Walthers George Washington

I found out about this on a Walthers Youtube video (no pics of it there) This is my second time around in the hobby and I did not know they had Name Train line. The latest is the C&O George Washington.

For those that are interested, brace yourself for a little sticker shock. The whole package of 7 passenger cars and an E8-A-A set will set you back $1,300

https://www.walthers.com/products/name-trains/george-washington/

Well, $1100 if you forego the little people inside the cars and car lighting.

If yer train runs in the daytime, you won’t be needing interior lights, now will you?

It’ll be a nice looking train either way, I do say.

Ed

And—

Walthers is using Loksound Decoders in the locomotives [Y]

Matching E8A diesels are the perfect power
Based on Class PE-225 units delivered in 1953 and in service to the late 1960s, models are available for the first time with ESU LokSound Select sound for DCC & DC layouts. Units are superbly detailed to match C&O.

I bought many of the Capitol Limited and second-run Broadway cars in the “De Luxe” version. MB Klein had them at a very reasonable, in my mind anyway, cost.

With Preiser figures going for $18 - $25 a set, plus the light kits already installed, AND I didn’t have to pry the roof off, it was worth it for me.

If I decide to, I can open them later to either add more little folks or add a little color to the walls and seats.

http://www.american-rails.com/george-washington.html

I would be interested in the RPO and the obs. I DO hope Walthers re-thinks the end diaphragm and uses one a little more detailed and closer to scale rather than the huge, black monolith as the photo shows.

Walthers Photo

Regards, Ed

That price is out of this world. WHAT KIND OF FUNNY WEED ARE THEY SMOKING at Walthers???

There’s a separate thread about This Hobby Is So Expensive!

http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/245773.aspx

[edit] Oops, sorry, it’s locked…

If you buy through some of the dealers there is a considerable discount available. I have used Overland Hobbies or MB Klein and found the “Street Price” a little more bearable.

If you want to gamble, Walthers will place overstock in their “Sale Flyer” and you can save even more. I recently bought many of the Capitol Limited cars and locomotives at less than half of the original list price.

Ed

I didn’t mean to start a “this is too expensive thread”. You can find Penn Line passenger cars on Ebay that have passenger silhouttes in the windows for far less money. That level of realism didn’t float my boat 40 years ago, but I still have 2 of those cars.

Obviously they think they will sell at that price. I can’t think of much that has come down in price in the last 40 years except Detroit real estate.

Besides Detroit real estate taking a nose dive, I went down from weekly paycheck to monthly retirement check.[sigh]

Not that I miss work…I don’t miss it at all.

Probably the same kind that causes me to buy those sweet Moloco box cars at $53 ea.

And, here we go again with the hobby is so expensive stuff.

My guess is that people have accumulated $1,300 on passenger trains they don’t really need, so $1,300 for a train they may really want might not be a bad deal relative to how much they have already spent on their collection.

So when a passenger train comes along that would fit their wants perfectly, buy it and sell what is now surplus on the secondary market to bring the cost down.

Its only expensive, on a net basis, if people just buy new things then hoard them, never churning their collection with the goal of upgrading.

That’s becoming a new forum standard on several forums.

A $53.00 boxcar…Think that could be one of the many causes for the uproar?

That’s an interesting view and it seems lots of folks feel that way. Not something I have ever done or will ever do.

I have no problem with current prices, they reflect currect values/features and cost to produce (contrary to what some believe).

But I’m not buying for other reasons:

Already have a nice set of Proto E8’s in C&O

Don’t need/want or use DCC or sound

Already have a nice consist of Concor C&O streamlined cars, upgraded with working/touching Americal Limited Diaphragms and body mount couplers. And the heavyweight head end cars from Athearn…

OK, not as prototypically correct, but the visual flavor is there. And again, they look better on curves and look better to my eye close coupled.

So I simply don’t need or want another set - at any price - I already have something close enough that I have time and money invested in.

And I have been enjoying mine for two decades now…

Sheldon

I contrast to my last post about a C&O passenger train, I just bought some $50 B&O wagon top covered hoppers rom Spring Mills Depot…

Sheldon

I have several high dollars cars from Atlas,Intermountain,Red Caboose,Exact Rail and Fox Valley.

I have about the same collection of cars as Larry. I’m thinking I’m going to have to “shell out”, as the saying goes, to add to my tank car fleet.

I did check out Moloco, after Jim mentioned their name in here, on another thread, and they look great! just too old for my time period.

Mike.

I’m leaning toward a “sell out” of a lot of older cars including my IPD boxcar collection. I been considering selling my old freight cars to a train show dealer.

But…

I really hate to sell my IPD boxcar collection because those cars took several years to collect especially my Berlin Mills Railway boxcar at the price I was willing to pay…

I can always start another one. [;)]

I have never been temped to sell anything, but then again I have never changed era, scale, roads modeled, locale modeled, layout theme…

And I only buy what fits my layout era and theme…

Sheldon

This would be a centerpiece to a layout. Everything will probably be able to be had for 25% off list if not more once MBK gets its hands on some.

If this is your era, I’m sure this is worth it.

Agreed. Accumulating a variety of models with the goal be

Agreed, but I am content with what I have…and never complain about prices.

Sheldon