D&H RS-3m

[mrbill11]

Just got 2 Stewart Phase I RS3 kits on ebay. Planning on chopping the hood and adding details as appropriate. Probably can't really start this project for 2 months due to home renovations, but slowly accumulating some of the parts I will use. The big decision is sound or not, I know space is a premium in these units. Any thoughts on locating the speaker in the fuel tank area? Also wonder what others have had success with as far as modifying or fabricating a cab for this model? Any input or suggestions gladly accepted.

[brian]

This might help with your project.
www.dansresincasting.com/RS3%20project.htm

[jmlaboda]

This might help with your project.
www.dansresincasting.com/RS3%20project.htm

Looks like his pix are gone... not much help.

For the record the units more accurately would be called RS3U since the rebuilding was an upgrade. M would represent simply "Modified" (typically with lower horsepower), as in the case of PC DeWitt rebuilds.

[mandealco]

Hi
Not sure if this will help at all, but during the rebuild process, the long hood was raised to make room for some of the components of the new 251 prime mover. Not sure exactly how much, maybe 150-200mm. That may make it possible to add a speaker under the hood somewhere. I'm not sure what the mechanism is like. I didn't raise the hood on my N-Scale version, but I would probably do so if I was to build another one.
Cheers
Steve
NZ

[mrbill11]

brian, Thanks for the link. I had not seen that one before.

@jerry - D&H referred to them as RS3M. This was a Morrison-Knudson rebuild, hence the M. If you check on rrpicturesachives.net you can see the stencil indicate RS3M.

@steve - The long hood was raised 6" (152.4 mm) to accommodate the 251. I don't remember the exact source of that information, but it has stuck with me. Unless I get a definitive answer otherwise, that is what I am going with. From what I can tell the radiator section was not elevated, but everything from the radiator back to the cab was. This I figured out just from the variety of pictures available online.

[jmlaboda]

@jerry - D&H referred to them as RS3M. This was a Morrison-Knudson rebuild, hence the M. If you check on rrpicturesachives.net you can see the stencil indicate RS3M.

Ah... now I see... Thanks!!!

[spike]

I thought MK made up a new model name for these all together. At work, the old heads just called them the 500s. The non rebuilt were the 4000s, RS11/36 were the 5000s.

[mrbill11]

Spike, I am sure you are correct about M-K having some completely different model #, something long and ungainly is my bet. Also not surprised that the crews referred to them by the numbering system. What railfans think and what train crews think are vastly different. Growing up in Richmondville NY I wasn't around the crews, the D&H just passed through my town and we had no industry, but I did get to see lots operations due to pushers, trains stalling on the hill, single tracking etc. Wish I had documented it better when I was younger.

[jmlaboda]

I thought MK made up a new model name for these all together.

MK TE56-4A

The former Frisco U25Bs that were repowered by former B&O F-unit motors were TE53-4E...

Espee U28B Sulzer repowered units were TE70-4S...

The first number represented the continuous tractive effort each locomotive could produce.  The ALCOs output was comparable to EMD GP38-2s.

[poweredby251]

The last number letter combo was axles powered and who's prime mover was used:  4A- 4 axle Alco. 4E EMD, 4S Sulzer.

John

Feb 20, 2017 16:38:53 GMT -5 jmlaboda said:

[jmlaboda]

It was redundant to have the "4" for four-axles since they did not build any 6-axle, IIRC.

[poweredby251]

Not at the time, no.  But they most likely would have if asked.  At the time, most of their rebuild work was contract rebuilds, bidding on projects for individual railroads.  If say SP had come to them with a request for rebuilding their RSD-12 fleet, I'm sure they would have.  But most early rebuilds of these types were to upgrade older units for yard work and local switching jobs, most of which didn't require a 6-axle unit.

John

Feb 28, 2017 20:19:34 GMT -5 jmlaboda said:

It was redundant to have the "4" for four-axles since they did not build any 6-axle, IIRC.

[spike]

The other day I poked around on the Bridgeline Historical website. They had some good shots of the 500 class hoods. While looking at the site posted, which has the kitbash article, the unmodified model had the bottom of the hood doors at walkway height. The pictures on the Bridgeline page showed about 6" between the door bottoms, and the walkway. This would be great for knowing how to raise the hood.

The article posted did not mention raising the hood. This got me thinking about how to do it. This gives me the idea of finding steer styrene, which comes out to about 6". Trace the shape of the shell, and cut it out. Fill and file it to the exact shape of the existing hood.

[mrbill11]

Spike,

I am planning to modify some Stewart kits for this. Their kit comes with the door section on one flat piece. From what I can tell the radiator section wasn't raised so I will separate the radiator section from the the remainder of the hood and cut a strip of styrene to raise the doors 6". I will piece in a 6" spacer over the radiator section then add the hood roof on. I will have to do something for the corners of the long hood, maybe piece some styrene and use putty to fill it. I hope to start in the next month or so and will be posting pictures. The other sticky spot for me is the cab. It would be ideal if I could find a suitable chop nose cab but I haven't been able to source one. I just see building out the number boards and headlight section as very difficult. Then I would also have to radius the roof line over this section. I thought about modifying an RS32/36 cab but the door & window configuration isn't right. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[spike]

I would chop the middle of the short hood even with the deck. A tip that I have seen is to put a block of wood inside, which it the same width as the inside of the hood. This will help it retain shape, for true cuts. Put the nose, with the wood inside, on a razor saw miter box.

For middle windshields, use some old cab, from any old low nose. This trick has been sued for years on chopped nose geep bashes. Just use filler to make it look pretty.

I'll have to look at the number boards. There are kits, but most are squared off. There might be a way to trim the corners, then file, and fill, to get the same radius as the roof.