I was at my local modelers club last night and saw this guy running a Amtrak passenger train with the Amfleet cars. These cars looked awesome with the lighting kit and full detailed interiors. I was shocked that these were Bachmann and they ran awesome. Now I know I have got to get some as well. I was on Ebay and several websites all last night and today. They go anywhere between $40-$60 and I see Walthers has them too but they cost more. My question is what comes in a typical consist of the Amfleet cars. Leaving Union Station out of Chicago I do remember seeing these trains but don’t know how many to get and what types (coach, cafe, sleeper). I know it probably depends on what train such as The Lakeshore Limited or The Lincoln, or Capitol Limited, etc. So for the sake of simplicity if I wanted to get five cars what would you guys suggest in the Ph IVB scheme by the way???
If you are getting HO scale Amfleet cars, I would suggest the Walthers Amfleets, as the Bachmann ones tend to “slide” on the rails rather than roll due to the way the collect current for the lighting. Although I tend to avoid it, Wikipedia actually has several of Amtrak’s name-trains as articles, including the typical coach composition. Just a series of five Amfleet cars is “technically” correct, and if all else fails, embrace your “Modeler’s Liscence,” and run whatever you want.
Yea but the Walthers one are $69.99 each and do NOT come with the lighting kits ($21.95ea) or detailed interiors so I don’t know. I thought about the Walthers cars as well but those Bachmann looked sweet up close and had those red marker lights as the train pulled along the tracks I was in a daydream…All I would have to do is put some ppl in these cars and there you go. You have a full train ready to roll. What’s a guy to do? Still haven’t figured out what region I would want to run which will determine how many cars come in a consist. I don’t see any type of dome or viewliner types of Amfleet. Did Amtrak make any of those?
Honestly, I used to live literally 100 yards from tracks that saw a good 10-12 Amtrak trains a day and, at night, you could barely see if they had lights on inside at night. They also dim the lights a lot after dark. The only Amtrak cars I’d bother lighting is the Amfleet cafes, Heritage diners, and Superliner diners and lounges.
Viewliner is an entirely different type of car. They’re not Amfleets. They tend to be infrequently available. They’re actually fairly uncommon. There’s only about 50 of them and they’re used on a handful of trains. There’s well over 400 Superliners, for comparison. I remember Amtrak’s website selling them a couple years ago with the 40th anniversary, but they lasted about one minute. Pretty sure Walthers made them.
There’s one Amtrak dome and its an old GN dome, I believe. Its not an Amfleet car.
All you do is look up a station and the trains that go to that station are shown. By clicking the train you can get a detailed route plan and multiple consist reports.
Three or four Amfleet coaches and one food service Amfleet would make a reasonable short distance train as used on the North East Corridor. I’ve seen such trains operating north from Washington DC.
I have quite a few of the Walthers Amfleets from recent years (my local hobby shop decided to sell them off for $10-$15) and they look good except for the silver wheels. They are (or were) available in different Amtrak schemes and both Amfleet I and Amfleet II body types.
The wheels are retained in the trucks by the lighting wipers (with or without lighting) and this increases their drag, compared to other Walthers cars.
I have a few of the original Bachmann cars which match the Walthers cars well enough to mix cars of both types, although they are slightly different arund the windows.
I’d agree that the new Bachmann cars look much better and I think they have less drag than the Walthers cars. I haven’t bought any since I have more than enough of the Walthers cars from the bargain sale. Starting from new I’d get the new Bachmann cars, although Walthers have announced new Amfleet cars including some deluxe sets, but I’d guess you don’t want to wait for those.
The biggest problem will be finding an Athearn P42 in Amtrak phase IV, if that’s what you want…
Older schemes are easier to find, in my experience…
The Bachmann HHP-8 is really nice, and suits a North East Corridor train.
Yes I think I will go with the Bachmann cars as they are reasonably priced and already lighted. The lighted interiors are dim not bright so I should be fine on that end. I am looking to get like 5 or six cars so I’ll go from there. I admit I cannot find any of the P42s in the Phase 4 scheme but on the other hand I do have a Walthers Amtrak 40-8B in the Pepsi can scheme which would look like with the Phase III or Phase IV I think so that might be even better after all. I just need to install a sound decoder in that engine. I love that pic from above with the 40-8 and the Amfleet cars all pulled up at that long River Edge train station with the platform and lights. One of the best pics I’ve ever seen in HO.
So I just placed an order and it’s pending approval online for 3 Bachmann Amfleet coaches and 1 cafe car in the Phase III scheme instead of the Phase IVb since they closely match my Amtrak “Pepsi Can” scheme 40-8B by Walthers. I didn’t see any other types of Amfleet for purchase. Only the coach and cafe seem to be made by Bachmann I probably will get more soon but what I got right now should get me started with a regional consist. Maybe Chicago to St. Louis or something…Lol Now I just have to add people figures once they arrive and hopefully I should be good to go. Are the shells easy to remove to add people for those who already have these cars???
River Eagle, thank you for illustrating the Central Missouri modeler’s dilemma.
For those not familiar, the KC-STL train has always run with mostly Horizon equipment, leaving us modelers to make do with Amfleet cars. Has any HO manufacturer ever made Horizon cars?
And River Eagle, the first photo I think is Hermann, but I can’t figure out the second other than east of Jefferson City. What are the dates on these?
eagle1030, Walthers, for a time, ran Horizon cars in Amtrak and a few other schemes, such as NJT, a while ago, but I do not believe they have run them since. I see them from time to time on eBay, but they usually command a lot of money as compared to Amfleet cars of similar vintage.
I had been looking on a few websites trying to find some Horizon cars since I know they often times paired with the Amfleet cars but can’t find any. I do remember seeing these as well on Ebay back in the winter for about $80.00 each and I kept looking right past them due to the high price they commanded. I figured I would just buy the metal plated Superliners if I would have to spend that much although the Superliners command a much bigger radius to operate smoother. At least 26’’ I think. Currently looking on Ebay for a sound decoder for the Walthers 40-8B GE engine that is going to be pulling this train.
Speaking strictly for the west coast guys, any such consist just wouldn’t look right with including either a smoothside baggage car or an F40 Cabbage unit.
I actually just found some Amtrak Horizon cars on Ebay by Walthers for $29.99 each which is pretty good but here is the caveat. They are horn hook couplers which is minor but they don’t have any interiors or lighting so you would have to buy both or just live without them. So im wondering if they are that cheap plastic look and feel that Life Like had? I also see another auction where someone is auctioning off two Horizon cars and a Amcoach with the engine starting at $39.99. Thats not bad either. Would you guys go for the Walther’s cars?
I have four Phase III livery Walthers Horizon cars (and one Phase IV cafe) from the big sale. I’ve pulled one out to look at. They have very plain sides, but the trucks are very nice with body mounted air bags (which limit it to larger radii). The roof is corrugated and the airconditioning vents are ok. For some reason there are no diaphragms on the ends. They’d be worth $30 each. They roll better than the Walthers Amfleet cars since they have pinpoint bearings. They are better than basic Life Like standard.
