Anyone have a LionChief Plus RS-3?

I have the 6-30207 Lion Chief (not plus) from that era.  It may be the same height.  It measures 3-1/2" rail to top of hood and 4" rail to top of cab.

Thank you SteveH! That would definitely look good.

Will the RS-3 body from RTR Set 6-82984 fit on a newer RS-3 LionChief plus? And will its lighting connectors plug-in?

The frame of the newer LC+ RS-3 diesels appears to be different than the 2016 LC models.  I don't know for certain, but my guess is that they didn't re-tool the shell/body between versions, so the shell screw holes should probably line up with the frame.

As far as the lighting goes, both have directional headlights and the older ones are LEDs, which means the newer ones probably are too.  If there is any incompatibility between the plugs of different models, I would think there are two options to remedy this: 1) splice the wires or 2) swap lights with the frame/electronics [the LEDs in mine are hot glued in place and can be easily removed with a heat gun on low].

Maybe someone else has already done this shell swap you're considering and could say for certain.

Hi Steve, did you mean 3-1/2" and 4"?

Oops, sorry. Yes the heights from top of rail are 3.5" to hood and 4" to cab.  Edited my earlier reply to correct the error.

I have the D&H RS-3 6-84696 from the 2017 catalog. It measures 4” to the top of the smokestack. It’s 14.5” long.

@MarkVB posted:

I have the D&H RS-3 6-84696 from the 2017 catalog. It measures 4” to the top of the smokestack. It’s 14.5” long.

Thanks for confirming, these are the same dimensions as the 6-30207.  Exhaust stack is the same height as the cab. I would add that 14.5" is outside closed couplers.

Other lengths are:

Body 11-7/8"

Frame rails 13"

OD Front truck frame to rear truck frame 13.75"

@ffjon posted:

Will the RS-3 body from RTR Set 6-82984 fit on a newer RS-3 LionChief plus? And will its lighting connectors plug-in?

The RS-3 is a good bet for running with smaller passenger cars, because of its lower hood design. The engine is 1 1/2 inches longer than the Baby Madison cars, but still looks good with the cars. Other than the Lionel small Alcos, the RS-3 is about the best you can do, and has a perfectly satisfactory appearance at a pretty good price. Just my opinion, of course.

I have swapped shells on an older conventional RS-3 with a LionChief Plus RS-3. Don't recall specifics, but it really wasn't that hard to do. For LionChief conversions, the RS-3 seems the easiest to do. I have a second one I'm about to do a conversion on as well.

As an aside, I've looked at doing a LionChief plus conversion with GP7s/GP9s, including examining using a LionChief plus Recifier chassis, but those appeared far more difficult to do, so I haven't attempted that as of this point, and probably won't.

Any chance for a photo or two of the baby Madison's with the LionChief RS-3?

I have one and as a general rule all Lionel diesels are scale dimensions.  As I remember 13 and 3/4" overall length which is scale.

I found this on Youtube. Sure wish Lionel would put out a diesel that would look proportional to their baby Madison cars.

@ffjon posted:

Sure wish Lionel would put out a diesel that would look proportional to their baby Madison cars.

They do, as mentioned previously - the LionChief Plus Alcos. Lionel has made these small Alcos since the Postwar period. That said, the RS-3s look fine, too.