long hood first. Until then, I had never seen a large diesel run that way.

[jward]

some railroads, notably norfolk & western amd southern, specified their locomotives be built to run long hood forward. their successor norfolk southern also specified this at first. their early purchases like the sd60s, c39-8s and gp59s were long hood forward.

that said, any locomotive with a control stand can lead in either direction, but it is very uncomfortable to run a locomotive set up for short hood lead in reverse. it requires the engineer to turn around and reach behind himself to use the controls. the situation is much worse on locomotives with a desktop control stand. this is why you don't see locomotives run this way much anymore.

[rogertra]

any locomotive with a control stand can lead in either direction, but it is very uncomfortable to run a locomotive set up for short hood lead in reverse. it requires the engineer to turn around and reach behind himself to use the controls. the situation is much worse on locomotives with a desktop control stand. this is why you don't see locomotives run this way much anymore.

Actually, with a control stand, the engineer just turns their seat so that the back of the seat is towards the side of the cab and their back is towards the side windows and their chest is facing the control stand.  He/she then runs the loco looking to the left, along their left shoulder.  The controls are still handy and in front of the engineer, not behind them.  While this position is not uncomfortable for switching moves and short back up moves, spending a few hours running a loco in this position soon becomes a pain in the neck.

Of course. with a control desk, any back up move is uncomfortable for the engineer.

[on30gn15]

Don't bet your grandchildren on this but I'd swear somewhere in print in the last several decades it was said that B&M and several other outfits ordered RS-3 with dual control stands.

I know that N&W and SOU had second generation locos with two control stands, one for each direction. And think they did so in most of their first generation hood units as well.
You want to keep your engineer on the right hand side so as to clearly sight the signals.

CPR, for one, ran RS3's long hood forward.  

Picking up on that, went and dug up the old 1973 The Second Diesel Spotter's Guide where on page 243,

Except for a few RS-3's built in 1955 and 1956, most RS-2's and RS-3's were built to operate long end first.

[jward]

roger,
what you describe is fine for short periods of time. but running a locomotive that way for hours at a time makes for a long painful day. this was a problem we ran into on the shelocta trains i worked with. after the ns takeover of conrail, we got an influx of high hood locomotives which were illegal to run in the lead (due to ns's policy of lack of toilets) in pennsylvania. the ns gp59s were legal and conway would send us power consists with them in the position to lead on the return trip from the power plant. there was nowhere to turn locomotives up there, and it was a miserable run to have one of those lead on 10 mph track.

[rogertra]

roger,
what you describe is fine for short periods of time. but running a locomotive that way for hours at a time makes for a long painful day.

Isn't that what I wrote?

BTW, PLEASE use caps correctly in your posts, it will make them easier to read.

[Barry Karlberg]

As a locomotive engineer I have ran units backward atleast as much forward without problems.
While I prefer short hood first operation, it often is not possible in modern railroading with fewer wyes so you do the best you can with what you are given.

Many folks think that railroading is a job designed for ease and comfort and it's management's job to make life perfect for them. The truth is, that an "ideal" operating day happens maybe a half dozen times a year and the rest of the time it's just "normal (things don't run smoothly or are comfortable) railroading".
Anybody who has spent their life on the rails as an employee soon learns "life is not fair" and "quit the complaining or fix the problem yourself so others don't have to listen to your griping". When a man learns this, and brings it to the job it makes it much more enjoyable to work with him.

Barry