Atlas HO 10005087  - Classic - Silver - RS-3 Diesel Locomotive "St. Johnsbury & Lamoille County" #204 

• Road Name: St. Johnsbury & Lamoille County
• Road Number: 204 
• Product Line: Classic - Silver
• Scale: HO Scale
• Catalog: Atlas Winter 2025 Catalog

Features:

• Option of water-cooled or air-cooled turbo exhaust stack
• Separately-applied handrails and stanchions, including a separate drop step detail
• Dual flywheel-equipped five-pole skewed armature motor for optimum performance at all speeds
• Metal grab irons
• Accurate painting and printing
• Silver Sound Ready

***Silver Sound Ready™
Atlas Silver Sound Ready models are equipped with a speaker for easy
conversion to sound with the addition of a decoder. 

Overview:

Well over 1,300 RS-3 road-switcher locomotives were built by ALCO between 1950 and 1956. It can be considered one of the most successful four-axle diesel road-switchers ever produced by the builder. ALCO’s Canadian subsidiary, MLW, produced an additional 146 RS-3s in Canada. These 1,600hp locomotives were powered by an ALCO 244 V-12 engine which was complemented by rugged GE electrical components. The RS-3 was truly a versatile locomotive. It could be found in virtually every type of service from passenger and commuter runs to heavy-haul and local freight assignments. Original owners of the RS-3 tended to be in the eastern and central regions of the US (with heavier concentrations in the northeast and southeast).

During this same time-period, ALCO offered a six-axle road-switcher which was more commonly found in the west. The RSD4/5 was externally very similar to the RS-3, having six-axle trucks as an obvious spotting feature. They produced the same 1,600hp as an RS-3, but offered increased tractive effort due to the use of a larger generator. Many RSD-4/5s were assigned to operate in mountainous territory (with varying degrees of success) on the Southern Pacific, Santa Fe and the Utah Railway.