hi All I am a fan of the ATSF but new to American railroad I would like to ask the following question about the ATSF RS-1 road switcher in the zebra stripes paint scheme I have the Atlas ho version 1- was it use long or short hood first ? 2- was it ever used in normal freight cars service or only in passenger coaches switching ? 3- was it ever used for short transfer service running ? thanks very much for your reply
Santa Fe used the RS-1 in all kinds of duty. Yes, to all your questions. If it was serviced and ready to go it pulled whatever duty it was assigned to. Have seen pictures of these bad boys switching passenger trains, pulling freight locals, head out with either end up front, lashed up with other locomotives such as GP7's, H types and etc. Put yours to work anyway you want and I can assure you....see signature below.
On most old diseasels, the long hood was considered the front. This was because the crew would become unnerved running short hood forward, and being that close to the action. They preferred the somewhat added safety of hving a hundred or so tons more metal between them and whatever they happened to run into. If in doubt, look for an "F", which is painted on the front end.
Stefano As others have said the Santa Fe RS locos were run any old way & pulled both pax & freight. Have an image of 2 in zebra stripe coupled long hood & pulling a freight.
The Santa Fe RS1's were not fitted with MU so any double heading or running with other units would have required two crews and so probably wouldn't have happened on a regular basis.
The video embedded here is Bob Chester's fine work. He captures a RSD5 in several shots. Sorry, it isn't a RS1. However, you can get a feel for how Santa Fe used these units and a few surprises tossed in for good measure. [video=youtube;Mlg3VSf6Bm4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mlg3VSf6Bm4[/video]
