I own several RS3’s from both MTH and Atlas. I can’t see Atlas purchasing MTH’s tooling, unless they REALLY want the DCS version to go along with all the other MTH diesel tooling they purchased. Crazier things have happened I suppose.
I’ve been moving more and more toward 3-rail scale (and even some 2-rail) over the years. Unfortunately for me, the MTH and Atlas RS3’s—-as well as the former K-Line (now WBB) version—though nice models, aren’t true to the prototype in terms of their body shape and dimensions. That’s a bit of a bummer to me because IMO the “real” RS3’s, and their RSD4/5 cousins, are really cool-looking locomotives!
I will say that despite not being true to scale vs. the prototype and lacking added-on details, the MTH RS3’s pack a lot of value for the price. They’re solid, heavy locomotives with great sound and smoke. That’s probably why I own 6 of them!
The former Weaver RS3/RSD4/5 tooling was by far the closest to true scale size and shape, but lacked a lot of the added-on details that we expect on higher-end diesels. For example, grab irons and brake and M.U. hoses were molded-in.
I’ve been hoping since Weaver closed its doors that someone would rework their tooling to add all the separately-applied, scale details and then offer it as a higher-end locomotive with either Legacy or DCS. If that ever happens, I would sell off all my MTH and Atlas versions and buy a bunch of them in several road names!!
