The newly tooled cars, like those in the previous run, are designed to operate on 18” radius curves and will feature tinted window glazing, detailed interiors, 36” turned-metal wheelsets, and Proto-Max couplers.
The cars can be upgraded with the WalthersMainline passenger car exterior detail kit (formed stainless steel grab irons and body-mounted coupler boxes with standard length swinging drawbar, bushing, and cover for operation on 22” radius and larger curves, $9.98) and the WalthersMainline passenger car LED interior lighting kit (light-emitting diode light bar; metal 41-N-11 trucks with turned-metal 36” wheels; and body-mounted coupler boxes with extended swinging drawbar, bushing, and cover, $29.98).
The small-window coach will be decorated for Alaska RR (ARR); Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe (ATSF); Amtrak (AMTK); Southern Pacific (SP); Union Pacific (UP); and VIA Rail Canada. The baggage-RPO will be lettered for ATSF; Canadian National (CN); Canadian Pacific (CP); Chicago, Burlington & Quincy (CB&Q); New York Central (NYC); Pennsylvania RR (PRR); SP; Southern Ry. (SOU); UP; and VIA. The observation car will be painted for AMTK, ARR, ATSF, CB&Q, CN, CP, NYC, PRR, SOU, SP, UP, and VIA. All three body styles will also be offered painted silver but unlettered.
For more information, visit www.walthers.com.
I would buy these if they had flush windows, but they don't.
These are just a bad as concor cars, not flush windows, truck mounted couplers, and plastic trucks.
The cars are a non-starter for me, as they don't feature flush mounted windows, but rather just holes with glazing sitting behind. I'm amazed that Walthers offers that kind of detail level in 2015. No amount of add-on grab irons is going to make up for the bad looks of holes for windows.
It would be very useful to see photos of both sides of each of the new cars. I'm particularly interested in the other side of the observation car, to see how close it is to those of the New York Central's Budd-built stainless steel tavern-lounge-observation cars, such as those used on the "Laurentian" into the 1960's.