I’m very disapointed with my C&O observation car from Walthers
at $44.95 it should negotiate the curves and turnouts better than it does
It’s not a Wheel gauge problem it’s the framework that only allows a minimal
movement of the Trucks
I suppose i could do some surgery but at $44.95 why should i have to ?
All my Rivarossi cars run much better than this one does
Ok enough Ranting ![soapbox] Does anyone else have these problems ?
IIRC the package says something to the affect that 24" radaii is a bare minimum. Which meant it probably will squeel around these curves.
Rivarossi cars are designed for 18" Radaii and are a completely different animal. I have both cars, but I run 28" as my minimun radius.
David
Yes David you’re correct but my min radius is 26 yet it still binds up in the middle
All of my turnouts are Peco mediums yet it still has problems with those also.
I guess my point is for that price it should do 18" radius.
The old Rivarossi cars have truck-mounted “talgo” couplers and even the 80’ cars can take a very sharp curve. The Walthers cars (and the Walthers/Rivarossi 60’ passenger cars) have body mounted couplers. My last layout used a mainline 28" min radius and could run Walthers cars with no problem.
When using full-length passenger cars with body-mounted couplers and working diaphragms, 30" or larger min radius usually recommended.
The walthers cars are built for more prototypical turns, they were not designed from the begining for anything less than 24" radius. Walthers does make shorty heavyweights in their Trainline series for smaller layouts of 18" radius.
Cost largely has nothing to do with minimum radius, but instead it’s based on car length and how prototypical the company wishes to be. My Athearn SD60 was realatively inexpensive but cannot negotiate a 18" radius curve with any freight behind it. Conversely, my most expensive engine, a Marklin Trix 2-8-2 USRA Light Mikado (yes I know it’s not that prototypical but it’s really pretty and everyone needs some steam) can do a 18" radius curve.
Basically, here’s the deal: A GE 44 Tonner will always be able to do tighter curves than an SD70. A 40’ boxcar can do a lot less radius than an 80’ passenger car.
If you want do to tighter curves, get shorter rolling stock.
Cheers!
~METRO
Walthers says that their cars can just get by on 24" curves, and they then reccommend that you remove some of the underframe to improve 24" radius performance. I bet these have a realistic (ie, no modification needed) minimum radius of 28 or 30"
You have a flaw in your thinking. Should a Brass 2-10-4 texas type be able to negotiate 18" radius curves? For the 1800 price tag (by your thinking) it should go around 15" radius curves.
The Walthers cars have underbody details, working diaphrams, close coupling and non-talgo trucks…the Rivarossi does not have underbody detail, does not have a working diaphram (actually most have NO diaphram) and have talgo trucks with truck mounted couplers. Apples…Oranges…
You think the Walthers cars are picky? Try running their Branchline counterparts…a 30"min is required without modifying the underbody.
My point is this…you cant complain about something that works as it is designed. They say 24" is BARE minimum…it does not say that it will run well around thoes curves…or with other equipment.
Walthers cars are worth every penny. They are well-detailed, well build cars with lots of extras…I have always been impressed by the fact that they could produce brass quality pieces for such little money. They even have interior lighting!
You get what you pay for…
David
I have some Walthers passenger cars that derail on 50 inch radius curves at our club layout. I think it’s the wheels themselves as they have metal tapper axle pins in contact with the metal side frames. I don’t light the cars but would like to change them out to plastic axle with metal wheels so they won’t bind up and derail. But what wheels set to use because the Walthers wheel axles seem a bit longer?
Anyone else have this problem? Suggestions for replacements?
I am designing my layout to run 85’ passenger cars. Walthers says 24" min NMRA sugests a much bigger radius than that. For a more realistic / better looking operation I am going for 32" radiuses on the mainline. If I had not done the research beforehand I probably would have gone with 22" radiuses in order to fit in a 4’ sheet.
Quote-I have some Walthers passenger cars that derail on 50 inch radius curves at our club
Gee? Maybe they need a 60" minimum to work properly?[%-)]
I think it’s funny how people defend these $45 cars when there’s so many negative posts about them. I’ve owned about 6 Walthers cars (no passenger) and thought they all ran like garbage. I got rid of them and won’t buy anymore.
I have three NYC heavyweights that run very well. I only subject them to curvatures of 28" radii and up, but I have successfully run them forwards and backwards through my reversing loop, part of which is in the 24" range.
It might be worth removing the trucks and looking for any flashing or material that might be impeding the lateral pivoting motions of the trucks. I realize that the cost of these cars would suggest that they should get to the customer in near-perfect order. Fact is, they don’t, and their cures should be only a matter of close inspection and rectification, either in the cars’ running gear or the surfaces on which we place them. There-in lie the derailments.
“About 6 Walthers cars”…not even passenger ones.
I think it is funny how people like to exagerate to get their point across. Where are these negitive posts? Mostly these posts are people who want to run them on 18"…or posts by shakeandbakers who want everything to work perfectly out of the box.
You on the other hand are giving us hear-say and you admit that you have NO personal experience with these cars. And you compare these passenger units to ‘other’ rolling stock you own by Walthers. It would be like comparing an 80’s Life Like toy-locomotive with a modern Proto 2000 offering. I think THAT is funny…how you can compare apples to oranges.
I would be interested in finding out exactly what you own. If you own any modern LL units, then I call you out on this. But to pass judgement on a product because you owned something completely unrelated by the same company is completely bogus.
David
If you really don’t like the walthers cars, go out and buy branchline kits, they turn into much better cars than the walthers models anyway and have alot more flexability. Just buy the cars branchline does not make from walthers and modify them a bit.
I quite like the cars I have, so I don’t know where the negative posts are. Now, I haven’t messed with the .0135" wire grabs and things yet, and I have seen some posts as to “what were they thinking!?” for those…
Walthers, right out of the box, first or second line says to take the trucks apart and lube them and the axle points. I think the line is even bolded… Maybe that was a problem for you loathar? Now, my cars are awaiting the completion of the club layout (I only have 22" curves, but I couldn’t pass up the sale on the cars[:-^] ), so they have not been lubed or anything - but they still rolled rather smoothly along the 12-15’ of straight track that I have. I just gave them a push and let them roll freely, so it might not have been the most scientific of tests, but they still worked out pretty well…
I think the hobby is infected with too much sectional track in the 18" and 22". I say if you want to run big stuff, get big curves to go with it or go home.
If you want to run toy 18" curves and #4 switches you need to buy toy cars like Athearn shorties.
If you’re derailing on 50" curves(amazingly large for a home layout) you obviously have a problem. Either the track is bad or you have one of the cars with a twisted truck. That is caused by one of the holes not tapped perpendicular. If you loosen all four screws and set the truck on a piece of track you can push it square. Then tighten the screws one at a time and you will find the bad one. Either get a replacement or leave that one crew a tad loose.
On some cars the metal wipers get bent and cause [problems. If you are not lighting, take off the metal strips.
I agree… however living in a dorm room has it’s disadvantages… and the 22" is a pretty good step up from the 15" trainset stuff I previously had. Now, I realize I’m still limiting myself BUT seeing trains run around a 4x8 oval (when my roommate is gone… another problem with dorm rooms) is much more amusing to me than having them sit on the shelf all the time… And 22" runs all of my equipment (save for the newly acquired cars) flawlessly.
I may not be able to run the passenger cars at all, and a few of my locos look a tad off when going around the curves, but I knew these “problems” and I bought the things anyway. They might be shelf queens for the next few years, but as soon as college is finished, and I get on my feet (so to speak) I already have a direction and a few “pointers” as to what I can and cannot do - as opposed to building a layout that limits me (in the sense of “well, I’ve already built the thing and I can’t expand the curves to run this…”)
BTW about those Walthers 60’ cars - don’t depend that they’ll go down to 18" R curves, they have body mounted couplers too. I tried running a 60’ RPO on a train with 80’ Rivarossi cars (with talgo truck/couplers) on a branchline with 22"R and the Walthers RPO wouldn’t do it. Shortness doesn’t always equate with being able to take sharp curves.
<> p.s. Not on subject, but technically the 4 Walthers/Rivarossi cars (RPO, Baggage, Combine and Coach) aren’t “Shorties” - that is, they aren’t shortened versions of longer cars, they’re accurate models of real passenger cars that were 60’ long. [:)]
I have had great expreriences with both the Walther’s lightweight and heavyweight offerings. They do seem light to me, so I added weight which really enhanced their rolling qualities. Some of them, as stated above, do require a little tuning, such as making sure the trucks are true and lubed.
Even some brass passenger cars I have required a little “tuning” to get to roll right. I am not talking about the cheaper Soho or Lambert cars, but Samhongsa builds from The Coach Yard.
With a little work and patience, they are very nice cars in my opinion. I just wish they would do some more of the Santa Fe heavyweight prototypes, such as the chair car. I was hoping they were going to release a whole series of Santa Fe cars like they did with the wood and metal kits. That channel sill is very distinct.
I tell you a small secret. **Flips pages of the hobby budget… aha… Bachmann Track 35" radius. A loop of the stuff and some straight track goes onto a set of small modular type table or floor in the room. That way the stuff can get some running time. Oval or figure 8 dont know yet.
I may have to do it outside because of my two cats. They are quite the customs inspectors when new stuff show up in thier primary living area.
College was hard on everything when I went. I used the Train Simulator on the computer quite a bit for a mainline run from time to time. I remember a steam scenario from the Trains 2004 with the small yard and the lumber yard et