I am looking for a good solid locomotive for some local freight work and I saw a Walthers Trainline kit that firs the bill for a new paint scheme. But here is the question how well do these kits run? I usaually use Proto and Atlas (Kato drive) locomotives on my layout. I found the older Proto FA units to be not realiable.
They run pretty well. Motor looks similar to a Kato. They have enough weight to pull decent. The only iffy thing might be the trucks. One Trainline GP15 I had would derail pretty constantly. I was less than pleased. But I picked up two different GP15s and run just fine.
What was unreliable about the P2Ks? Axle gears break over time, but other than that they should be OK. The 1:1 scale FAs weren’t all that reliable either. [;)] The P2K trucks are some of the best looking ones in HO scale. They have the correct wheelbase.
I have two of the Trainline FA’s. I also have the 80’s issue of MR where they reviewed them and listed a 1 smph starting speed with straight DC - and they DO run that well. Even slower with a BEMF DCC decoders. The body is the old Train-Miniature, and somewhat crude in detail compared to the P2K FA’s - but at least you can pick them up without breaking anything. Some DA and Details West details liek grab irons and you’ll have a very nice looking unit that runs extremely well.
–Randy
I have the Walthers FA-1. I had a couple of issues when I first used it. The motor is restrained with a piece of tape. When the tape unglued it allows the motor to rock making noise. I restuck the tape to fix that. It has pick up shoes on the back of the wheels. One of those was crooked and was catching on the wheel insulation causing a ticking noise. I repositioned the pick up to stop that noise. The shell is very hard to pry off. Performance wise it is quieter and a smoother running locomotive than I expected for the price. The paint is also good.