American Z Line has released Budd RDC-1s and RDC-2s. AZL has released four liveries. These are: ATSF: 62203-1 road number DC191 62203-2 road number DC 192 WP: 62204-1 road number 375 62204-2 road number 376 CP: 92205-1 road number 9066 92205-2 road number 9070 SP: 62206-1 road number 10. The RDCs feature prototype specific printing, detailed mulit-color pad printing, directional controlled lighting, interiors, blackened metal wheels, powerful can motor, and AZL's AutoLatch couplers. MSRP is $166.00. Contact your authorized AZL dealer to order. Rob Kluz
Is there going to be and RDC-2 in CP livery? I want both for my layout. One thing I've always been curious about these units. Where are the engines? Everytime I have seen these this question has always crossed my mind. Are they located uptop on the roof, or somehow strattling the inside with and aisle between them? Or perhaps underneath? If they are on the roof, then the superstructure must really be strong enough to support the weight. Just curious. Ken
Yes there is a CP RDC2 in this release. The diesel engine is located under the car but the radiator is in the blister on the roof. There are drive shafts from the transmission to the trucks at either end. Generator and AC unit are under the car floor as are the fuel tanks.
Hi Ken, looking at the photos published today I would expect that the motor is hidden behind the underframe and in the passenger area of the car. I hope my CP version will arrive soon in the UK.. John
The RDCs had two (relatively small) diesel engines, both under the floor. Budd used a WW2 tank technology, hydraulic torque converters, to power the trucks.
Did these ever run as individual units? Or if not what was the minimum they had normally running at a time?
Clancy they definitly ran as single units, pairs and more, I remember riding these in CT, New Haven line from Norwalk to Danbury.
Yes, the RDCs definitely ran a singles, or multiples. It really depended on the road and the need. Check out this link for many photos of RDC on the roads that ran them. BUDD RDC PHOTO INDEXES - ALASKA to BUDD COMPANY As for the motor and drive train, these RDCs use an all new drive train. It is a pretty cool design with a flex shaft going right into the end of the trucks. This allows the motor to be down far enough that you can see the seats inside of railcar. Rob
After seeing the pretty wide trucks of the Budd, I was wondering about the chassis. Now, it's confirmed. The same chassis as the "El Cheepo" Japanese railcars made in China...
Lajos, I am not sure where you are coming from in your assessment. But the width of these units is the same as all other AZL rolling stock and locos. The trucks may actually be a hair thinner than AZL GP7 trucks (which are pretty much dead on). AZL did design their own chassis for these units and are not using chassis used by other manufacturers. You are dead wrong to infer these as 'El Cheepo'. Can you please clarify your points? But if you would like to say the $166.00 MSRP is cheap, then we will take that compliment. Rob
The drive shaft design as been around for a long time in Japanese N scale DMUs and EMUs and was used in the ReaZJ 485 rail cars but you could not see through the car as the motor and weight covered the windows. The Crown and ReaZJ EF 65's also use a drive shaft to the power trucks. It is good technology as it allows the truck to track well on curves I have a bunch of theJaoanese Z el cheapos and the RDC certainly does not sit as high and the trucks are not as crude as seen from the side view. Using design elements of the 485 or el cheapo chassis is proven technology in n-scale, one good example is the Kato RDC's in n-scale. My Z elcheapos are still running fine and they get better with age. The RDC may be in- expensive compared to many recent AZL releases but it certainly does not look cheap in the photos (IMHO) The PLus up 485's do look cheap.and they were. relatively speaking.
Back in Ontario, many years ago, I've seen as many as six together at one time. I never really gave it much thought but always thought it was neat to seem them cruising down the line without a loco pulling them. Of course that was when I was a young lad too.
Rob, you asked me to clarify my points, so here is my response. I didn't mention the overall width of the RDC, the shell itself looks right every way. The trucks are too wide, way out of proportion. To compare it to the GP7 actually proves my point, because the GP7's trucks are more than two scale feet wider than they should be. It's OK on a Blomberg trucks, because of the more challenging elevations of components, but the plain side frame design of RDCs makes the over-width more obvious. Now, lets talk about the chassis design. Based on your description it's definitely not AZL's own, but as Garth explained, an old, proven cost effective and fairly reliable Japanese design, successfully used on the "El Cheepo" chassis too. To adopt that design to the RDCs makes lots of sense. Obviously number one is cost. The $166.00 list price most likely reflects the cost savings thru the chassis design, and an important note I didn't even touch the subject of pricing, nor call the RDCs "El Cheepo". I called the Z-scale version of that chassis design used by various Japanese companies "El Cheepo", because they're just that. They're running, but the cost saving efforts are clearly represented in the overall value. If the RDCs are not manufactured in China, it's a different story, and the similarities of chassis designs are just simple coincidence.