Atlas/Kato RS-3

[nkalanaga]

Peteski:  Totally agree.  I have a few of those, and ran my railroad with them and Trix F units for years.  Whether you remove the trucks or not, once you take one apart, it will remove itself.  You might as well take the frame out of the body, it comes out easily, and take the trucks out of the frame.  Not only are you less likely to lose parts when everything falls apart, but you won't be as likely to damage the handrails while you're working.

Once you have it apart, if you want lo-pro wheels and can't find replacements, the wheels can be removed from the gear and turned in a Dremel or similar tool.   You can practice on the wheels you're replacing, and it isn't hard to do with a small file and an NMRA gauge.

[peteski]

Mark,
I looked at the Atlas site for parts availability.  It appears that the wheelset with traction tire is still available.
https://secure.atlasrr.com/mod1/itemdesc.asp?ic=9420016
Since only one wheel in the wheelset (axle plus 2 wheels) has a groove in it, you can pull the non-grooved wheel from the plastic axle and install it in place of the grooved wheel on the axle of your locomotive. Buy enough of those wheelsets to replace all the grooved wheels on your locos.  IMO, a $1.25 to pay for a non-grooved wheel (discarding the axle and grooved wheel) is not a bad deal.  I'm assuming here that the part number is for the complete wheelset and not just a wheel.

I also suspect that the RSD12 wheelset's  wheels https://secure.atlasrr.com/mod1/itemdesc.asp?ic=9422015  would be be compatible with the RS3 truck (but these are blackened).

[strummer]

Mark,
I looked at the Atlas site for parts availability.  It appears that the wheelset with traction tire is still available.

I also suspect that the RSD12 wheelset's  wheels https://secure.atlasrr.com/mod1/itemdesc.asp?ic=9422015  would be be compatible with the RS3 truck (but these are blackened).

I think I'll go this route; I prefer the blackened wheels anyway.

My thanks to all who chimed in on this...

Mark in Oregon

[johnh35]

I also suspect that the RSD12 wheelset's  wheels https://secure.atlasrr.com/mod1/itemdesc.asp?ic=9422015  would be be compatible with the RS3 truck (but these are blackened).

I wouldn't be so sure about that. Since it was a three axle truck instead of two the gear may be different. Best to check the parts diagram first.

[peteski]

I wouldn't be so sure about that. Since it was a three axle truck instead of two the gear may be different. Best to check the parts diagram first.

No, the way I envision doing this is to pull the wheels off the axle/gear assy then install them on the axle/gear from RS3. I think the metal wheels are compatible.  But I don't know that for sure.

[johnh35]

No, the way I envision doing this is to pull the wheels off the axle/gear assy then install them on the axle/gear from RS3. I think the metal wheels are compatible.  But I don't know that for sure.

That could be a plan.

[ns737]

wow I did not know the rs-3 was made that way. I have 4 of the nyc rs-3's and used the drive mechs for other  nyc engines and none of them had traction tires.

[peteski]

wow I did not know the rs-3 was made that way. I have 4 of the nyc rs-3's and used the drive mechs for other  nyc engines and none of them had traction tires.

And your RS3 mechanisms were made in Japan (not in China)?