Walthers Amfleet Is are history

[Ken S.]

Time for Bachmann to put its foot forward. I would suggest a major overhaul of the paintwork on the cars and adding the Phase I and Northeast Direct schemes to the mix. The paint issue and the easily correctable if you don't mind losing the lighting wheel issue are the only two drawbacks to an otherwise decent model and now the only choice for those not wanting to hunt down brass models or search ebay for hours on end looking for Walthers cars that may be from before working diaphragms were included with the cars.

[mlrr]

There's more that Bachmann would have to do to improve the Amfleet model.  I personally feel the original tooling had more accurate dimensions.  It almost seems as if the re-tooled Bachmann "Silver Series" amfleet tried to mimmic Walthers' style a little bit.

I wouldn't bet on Bachmann re-tooling the Amfleet I in the currnet series for a while as it's still relatively new tooling.

I'd much rather encourage Bachmann to not only re-evaluate the quality and accuracy of the paint jobs for the Amfleet I paint schemes but produce the Amfleet I in its spectrum line.  Imagine an Amfleet I that is on par with the accuracy of the Acela Express passenger cars (**Note: Bachmann has a big light blue splotch on the Acela Cafe car that should actually be Green otherwise the paint is correct everywhere else)

Otherwise I wouldn't write Walthers off just yet.  Remember, Kato was coming out with the HO Superliners with interiors when Walthers "retired" their Superliners and low and behold, Walthers not only has Superliners with interiors, but a real metal finish!  Who knows what to expect in a few years as far as Walthers Amfleets go.

[jonathan]

I like details and proper dimensions, etc.

The real problem with both Bachmann and the other guy's amfleets is that they don't roll very well.

I've posted more than once, looking for fixes on this forum and a couple others (which I've abandoned).  The inside bolster and pick up shoe configuration simply causes too much drag.  No amount of filing and/or lubrication seems to help much. 

The real fix would be an axle with some sort of ball bearing set up.  It would make the cars very expensive I'm guessing.

The other answer could be some sort of incorrect truck using needle bearings like freight cars.  Wouldn't be prototypical, but neither is doubleheading locos just to able to pull a normal consist.  Perhaps the pick up shoes should be little metal wheels?  I don't know.

Notice how beautifully the Acela Express cars roll.  Lights work great, too.  It's a joy to operate that train.

My two cents are spent.  I'm off the soap box now.

Regards,

Jonathan

[Ken S.]

There's more that Bachmann would have to do to improve the Amfleet model.  I personally feel the original tooling had more accurate dimensions.  It almost seems as if the re-tooled Bachmann "Silver Series" amfleet tried to mimmic Walthers' style a little bit.

I wouldn't bet on Bachmann re-tooling the Amfleet I in the currnet series for a while as it's still relatively new tooling.

I'd much rather encourage Bachmann to not only re-evaluate the quality and accuracy of the paint jobs for the Amfleet I paint schemes but produce the Amfleet I in its spectrum line.  Imagine an Amfleet I that is on par with the accuracy of the Acela Express passenger cars (**Note: Bachmann has a big light blue splotch on the Acela Cafe car that should actually be Green otherwise the paint is correct everywhere else)

Otherwise I wouldn't write Walthers off just yet.  Remember, Kato was coming out with the HO Superliners with interiors when Walthers "retired" their Superliners and low and behold, Walthers not only has Superliners with interiors, but a real metal finish!  Who knows what to expect in a few years as far as Walthers Amfleets go.

I found it interesting that Walthers never bothered with the Amfleets in Phase IVB yet tooled and offered a HEP version of the Great Dome in that scheme.

[mlrr]

There's more that Bachmann would have to do to improve the Amfleet model.  I personally feel the original tooling had more accurate dimensions.  It almost seems as if the re-tooled Bachmann "Silver Series" amfleet tried to mimmic Walthers' style a little bit.

I wouldn't bet on Bachmann re-tooling the Amfleet I in the currnet series for a while as it's still relatively new tooling.

I'd much rather encourage Bachmann to not only re-evaluate the quality and accuracy of the paint jobs for the Amfleet I paint schemes but produce the Amfleet I in its spectrum line.  Imagine an Amfleet I that is on par with the accuracy of the Acela Express passenger cars (**Note: Bachmann has a big light blue splotch on the Acela Cafe car that should actually be Green otherwise the paint is correct everywhere else)

Otherwise I wouldn't write Walthers off just yet.  Remember, Kato was coming out with the HO Superliners with interiors when Walthers "retired" their Superliners and low and behold, Walthers not only has Superliners with interiors, but a real metal finish!  Who knows what to expect in a few years as far as Walthers Amfleets go.

I found it interesting that Walthers never bothered with the Amfleets in Phase IVB yet tooled and offered a HEP version of the Great Dome in that scheme.

VERY good point!  I noticed that myself.  I'm tempted to say that the Full Dome was a new product all together.  I don't recall that being in their product line until the last few years.

[Ken S.]

VERY good point!  I noticed that myself.  I'm tempted to say that the Full Dome was a new product all together.  I don't recall that being in their product line until the last few years.

It came out as part of the Empire Builder Series.