Walthers Amtrak Amfleet Is "Retired"

Well once someone makes a shink/enlargement ray then we can fit it to ho cars. You know if its kato it has to work supurbly.

We will see the amfleets again plated from walthers,but no hope for the horizon/comet cars as 2 railroads
want lic.fee to produce name on car,if they ever do Im sure they will be retooled as they were american gk
tooling,as the E60CP, amfleet 1's,they even made a P30CH(I have seen prototype 4,marked inside shell)but
never made,and walthers broke mold for E60CP(not on purpose)but was origanal mold from american gk,this
is confirmed by walthers in 1999 for the e60's,they will put out the amfleets again,I did endup with the e60cp
prototypes(shells) in 2005,about 18 of them,2 amfleet 1 shells(they dont look like whats out now)I did sell off
about 7 e60cf,not sure if thats what it is,was,but they were all painted conrail blue with no printing,they will
come back with the amfleets done with correct window inserts from what I was told at WGH

cnj1524 wrote:We will see the amfleets again plated from walthers,but no hope for the horizon/comet cars as 2 railroads
want lic.fee to produce name on car,if they ever do Im sure they will be retooled as they were american gk
tooling,as the E60CP, amfleet 1's,they even made a P30CH(I have seen prototype 4,marked inside shell)but
never made,and walthers broke mold for E60CP(not on purpose)but was origanal mold from american gk,this
is confirmed by walthers in 1999 for the e60's,they will put out the amfleets again,I did endup with the e60cp
prototypes(shells) in 2005,about 18 of them,2 amfleet 1 shells(they dont look like whats out now)I did sell off
about 7 e60cf,not sure if thats what it is,was,but they were all painted conrail blue with no printing,they will
come back with the amfleets done with correct window inserts from what I was told at WGH

And which 2 railroads want a licensing fee for the Comets? I'm guessing MN and NJT.

Why would comets need plating? The real ones are brushed aluminum and look fine with dull silver paint on a model. Looks like they might pull an mth. Anyone see the chrome alps and aem7? Wrong and ugly! Plus who's really going to pay even more than the current $30 they want for already horrible featureless crap cars. Ill save my pennies and built more resin kits, by then the two won't be any difference in price!

ApproachMedium wrote:Well once someone makes a shink/enlargement ray then we can fit it to ho cars. You know if its kato it has to work supurbly.

Ha! But in all seriousness, I'm curious as to whether Kato has actually found a mechanism by which inboard-bearing trucks could actually roll freely, regardless of scale.

As I've mentioned already, athearns bilevel cars have it in ho. Its a matter mostly of the correctly paired metal axles and the correct plastic to make the trucks.

Okay guys... time to start sending those e-mails to the Walthers Customer Service Department requesting (nicely... not demanding) that these possible Amfleet models are a WHOLE NEW carbody, and not just a metal-plated finish on the old body, if that is the case, I will not be purchasing them. I assume interiors are standard now hopefully.

While we're at it, c'moooooooooon Walthers with some Viewliner plated finish cars with interiors in Phase IV and IVb!

-Tom

It should all be plated finish, so many of these cars are stainless steel in real life and for ages we have been stuck with these silver painted cars.

Hmmm anyone think Walthers is waiting for KATO to debut their N-scale cars and see what truck mechanism they used; then adapt it to HO scale?

-Tom

I really doubt that walthers is waiting to steal anything from Kato.

I would love to see metal-plated Viewliners along with Amfleet I and II (Especially II's) cars with full interiors. But as stated before, we need a TOTALLY "from the ground up" new carbody.

There is some talk on the Athearn Facebook page about upgrading their AMD-103 line from Ready To Roll to the Genesis line (a Genesis for the Genesis!). Per Athearn, this has been talked about in their company. I for one would LOVE to see this (finally accurate plows, attention to detail, Tsunami sound, etc.)

I am picturing the following:

Cleveland station.... HO scale, it's 2:53 in the morning, a bright headlight and ditch lights flashing pierce the morning fog...

Train 29, the westbound Capitol Limited pulls in, her consist:

P42DC - 191 *Athearn Genesis Ph Vb
P42DC - 203 *Athearn Genesis Ph Vb
Budd 73' Baggage - Walthers metal plated Ph IVb
Superliner T/S - Walthers metal plated Superliner Ph IVb
Superliner II Sleeper - Walthers metal plated Superliner Ph IVb
Superliner I Sleeper - Walthers metal plated Superliner Ph IVb
Superliner II Dining Car - Walthers metal plated Superliner Ph IVb
Superliner II Lounge - Walthers metal plated Superliner Ph IVb
Superliner I Coach - Walthers metal plated Superliner Ph IVb
Superliner I Coach - Walthers metal plated Superliner Ph IVb
Superliner I Coach-Baggage - Walthers metal plated Superliner Ph IVb

She departs onwards to Chicago, a little over an hour goes by, the fog has increased from the Great Lake.... an announcement follows:

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please, announcing the arrival of Train 49, the westbound Lake Shore Limited from New York/Boston to Chicago, please make your way to the platform for boarding." (Yea I know, I never heard that polite of an announcement at CLE either )

As you walk out the door, a towering P42DC # 10 rolls by along with the rest of her consist:

P42DC #10 *Athearn Genesis Ph Vb
P42DC #151*Athearn Genesis Ph Vb
Budd 73' Baggage - Walthers metal plated Ph IVb
Viewliner Sleeper - Walthers metal plated Ph IV
Amfleet II Coach - Walthers metal plated Ph IVb
Amfleet II Coach - Walthers metal plated Ph IVb
Amfleet II Lounge -Walthers metal plated Ph IVb
Amfleet II Coach - Walthers metal plated Ph IVb
Amfleet II Coach - Walthers metal plated Ph IVb
Amfleet II Coach - Walthers metal plated Ph IVb
Amfleet II Coach - Walthers metal plated Ph IVb
Amfleet II Lounge - Walthers metal plated Ph IVb
Heritage Diner - Walthers metal plated Ph IVb
Viewliner Sleeper - Walthers metal plated Ph IVb
Viewliner Sleeper - Walthers metal plated Ph IVb
1700-series Baggage - Walthers metal plated Ph IV (Then again, I do not believe these cars are stainless steel on the prototype, time to crack out the airbrush with some brown and dust!)

Well that's a poetic note, and it's a start, and I can dream can't I???? =D
With the metal-plated release of the Super Chief train, the baggage cars seem to be a natural for "Amtraking" in Phase I, II, III, IV, IVb. One can only hope!

-Tom

1700 series cars are stainless. Its just that amtrak never cleans them. Every car pretty much that they have right now thats a heritage car is stainless Budd with the exception of a few ACF bags here and there which are also stainless. These cars were kept because they are stainless steel, however one or two cars here and there are painted grey over their stainless body. I know there is one or two diners that are this way. Ex UP.

Here's a shot of a 1700 series baggage car in Trenton:

Okay nice, metal plated 1700 series Baggage cars please! Just sent an email to Walthers.

Jers2709 wrote:Here's a shot of a 1700 series baggage car in Trenton:

No guesses who that car came from