Walthers Amtrak Amfleet Is "Retired"

ApproachMedium wrote:They look great now that we can finally see photos. The only thing I am not crazy about, and the old ones and the bachmmans both have this problem, is they look like they sit way too high off the track. Maybe its just the angle of the photo. I may just have to get one now to go on my mail 13 train and replace the old american GK kit car I have on the end.

I agree, I'm not sure if they use the best photo angles as well. I understand that they are probably trying to let you see the largest amount of the car in a single photo. I think it wouldn't hurt to give multiple photos though. If I'm spending $80 I would like to see all sides of the car. This shouldn't be a problem though because I'm sure more photos will start to show up on other sites.

I think that we can also put some faith in Walthers on this run. The whole point of this run was "to get it right this time". I'm sure that they checked and rechecked all of their measurements.

http://m3.i.pbase.com/o6/54/681954/1/14 ... est040.JPG" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
It's the angle that Walthers chose.... they will sit correctly...or at least lower.

http://www.trainweb.org/amtrakpix/locos ... 82733A.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


*All photos belong to their respective owners, I take no credit.

I still can't believe how fantastic they look.

From that test shot model,it looks like the "chrome" wheelsets are back ,
hopefully the production run will have "blackened" wheelsets

Well we have certainly come a long way folks!

I'm surprised that the additional phases will be released at the end of this month (end of February for the Cafe cars)

I agree with Amtrak 207 in that sincere gratitude and a tip of the hat should go out to Walthers for delivering. For such a "niche" market, they've really gone all out. I encourage everyone anticipating these models to literally put their money where there mouth is. Our ability to do this will lead to Walthers' future investment in other Amtrak models that we've been anticipating.

I am personally upgrading my 30+ car fleet (I know that's allot, but I've been saving up quite a bit since Walthers announced these cars as "Retired" in anticipation for the re-tool). I even sprung for the lighted versions. I'm planning to go a step further and paint the interiors of all the coaches (Blueish green for the Amfleet I's and Blue for the Amfleet IIs).

I'm really looking forward to these and hope they do well on the market!

Thanks to all those who wrote Walthers expressing their support for the re-tooling. It's great to see Walthers respond to what many consider (cynically) a "select few".

Thank you Walthers!

and I quote from my 1st post in this thread years ago...

"Don't fret, "retired" is usually Walthers code for Will re-tool series. This has been seen in their Superliner fleet, as well as some freight car runs. The metal plated finish with interiors are a big hit, and Walthers knows this. Walthers also knows that there is demand for a re-tooled Amfleet I and II model with an accurate body, interior, Phase IVb scheme, etc.

Wait a while... don't worry."

Told ya Kyle


I just placed my order, can't wait till they arrive!

So...time for a "Walthers Amtrak Horizon is "Retired" thread? ha ha

Somebody cane up with a fix to the Walters 1st run Amfleet car,this can be adapted to the Walter's Horizen fleet
and the Bachmann Amfleet/Metroliner cars,
http://geekhobbyist.wordpress.com/2011/ ... dification" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The credit goes to the person(not named) at geek hobbist,the credit for finding this fix
goes to member mgwsy at http://acmodels.board.net/index.cgi" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
There's a thread on the board about the fix.

use that guys idea, but leave the tube the lenth of the axle. Now you have a bearing surface to pick up electricity from.

Amtrak207 wrote:and I quote from my 1st post in this thread years ago...

"Don't fret, "retired" is usually Walthers code for Will re-tool series. This has been seen in their Superliner fleet, as well as some freight car runs. The metal plated finish with interiors are a big hit, and Walthers knows this. Walthers also knows that there is demand for a re-tooled Amfleet I and II model with an accurate body, interior, Phase IVb scheme, etc.

Wait a while... don't worry."

Told ya Kyle


I just placed my order, can't wait till they arrive!

So...time for a "Walthers Amtrak Horizon is "Retired" thread? ha ha

Don't forget that I agreed with you the whole way

All the more reason to send in requests so that it does become a plan in the foreseeable future. I'm inclined to believe Amtrak207's assessment. Usually when Walthers does not plan to produce any more of a product they list it as "Discontinued". The Amfleets were a regular/big seller for Walthers for many years. I'm sure they'll find it worth the investment to re-tool. For whatever reason they probably want to keep any of these plans "secret" for now.

In any event, in an effort to shore up their confidence in the Amfleet I's ability to sell, keep sending in your requests for a re-tooled Amfleet I.

With the projected delivery date of the new Amfleets fast approaching, Walthers has also posted photos of the Amfleet I coaches in all of their paint schemes (except Phase I with 1 arrow):

Phase I (with two arrows)


Phase II:


Phase III:


Phase IV:


Phase IVb:



There are also photos up of the Amfleet I Cafe in Phase II, and Amfleet II coach and lounge in Phase III. The basic non-lighted versions of the Phase II Amfleet I coach and the Phase III Amfleet II Coach are both showing up as "In stock" on the Walthers website, so it seems that many of these should be showing up soon! However, the delivery date on some of the cars is now shifted to April (for the ones that were previously expected late February).

As a VIA Rail modeller, my need for Amfleets is not great. However, my focus is on the east end of VIA's Toronto-Montreal corridor, and Montreal does see daily Amtrak service in the form of the Adirondack. So when Walthers added the Phase IVb cars into the line-up and I saw the early shots of how good they looked, I figured I may as well order a few for a condensed Adirondack - 1 Amfleet I, 1 Amfleet I Cafe, and 1 Amfleet II.

I look forward to getting them, and also hearing from others on what they think of theirs once they arrive!

WOW...ABSOLUTELY WOW!!!! Thanks for sharing Timberly!

I am biased to this one, as IVb is my favorite scheme:


I am blown away by all of the details, Walthers missed nothing! They even went to the level of recreating the smallest details such as the passenger car door indicator lights (seen of the car sides near the far doors). The underbody looks stunning as well as the little fire escape labels near the windows. Great job Walthers! I can't wait to see the Cafe and the Amfleet IIs! I will have to pick some up!

I saw the new cars today at the Amherst train show in Springfield. I got a first hand look at this stuff. Its pretty nice. It looks like the tooling for the floors were taken right from the newer cars. The coupler boxes are still the same walthers couplers. The trucks are very very nice.

The new metroliners looked good too. I took quite a few photos I can post tomorrow or sometime this week when I finally go thru my camera.

Approach,

I agree. The underbody has a lot of detail also. Although the piping is molded into the underframe, not many people would even notice this amount of detail. The even have the the toilet retention tank on all the cars. I inquired about lighting kits and the rep stated they will probably make them as well. However they will not have the marker lights. So we would have to install those seperately. They appear to have the same coupler spacing as the Metroliners which means they are close coupled with the diaghrams touching. At the Springfield show they only had Phase 3 displayed and they looked pretty good and felt heavy. No need to add additional weights.

As a side note I inquired about the Horizon cars and they indicated its something they are considering. They are waiting to see how well the Metroliners and Amfleets sell.

Lamont

I really think with the horizon cars they are going to need to dumb it down a bit if they want them to sell. Commuter trains are only going to sell well if priced right since they are a semi niche market. I really dont think they are going to sell a ton of comet cars for $80 bucks a pop. $40 maybe, and leave off some of the details that people can install themselves if they so choose like grabs lighting and underbody.

ant, i agree that they need to dumb them down but if the ebay prices are any indication people don't seem to mind spending $70 or more for these horizon cars in either roadname. Then again if there are alot more out there with new releases who knows if they'll even sell at all at any price.

The ebay craziness i think is attributed to the fact that there are none around, and when they do come around people will fight tooth and nail for them and they dont care what they pay. I personally dont think the previous comets/horizon models are worth a cent over $10. These cars were so horribly made and did not run well at all.

The ALPs and AEM-7s in the paint schemes that people actually wanted could easily fetch near MSRP on ebay as of late. I had zero issue selling my in great shape but well played with AEM-7 901 in box with no decoder at the springfield train show for $100, what i was asking for it, two years ago. I sold a slightly beat up one that worked for about $80. The buyers did not even bat an eye or try to take me down on price. They saw it and handed me the cash on both models. However something like a SEPTA aem-7, i couldnt give one away. Even the MARC units are a hard sell.

The thing with amtrak is its very fluid across the country. Amfleet cars have been seen in every state that has rail service at some time in their career. The possibilities in the Phase II and III schemes for trains are endless. So walthers wont have an issue selling a highly detailed, nothing held back amtrak model. The commuter cars are captive to running in certain states. They dont carry many different phases or schemes they only carry the states logos they use for the services. If they, and the hobby shops/stores etc want the best return on their investment it would be wise to exclude some of the finer details and put them at a lower price point.