The Alco RSD-5 was built for exactly the kind of work the Chicago & North Western knew best: heavy freights, transfer runs, and tough grades across the Upper Midwest and Plains. With 1,600 HP and six powered axles, these road switchers delivered serious low-speed tractive effort while still being flexible enough for road and yard duty.
C&NW rostered a small fleet of ten RSD-5s, and five of them were delivered with very distinctive high short hoods housing steam generators and, on some units, dynamic brakes. These unusual profiles earned them the nickname “hammerheads” and made them some of the most visually memorable six-axle Alcos of the diesel transition era
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Now, Sunset Models / 3rd Rail brings these locomotives to O Scale for the first time outside of brass, with a precision ABS shell, die-cast metal chassis, and fine brass detail parts to capture both the “hammerhead” and standard-hood variants in museum-quality detail.
Versions & Road Numbers Offered
High-Short-Hood “Hammerhead” RSD-5s
These units carried the tall short hood with steam generator (and on some, dynamics) that gave the C&NW RSD-5s their famous “hammerhead” nickname.
C&NW 1686
C&NW 1687
C&NW 1688
Standard-Hood RSD-5s
Built without the high short hood, these locomotives present the more traditional road-switcher profile while sharing the same six-axle, heavy-hauler guts.
C&NW 1665
C&NW 1684
C&NW 1685
C&NW 1689
(These three are all true, standard-hood RSD-5s on the C&NW roster.)
Model Features
• First-Ever Non-Brass O Scale RSD-5s for C&NW (2R & 3R)
• Precision ABS Plastic Shell with Die-Cast Metal Chassis
• Fine Brass Detail Parts — handrails, grilles, pilot hardware, MU connections, lift rings, and rooftop fittings
• High-Hood & Standard-Hood Tooling — accurately capturing the unique “hammerhead” profile and the conventional low-hood versions
• Road-Specific C&NW Details — correct lights, horns, number fonts, grab iron layouts, and equipment variations per road number and batch
• Powerful Can Motor Drive for smooth, quiet performance under heavy trains
• All-Wheel Drive and Electrical Pickup
• Advanced electronics: 3R ERR Cruise/TMCC/Railsounds compatible with TMCC/Legacy/DCS, 3R Conventional for your choice of sound, and 2R ESU Loksound 5.0. Blunami is available as well
• LED Lighting Suite — headlights and number boards
• ERR Cruise is compatible with Legacy, DCS, TMCC, and Conventional control systems, Blunami is not and indepently operated through the iPhone or Andriod Apps.
Smoke is not available in 3R versions due to space constraints.
Granger Hammerheads, Finally Done Right in O Scale
From standard-hood road switchers to the unforgettable high-hood “hammerheads”, the C&NW RSD-5s are a perfect snapshot of Upper Midwest railroading in the 1950s–1980s: heavy tonnage, secondary main lines, and lots of character.
With this project, Sunset Models / 3rd Rail delivers the first non-brass O Scale run of these locomotives — with the accuracy and presence that serious Alco and C&NW fans have been waiting for.
Reserve your Chicago & North Western RSD-5s today and bring a set of true granger workhorses to your O Scale roster.
Minimum 40 hammerheads are required to be reserved to be made.
Photo courtesy of brasstrains.com
