A general question… I’m getting to the point where I’d like to start collecting / building buildings for my HO layout. I’ve never actually seen a Walthers Palace Theater, only the animated graphic that appears on the Walthers site.
To those of you who have actually seen them or even own one, is it really that neat to justify the price? Graphics can be deceiving… for that matter, so can pictures. So, please let me know what you honestly think…
dlm
YES!!!
plus, you can probally find one on sale for around $60!!!
I wish they would peoduce both the theatre and motel for N scale as well.
<>The only negative I could note is it is very VERY bright. I found in doing running trains in a nightime situation using mainly layout lights, the theater was about as bright as the rest of the towns building and streetlights combined.
That being said…it’s really cool to watch!! [swg]
so, were the real ones, the neon would light up the whole town square, and the local drive-ins, both theater and hamburger stand, had even more neon and were even brighter, I swear they could be seen from space.[swg]
When I had one on display here in the shop it certainly elicited some positive comments.
As mentioned, the white marquee lights are pretty bright…and the other lights, while animated and quite colorful, seemed a little excessive to me for a small town theater, especially post 1965 or so. But then I didn’t grow up in the heyday of the movie theater…so maybe it is very accurate.
The cool thing is they give you a whole sheet of letters so you can put whatever movie title you want on the sign. (it doesn’t have to be showing “The African Queen” for instance[;)]…) If you were modeling 1972 you could put up “The Godfather”…2000 “High Fidelity” etc. A very accurate way to help set the time of your layout.
Never really got any negative comments about it…other than the price…and for a quality animated structure that is fairly large…I didn’t see the price as unreasonable.
If that’s a bit overpowering (either size, cost or “bling”) then maybe one of the offerings from Miller Engineering is more what you’re looking for:
I’ve seen a lot of these at shows, and they are really something. They range from some of the simple “Hotel” signs that can accent a city street to the White Fuel or Citgo signs familiar to Cambridge residents across the river from Boston.
Dim,
Just in case you can’t locate the Walthers theatre, take a look at this thread:
http://www.trains.com/TRC/CS/forums/1031758/ShowPost.aspx
Simon scratch-built this using some of the Walthers brick wall sections.
Tom
I’d like to have a lighted theatre in my downtown district but the Walthers structure isn’t reminiscent of any theatres I remember from the 50s and 60s. I’m sure there is a prototype that this structure is based on but most of the theatres I remember from that era were very boxy with rectangular marquees, not the fancy one the Walthers kit depicts. This one just doesn’t ring true for me.
Thanks, but does is “seem” like it is worth the $$$? Having never really seen one, I would like others’ opinions.
Thanks
dlm
I don’t really like the building.
It’s too bright, lacks in architectural details, and is a bit corny. I model 1957 so you might think it would fit right in.
And I was planning to add a new theatre around the time the “Palace” first came out. The plan was to replace the old Bachman theatre that had been on the layout since my dad started it in 1973.
We looked at the various kits available, including the “Palace”, and ultimately decided to go with the old Magnuson Theatre. Scale Structures still makes this impressive structure, here’s a link:Art Deco Theatre
Walthers price is much higher then what we paid. We found an unopened kit at a train show. However the Magnuson version did not come with any signs. But these were easy to make with the internet, paint shop pro, and a color printer. If you want I can take a photo of it on the layout.
Does anyone know if the Biograph Theatre kit is still offered in HO. Walthers as an N scale version available from Heljan. If I remember right, there was also a lighting kit for it that could be purchased seperately. The prototype Biograph Theatre is where John Dillinger was gunned down.
Another alternative (which I’m considering) is Branchline’s Majestic Theater:
Pricewise, if you get it at a discount, you might (might…) save a little. But for me the plus is, it looks more like what a small town would maybe have, whereas the Walthers theater looks like what a city or bigger town would have. The SS Ltd. theater looks like something between the two, but more toward a city theater than Branchline’s Majestic Theater does (to me).
Or from photos of these ones, you could scratchbuild one yourself. One advantage of a theater is that with most of them, you won’t have to worry about much of an interior, due to the lack of windows (other than the ticket window and entrance doors, which about all of them had).
My [2c]…
Jim in Cape Girardeau