I heard a few rumblings that Walthers is done with steam. One.that says they even sold off the line.
That would be a shame because that leaves only bachmann and bli for a steam selection of non common steam (other than another big boy, challenger, FEF, or Allegheny)
Well, Rapido is just getting into it. I imagine much of the Proto 2000 tooling that Walthers acquired from the purchase of Life-Like is becoming worn out. Maybe as a business decision Walthers is choosing not to fund any future projects.
They have cancelled some of their recent passenger offerings, too.
Regards, Ed
I wasn’t aware that Walthers ever did much, if anything, with steam.
When they purchased Life Like, that included the Proto Heritage line of steamers, but they did nothing with it.
I always considered Walthers as a diesel locomotive manufacturer.
Rich
Probably supply and demand.
I model modern and can tell you that any locomotive with working fore and aft ditchlights, or anything with conspicuity stripes, or rolling stock with the “TTX” herald sells out quickly and at a premium.
Perhaps they recognize an underserved market and will be concentrating on more contemporary products.
If Walthers has sold the Proto 2000 Heritage Steam line, I hope someone picks it up and runs with it. I have four P2K Heritage Steam locos that I operate on my layout along with an assortment of Broadway Limited. As far as plastic, no other line can compare with the accuracy and attention to fine detail as P2K Heritage. My P2K NKP Berkshire is one of my favorites.
One ray of hope: If they “sold off the line”, then maybe it will be reintroduced under some other name.
Tom
Well, I certainly hope someone continues to produce steam. I mean what would we all do without a continuous outpouring of Pig Boys and USRA’s?
Roger Huber
Deer Creek Locomotive Works
Where do tjese rumors come from? Or is this like the ‘False News’ in the political arena…
There’s hundreds of locomotive designs to choose from, I have yet to see any CGW or L&N Steam.
Why Walthers keeps limiting themselves to only the biggest roads is beyond me.
Well that’s why I came here. I saw it on facebook last night. And I thought someone here might have the inside track if that “rumor” was true. Maybe it started because Walthers really hasn’t released anything in a couple years.
I thought the 2-8-8-2 Y3 was excellent and highly reliable. The P2K Berks were works of art in terms of detail. (Even if they were light on their feet and had the wrong C&O Pilot) Also, the USRA 0-8-0’s were some of the smoothest running little engines in my fleet. Those little engines made yard switching “fun”.
I’d guess that it’s because they want to sell lots of locomotives rather than attempt to serve niche markets.
Folks who model the more obscure roads, or the obscure locomotives of the big roads, are left to fend for themselves, either in the brass market, or as kitbashers and scratchbuilders.
Bachmann offers a fairly wide array of wheel arrangements, so the mechanisms are available for quite a few models you’ll likely never see made unless you do-it-yourself.
Wayne
The Y-3’s were awesome engines in every way. My USRA 0-6-0 was the best steamer I had until my recent Roco S-160 arrived. The P2K Berk is pretty nice but I don’t like the super thin tires on all drivers. It just offends my senses to not have tires.
As much as I get tired of seeing USRA’s and Pig Boys coming from every manufacturer the fact is they sell and that’s what this is really all about. Why does BLI have a steady stream of Belpaire fireboxes coming out? THEY SELL! I would love to see a Virginian MB or PA (NO…not a diesel) or a Ma&Pa Heavy 2-8-0 or a Norfolk Southern F-1 2-8-4 but how many do you think they could sell compared to ANOTHER USRA Light Mike? Not enough to pay the costs unfortunately. Same with all those F and E units. How about a T-6?
We’re so fortunate to have such great stuff that complaining seems petty to me.
Roger Huber
Deer Creek Locomotive Works
I am a first generation diesel guy myself, CGW was deiselized 1949, one of the first. Still I would love to get a 2-10-4 or a 2-8-2 in CGW, I do not believe it will happen tho.
Mike
I have not heard that rumor. It seems every couple of years they reissue the 0-8-0. Perhaps they are about due. But if there is something to the rumor, my hunch is that Walthers MIGHT be a bit fatigued with the high maintenance/high repair rates with steam. As has been noted elsewhere on these forums, they do not have or stock spare parts, so when warranty repairs are needed they have to go to the shelves and raid an otherwise saleable engine for needed parts. That is true of their rolling stock and structures as well which is why we local Milwaukee area kitbashers go to Walthers often because the raided boxes end up on their “as is” bookcases.
Dave Nelson
Well, “rumor or false news”, a search of Walther’s web site under HO will find NO Proto steam offered. Over 1000 listings for other companies, but zero for “Walthers”. Draw you own conclusions.
Although I diesels I pre-ordered the USRA 0-8-0 NYC switcher. Later on Walthers cancelled the whole thing due to. Not enough people were interested. This was in N during the same time as the HO version.
I would like to run some steam but not a lot of selections. When you do want to buy one they’re all sold out.
Not complaining. Just mourning the loss if true. They were unparalleled in terms of detail and mechanisms for non-brass. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy Bachmann offers steam. But you often find overly thick details, and many details missing, or just molded on. (ie: step ladder on tender of the B&O EM-1) And despite offerings like the B&O EM-1, there aren’t any yellowstones being offered for any other roads. And while I love BLI, but they mainly focus on the Pennsy/NYC.
There are many great roads of the past that just aren’t offered in great quantity, great detail and quality that LL used to offer. Roads like: SP, Southern, Seaboard, C&O, C&S, CB&Q, Virginian just to name a few. I miss the unique models and quality the like of the 2-10-2, the Y3, and the 0-8-0/0-6-0. Unfortunately no one really offers a lot of “small” steam for these older railways.
No doubt that “current” railroading is a popular market. But countless surveys continue to show the transistion era to be the most modeled. A recent survey by the NMRA region is my area gave transistion era modeling a 60% ranking with all other eras sharing the remaining 40%.
As for Walthers and the Proto steam line, they did a little when they first bought the Proto line, they did the back dated Y3, and several runs of the other items, and the 2-10-2 Heavy.
But clearly there has been no real action recently. As for tooling wearing out? maybe, maybe not. Not that hard or expensive to retool all or part these days after the primary engineering is done.
I think the real problem is money, the exchange rate, rising costs in China, soft market for these products here, unwillingness or inability to tie up money in inventory, and the changing face of this hobby.
Before the 1980’s, nobody ever sold model trains for more than 20% below retail and they considered inventory like a savings account. Most modelers were the “serious” type, and gradually accumulated what they wanted and needed for their layouts.
But by the 90’s we had a new breed as well, collectors/casual modelers, willing to buy more expensive RTR, less concerned about kits, or building whole trains or believeable rosters and more conserned about collecting their favorite famous locos (at big prices but with big discounts) and building layouts simply as a display backdrop to run them on.
This has changed the market, and chan
[quote user=“ATLANTIC CENTRAL”]
Doughless
Probably supply and demand.
I model modern and can tell you that any locomotive with working fore and aft ditchlights, or anything with conspicuity stripes, or rolling stock with the “TTX” herald sells out quickly and at a premium.
Perhaps they recognize an underserved market and will be concentrating on more contemporary products.
No doubt that “current” railroading is a popular market. But countless surveys continue to show the transistion era to be the most modeled. A recent survey by the NMRA region is my area gave transistion era modeling a 60% ranking with all other eras sharing the remaining 40%.
As for Walthers and the Proto steam line, they did a little when they first bought the Proto line, they did the back dated Y3, and several runs of the other items, and the 2-10-2 Heavy.
But clearly there has been no real action recently. As for tooling wearing out? maybe, maybe not. Not that hard or expensive to retool all or part these days after the primary engineering is done.
I think the real problem is money, the exchange rate, rising costs in China, soft market for these products here, unwillingness or inability to tie up money in inventory, and the changing face of this hobby.
Before the 1980’s, nobody ever sold model trains for more than 20% below retail and they considered inventory like a savings account. Most modelers were the “serious” type, and gradually accumulated what they wanted and needed for their layouts.
But by the 90’s we had a new breed as well, collectors/casual modelers, willing to buy more expensive RTR, less concerned about kits, or building whole trains o