Comparing the Atlas and RailKing "scale" RS-1

I recently bought an Atlas RS1, Great Northern 3 rail. It truly is a beauty. Great detail. Runs great with excellent sound.

Since I have had it for only a month, I have yet to find anything I don't like about it. 

Can not compare with the MTH, but would think that the Atlas has finer detail.

RAY

It boils down to details and the operating system, the RK Scale Rs1 is good for the DCS Operating system and for the price. However if you are a stickler to details on the shell the Atlas O wins!

You have to decide what your priorities are?  If scale and detail are most important, Atlas easily wins.  If DCS and price are most important, RK is the easy answer.

Some pretty clear choices.

Art

I have both versions of the Long Island RS1   The details on the Atlas version are superior as is the price.   The MTH RAilking scale items are the best bang for your buck.   The sounds on the MTH are superior to the old Railsounds on the Atlas.  The MTH smokes up a storm.  Good luck if you have to remove the shell on the Atlas as its a bear to do it.

Thanks for the info. It does appear that the RK unit offers a lower cost and a selection of roadnames.

As others have said, Atlas O is hands-down the nicer detailed engine. But, the first consideration is this: if you have a MTH DCS layout, you should get the RailKing. If you have a Lionel Legacy/TMCC layout, you should get the Atlas. Pretty simple.

Being my favorite non EMD Diesel, it's been hard to resist these two characters.  The Atlas was first out, and originally lacked any speed control. I added EOB to my NYCS unit right away quick.  My NH RS1 has speed control and runs terrific as is. Both have Alco 244 V12 sound, which is inacccurate for this locomotive. I also picked up a Suzie Q RS1 in two rail from Atlas.  She lacks the sound and control gear of the two three rail models, but has awesome looks all the way around.  Better speed control here was brought about by wiring the motors in series.  My MTH RS1 is the first run PRR.  She lacks smoke and lit number boards.  Newer versions correct this oversite. The truck side frames on the MTH are not exactly correct for anything, so I subbed the FA2 side frames, without difficulty.  The sound on the MTH is true 539T...and so accurate that a customer at the store thought there was something wrong with the system when we ran it on the store layout! The MTH has great running capabilities thanks to Proto 2.0.  It's a given that I'll have to spring for a newer version to get the smoke and working number boards.  OTOH, Atlas has some absolutely dynamite roadnames available on their RS1...enough so that they are tough to ignore.  I see LOK sound has a terrific Alco 539T chip for HO RS1s, and this should be an easy install on the O gauge model, be it old or new. As for the prototype, if there ever was a Diesel that really could be considered an honorary steamer, surely this crusty, chirpy, smoking Alco is it !  

I have the Earlier (from about 10 years ago) Atlas SF Zebra striped RS-1 and it is a beauty.  I also have the Southern Railking RS-1 from couple of years ago and it is also an awesome engine.

I do not see that the Atlas is that much better detailed than MTH's.  The only extra detail I see on the Atlas is the chains and I have removed those because one broke and got caught in the worm gear between the frame and the trucks and had to be sent to Atlas for repair.  They both have separately applied steps, same looking metal railings, great graphics and painting.  I cannot see much difference in the trucks as they both look very similar with about the same level of cast in detail.  I guess there were some extra lines for the brakes on the Atlas but one by one they came loose and showed up along the tracks.

I would say that the MTH RS-1 is one of the best detailed scaled sized diesel values in the market place today.

Good luck on your decision and happy railroading,

Don

I have both; earlier re-painted (GM&O) Atlas and later PS3 MTH. I prefer TMCC, so

there's that, but my DCS Remote Commander works on the MTH version. 

I see no superiority in the detailing of either.

The MTH ALCo sound is noticeably better - but my Atlas RS-1 is several years old

(and has that blasted TA EOB - which I keep turned off) and the latest GM&O RS-1 is improved in the cruise and sound area, I'm sure.

Both great pieces - operating system is the only deciding factor, I would think.

I have two ATSF and two CNW RS1's from Atlas. I considered the MTH, but was after the details. Atlas had road number-specific details such as steam generators while the MTH were more generic. As to operating systems, I have sometimes considered switching my Atlas units over to Proto-2, but it hasn't really been worth the cost/effort up to this point.

The "ScaleKing" MTH units definitely give you more bang for the buck, though as if I had to do it over again, I couldn't justify the extra $175 for the detail of the Atlas unit over the MTH, especially since Mario now has pilot spacers for RS1's.

I have the Railking Scale in Southern. I think the RS-1 is the best detailed of any of the Railking engines, even better than some of the Premiers I have seen. The engine sounds are without a doubt the best I have heard on any engine, regardless of manufacturer. Especially startup and shutdown. Mine is PS2, I don't know if they changed the sound set on the PS3 or not. I don't see why they would.

I don't know...with the exception of the builders plates and chains on the rear truck.(Atlas)

I cant see any difference in the cab details between the 2 models I own.

The Atlas is 6880-2 (CNJ)

The MTH is 30-2624-1 (B&O)

Also the Railking one has cut rods on the couplers the Atlas does not.

The Atlas runs horribly in conventional... and only so so with TMCC (it actually has to warm up) then it seems to straiten out ...much better sounds then MTH .

MTH runs great in both conventional and DCS...the sounds are fair.

Taycotrains - thanks for the side-by-side. I have been waiting for the MTH RS-1 to come out since its December 2014 published original delivery date and your post has been very helpful in providing accurate and factual data for comparison.  I must say that I find it disappointing that some people choose to give advice that is baseless - grounded in nothing more than speculation or misperceptions based in "following the crowd."  Your photos helped set this straight. 

Peter

No problem Peter ... I should also add that the Atlas unit has smoke...(which does not work on mine) and the MTH unit does not have smoke,it is my understanding that later MTH issues have smoke units.

I have 3 MTH RS1s and the one Atlas unit...The latest being the B&O unit pictured it was picked up at York on closeout for 125.00 last week and the Atlas unit was purchased used from a friend for 140.00 about a month ago....I never would have bought the Atlas unit if it wasn't for the road name.

I really like our RK 'Scale' RS1. As mentioned above, the startup and shutdown are among my favorites of all the diesels we own. Also have the Southern with similar sound. Both are PS2