I am looking for a low nose GP9, and Walther’s Trainline seems to be the only one out there. Are these worth anything? I was just wondering if they could be repowered to run pretty smoothe and quiet, and how their detail was. I plan on repainting it anyway, so I don’t care about the paintjob. I know they can’t be too much, just wondering if it was worth purchasing one.
Greg
I’ve not bought one of these yet, but I do have one of their F40PHs which seems a decent loco - drivetrain up to Proto standards, decent body details, and a reasonable price. I’ve seen their GP9 in action on a friend’s layout and can say it seems to be a decent performer - has a can motor, flywheel, and both trucks driven, it ran smoothly and quietly and looked pretty good as well. Add more specialist detail parts to get it closer to your intended roadname/number and you’ll have a very nice loco. Excellent value for money and a fine base for a project.
i have a GP9 Walthers trainline. Had about 4 years. runs fine never had a problem with it, but does require a few details. Not bad for the price.
I have three Trainline locomotives: two Dash8-40BW’s and an F40PH. All capture the look well and run well. They are HEAVY! The two Dash8’s run well together and can pull quite a train.
I purchased a GP9M about 8 years ago and soon sold it. Maybe I just had a lemon but drivetrain was equivalent to low-end Athearn - noisy, and not very smooth, especially at low speeds. Nowhere close to my Atlas or Stewart, also definitely a notch below Proto 2K and Spectrum. You should definitely plan to repower it and add details. I too had purchased it because it was the only low-nose out there, I didn’t mind the needed detailing but I didn’t feel like plowing the money in, that would have been needed to re-power. You would probably be better off getting a high-qaulity GP9 and an aftermarket low nose.
You should be able to get an undecorated one fairly easily.
I own one, It’s not a bad runner, but it tends to jerk along the track where other engiens won’t. In other words it’s really sensitive to dirty track. I belive this might be because of it’s brass wheels. I tried checking with walthers for nickel sliver ones with the gear in the middle of the wheel, but they don’t have anything like that. It’s up to you, if you want to have a good running loco and chop it your self, ro an average loco pre-chopped.
Noah
Well comparisons with Fords vs Rolls Royce and Bently’s asside, The Walthers GP-9 is a very dependable locomotive and is a good deal for the money. It is rugged and sturday and able to negotiate my less than perfect trackwork. Trackwork that my atlas GP-7s I just aquired would balk at going over and demand that they be put on a display shelf. They are decently detailed, providing a nice starting point for anyone who wishes go to the time and detail one. If your like me and expect your model trains to work for a living, that the Walthers GP-9m is hard to beat.
So, is what your saying that a walthers trainline is comperable to say… an athearn blue box engine?
Yes. Just the Walthers Locomotive is all set to go.
James
An Athearn BB Plus IMO
I own seven Trainline engines in four different models including GP9m. All run very well even at very slow speed. They are smoother and quieter than my Atlas and Kato engines and are far superior to my Athearn.
I have one Trainline. It runs fine and fairly quiet. I really have no complaints.
I have 2 Trainline locos that run well. The only problem that I had was a wheel set that kept going out of gauge. I think it was the GP-15 I fixed with a drop of gap filling CA glue and it has worked for over a year without any more problems. They are a good for their price range.
I have several Trainline loco’s and all very well. Two of them are the GP9m’s, and they capture the lines and detail of the loco quiet well and are a terrific starting point for more intense detailing, great choice.
I have two TL GP-9s, and have never had any trouble with them.
In fact, they’ve been far less trouble than my P2K GP-18s with their stupid cracked gears and lousy circuit boards. I’m almost considering selling most of them off next year.
I have had one and sold it I found that it was much noisier than a traditional athern and it had the same cracking gear boxes as early p2k GP18’s[banghead] however sometime early in 2005 likely april hobbycraft canada(lifelike canada)is due to ship p2k chopnose GP9’s in CN,CPmultiple numbers etc etc[:D] so if you are up here or have family here this may be an option for you. approx cdn retail $129. trolleyboy