Broadway Limited Imports’ HO RSD-15

The growl and burble characteristic of an American Locomotive Co. diesel engine is captured in the new RSD-15 locomotive from Broadway Limited Imports’ BlueLine.

The prototype. The RSD-15, first delivered in 1956, was an upgrade of Alco’s earlier RSD-7. The only difference between the models is the RSD-15’s 2,400-hp model 251 engine, which replaced the unreliable model 244 engine. Externally, the two locomotives are identical.

Between 1956 and 1960, Alco built 87 RSD-15s. The biggest buyer of the RSD-15 was the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe RR, which bought 50 of the locomotives, all with a low short hood. Broadway Limited Imports offers its model painted in the livery of the Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range; Pennsylvania RR; Southern Pacific; and two Santa Fe schemes. It also offers a Canadian National model that represents the lone RSD-17 built and sold by Alco’s subsidiary, Montreal Locomotive Works.

Measuring up. Other than the fact that our sample has a low hood, a feature not introduced until the Santa Fe’s order in April 1959, the model matches the dimensions on a drawing of a high-hood RSD-15 in the 1956 edition of the Simmons-Boardman Locomotive Cyclopedia. The location of details also matches the drawing, right down to the uneven spacing of the axles on the Alco Tri-Mount trucks.

The model is well detailed, from see-through steps and grills to the throttle lever molded onto the engineer’s station in the cab. The handrails measure a scale 11/2″ thick. The cab windows feature silver frames and separately applied windshield wipers. The silver printing on our black model was sharp and opaque.

The model’s plastic shell fits snugly on the cast-metal frame, though it comes off easily enough once the couplers and draft-gear boxes are removed from both ends. Inside, a five-pole can motor with two brass flywheels drives the trucks via two plastic universal driveshafts. Two wheelsets on each truck are directly driven by worm gears on the driveshafts; another set of gears transfers motion from the center wheelset to the third. The locomotive is smooth and quiet.

The printed-circuit (PC) board that controls the locomotive’s motor (and sounds) sits on top of the frame. A PC board is plugged into the eight-pin Digital Command Control (DCC) socket; upgrading the engine to DCC is as easy as replacing this board with one of the DCC decoders recommended by BLI. The DCC decoder interfaces with the on-board sound chip
to operate additional sounds and functions.

Road testing. The locomotive’s engine sounds become active at 6 volts, running through a simulated warm-up sequence. Increasing the power evokes a similar acceleration of the motor sounds before the locomotive actually starts to move. If the locomotive is in reverse, the white light-emitting diode (LED) backup light will also activate at 6 volts; the front headlight only lights when the locomotive is moving forward, however.

Because of the power requirements of the sound board and constant lighting, the engine didn’t move until the power got to 7 volts, at which point the locomotive emitted a hiss of releasing brakes and started to roll steadily at a scale 3.9 mph.

At 12 volts, the diesel topped out at a scale 96.1 mph, higher than the prototype locomotive’s maximum rated speed of 80 mph.

The locomotive is hefty, weighing nearly a pound. Combined with its six-axle traction, this gives the locomotive a drawbar pull of 31/2 ounces, enough to pull 49 average HO scale freight cars on straight and level track.

Sounds good. The selling point of this locomotive is the sound. Realistic sounds familiar to any Alco fan play through a built-in 11/4″ speaker whenever the model is activated. The sounds synchronize well with increasing speed, and extra sounds like air releases and brake squeals add to the realism.

Though the ready-to-run locomotive uses direct current, additional functions of its built-in sound decoder can be activated with a DCMaster control module (available for $39.99 from BLI or Precision Craft Models). With this device I sounded the bell and horn, activated an air-release sound, and controlled the sound unit’s volume. It also allowed me to change configuration variables (CVs), such as the volume and activation thresholds of individual sounds, even without a DCC decoder.

The speaker is mounted vertically in the back of the long hood, and it puts out an impressive range, successfully reproducing the low tones of the air horn and the bass rumble of the diesel.

By offering the Alco RSD-15 as DCC-ready rather than DCC-equipped, Broadway Limited strikes a balance between features and price. The model makes impressive sound accessible to modelers with DC layouts.

BLI BlueLine HO RSD-15
Price: $169.99

Manufacturer:
Broadway Limited Imports
4 Signal Ave., Suite A
Ormond Beach, FL 32174
www.broadway-limited.com

Description: plastic and metal, sound-equipped, ready-to-run locomotive

Paint schemes: Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe (low hood, blue-and-yellow or black-and-aluminum zebra stripe schemes, two road numbers each); Canadian National (high hood); Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range (high hood); Pennsylvania RR (high hood, two numbers); Southern Pacific (low hood, two numbers); undecorated (low or high hood).

BLI HO RSD-15 features
All-wheel electrical pickup
Blackened RP25-contourwheels (in gauge)
Built-in multi-function sound
Detailed cab interior with painted engineer and fireman figures
Drawbar pull: 31/2 ounces
Factory-applied wire grab irons
Five-pole can motor with dual brass flywheels
Kadee magnetic knuckle couplers (correct height)
Lighted number boxes
Minimum radius: 18″
Operating signal light (road name specific)
Weight: 151/4 ounces