Alco "Alligator"

Well Charlie I don't have anything like it, so maybe.

Atlas did tw0 runs of these 2006/2007, Trainman, with TMCC, no speed control.
New announcement Oct 2006 and additional new Paint schemes Oct 2007

Mercer Junction Train Shopwas able to find a few of the Bessemer Alco models, which were high nose. The big winner was the Sante Fe. Of local concern was the Bessimer RR. that had (6) coming second hand from Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range RR.

A relatively rare beast, there were not a lot of these made (75)Alco RSD-15.
If you can find one, I'm thinking a good candidate for custom paint.

If I was going to buy one of these, I'd prefer it with a smoke unit. The heavy output of smoke was what the prototype was famous for. But unfortunately I don't know of any in O Gauge with smoke.

Btw, they had a reputation as gutsy pullers, but were prone to breakdown. Because of that one railroad, St.L-SW, seldomly allowed an Alligator out on the road except as part of an MU consist.

Here're some examples, pics 3 and 4 down. Note the smoke - http://condrenrails.com/MRP/Me...Freight%20Trains.htm

Anyway, the two versions of the RSD sure look different...only the low nose looks like an alligator.

Don't know my Alco animals very well but I think this is a Alligator. Found it yesterday. Don

Yep, that's an Alco "alligator" all right. Former ATSF RSD-15 #9820 collecting dust in the former SP Sacramento shops. It's definitely seen better days since being donated by ATSF back in 1986.

Pretty much all the old Alco RS series road switchers with the distinctive long low noses were called alligators.

The concept of ATLAS O TrainMan line is that there are no undecorated models because the people at Atlas plan to run all the possible paint schemes at a reasonable price. You do not have to repaint TrainMan. Atlas will run all the paint schemes as soon as the production line in China starts to make more Atlas product.

An LS&I ALCo RSD-15 would be great as long as there are matching ore cars from Ready-Made-Toys to go with them.

How about a TrainMan Escanaba & Lake Superior 50'-6" Box Car made at about the same time?

Andrew

Falcon Service

quote:

Originally posted by falconservice:

An LS&I ALCo RSD-15 would be great as long as there are matching ore cars from Ready-Made-Toys to go with them.

Andrew

Falcon Service

Andrew, Those ore cars are coming. Walter is telling me October/November. Do you have some on order?

John, spent the day filming in there yesterday. Man, lots of forgotten stuff. I was in heaven. Don

I wouldn't doubt that, Don. Lucky you, wish I could be there right now to take extensive tours inside those shops. Lots of history resides in those walls, even if there weren't any locomotives and other equipment in there right now.

The RSD-15’s exterior is identical to the RSD-7 except the RSD-7 has the earlier 244 prime mover and none had a low short hood. I have the high nose C&O version. It’s one of my favorite prototypes. It’s all business, looking like an RS-11 on steroids. I am also fond of SD-7s, 9s, 18s, and 24s

John, you could almost hear the crews and sounds of engines. It's an amazing place. Hope they can open it up to the public someday soon. Don

There are lots of pictures of an Alligator via the Austin Steam Train website. One of the members of our tinplate club and myself both took the Santa Fe and had it re-painted to match the one in the pics. I pulled out the TMCC and put in a Cruise Commander with an old Sound Commander sound board that matches the horn the prototype has.

Here is an action shot of mine:

I am contemplating having one in Santa Fe painted for LS&I. If Atlas runs them I guess I'll would have two

The RMT LS&I Ore Car set is something that I plan on ordering at the end of the year. I wonder how many sets would be the right amount for an ore train or should they just be mixed with DM&IR ore cars and others.


LS&I and CNW had some ribbed ore cars that are not exactly duplicated in O gauge or O Scale.

This image shows a test scale Ore car that could be made using an O Gauge 2-bay Hopper with ribs like the Industrial Rail 2-Bay Hopper.


Andrew

For those who have both (I don't) how about some shots of the Alco Alligator and the Swiss Crocodile electric in a double-heading shot? Discovery Channel meets model railroading.

quote:

Originally posted by MichRR714:
I am contemplating have one in Santa Fe painted for LS&I. If Atlas runs them I guess I'll would have two

That is something that I'm thinking about doing as well. I was in Marquette when the real ones first arrived on the LS&I. They were originally painted in the dull red with yellow lettering scheme. The later bright red scheme looks a lot better.

Andrew, the LS&I almost always had just their own ore cars in their trains. Trains were pretty long. (I used to live right at trackside). Most layouts would have a hard time fitting a scale sized ore train, but 20 or so cars would probably look OK.

John

An LS&I in the bright red paint would be cool to have. But I think the Atlas O ore cars from the early seventies would look better since that is a scale engine and they are scale cars. MTH did ore cars, were they full width? Lionel did Ore cars but IIRC they were a scale 2' too narrow. Lots of choices for ore cars anyway and from the side the narrow cars wouldn't be noticable.

Greg

Couple more pics.

Jeff did a great job on one, too!

That one is of my fellow club member's engine similar to the one in my picture above. Jeff did both of our's and he did a fantastic job for a very reasonable price.

quote:

Originally posted by Greg Elems:
An LS&I in the bright red paint would be cool to have. But I think the Atlas O ore cars from the early seventies would look better since that is a scale engine and they are scale cars. MTH did ore cars, were they full width? Lionel did Ore cars but IIRC they were a scale 2' too narrow. Lots of choices for ore cars anyway and from the side the narrow cars wouldn't be noticable.

Greg

MTH cars are wide enough, but they are crudely detailed compared to the Atlas cars and sit way too high.
K-Line ore car bodies are identical to the Atlas cars, but most of them sit too high. RMT ore cars are also identical to Atlas and sit lower than the MTH and most K-Line cars.

John

quote:

Originally posted by MichRR714:
Couple more pics.

NICE! The GE's in the second pic are smoking as much as the Alco.

John

Had to take matters into my own hands and have one painted.  Harry Hieke emailed me these pics tonight!  This engine will be on display at his table at York.  I'm really excited about how this looks.

 

 

 

 

 

Outstanding Charlie, bet you can't wait to pick it up!

Looks great Charlie!  Bet you can't wait to get a string of ore cars behind it.  May meet???  Lets gather up every ones LS&I ore cars for a vid.

Dan

Sounds good to me Dan!

That's a great looking model! Here are a couple of pics of the RSD-15 at IRM, including the requisite smoke cloud.

o of the Big Alco PRR APS24ms units, and they are SOOOOO badd, it'll make

you swear it's 1956!

Charlie, that came out great!  I want one!

 

John

Harry does some amazing work!

One more shot of a real one in storage. Don

Heh Don - What roadname is that one?

Gorgeous, Charlie! Congratulations.

MM, Santa Fe, not Milwaukee.......Sorry to say. Don

Man I love Alco's   Looks great  Is Harry going to have it at his booth in York?

Yes