There is no premier version. My own opinion. The MTH RS 1 is a much better looking engine. Railking price with the looks of Premier. The RS 3’s seem to have been run by a lot of major roads. With various paint schemes and then lived many years after on numerous short lines.
Atlas has tooling for both the RS 1 and 3. The RS 3 is in the Trainman line. Not a lot has been produced over the years. They were offered in both 2 and 3 rail. In order to produce anything you need a large percentage of the run to be done in 3 rail. I just don’t think Atlas could compete with MTH as far as getting product to market. People just got tired of waiting and MTH seemed to have them in every other catalog in multiple road names. They also don’t seem to have much in a local dealership as far as getting custom runs. The last run was maybe 8 years ago. I bought a NH. Has ERR electronics and is a nice runner.
I think Atlas may start doing more with their version. Seeing they also can offer a 2 rail version. Maybe even offer a little more detail and move it up to a Masterline version. Their only competitor is Lionel for the same model. Which is in the Lionchief line.
