I am considering purchasing an Aristo RS-3 as my first garden engine. What's its minimum radius without any modification? About how many Aristo freight cars can it pull? Are there any know problems with it? What are your experiences with it (good, bad, and ugly)? Any help would be appreciated.

I was disappointed to find my RS-3s slipping on level straight track with 2 or 3 Aristo aluminum passenger cars. THEY NEED WEIGHT! I really think Aristo should have immediately recognized this problem prior to production. You can put your own weight in but I think it would be better to go with a GP-7 or GP-38 from USA Trains.

The new re-powered RS3s are now shipping. They have a new power system and are supposed to be even better than the old which was a fine engine. Call Bob Lewis at Trains & More and he will fix you up at a good price. The new one is supposed to be stronger, smoother and will pull more cars. I have one ordered and am anxious to get it and see how it does.

The engine itself is strong and sound. Mine has a distinctive whine like a real GP9. However I found that if you have a switch right after a curve, the lower steps hit the switch mechanism. I use Aristo manual switches. Tight curves will bind a light car causing a derailment.-Jim

BradThe RS-3 would be a good choice for a first loco or for your 20th. I find mine very satisfactory both in aesthetics and performance. It really needs 4 ft radius track though, anything much less and it'll look ridiculous. Mine, which is scale weighted, will pull about 17 cars up a 3% grade. Paul

Brad,

The Aristo RS-3 is beautiful. It will look HORRIBLE but will run on 2'rad. It will NOT pull anything on 2'rad curves becaues of the couplers unless you modify it. I don't use anything less than 4'rad and body mount my couplers at close to scale distance so I have no idea what mods would be nesscessary. It runs very smooth but I can't say exactly how much it will pull.

Have fun,

J.W.Rosenbauer