The PRR Metroliners (photos)

Ed, let me start off by saying welcome to the forum! If you would like to tell us more about yourself, feel free to do so here: acmodels.boards.net/board/8/new-members-introduce. Out of curiosity, how did you find out about the forum? We are in need of more members, so it is good to see that a few new guys have joined recently.

Now on to the models, thanks for sharing those pictures, they look awesome! The Walthers pictures make the cars look nice, but when put on a nice layout, such as your own, the cars look 100x better! The Metroliner really looks great staged in front of the GG1 as well! Do you ever intend to put catenary on any section of your layout?

I would have to agree with you that the bright white LED's do look unrealistic. The only locomotive headlight that I have seen that looks like that in real life is Amtrak's brand new ACS-64. I wonder why Walthers did that, because warm headlights would look significantly better. Like Mark mentioned, you can change them, but it is a hassle that you really shouldn't have to go through considering the pricetag. I agree with you that the underbody would definitely look more realistic with weathering as well. It looks like Walthers weathered the Metroliner underbody on the cover of their most recent Walthers' Flyer.

Those two minor things aside, the model looks outstanding! I am sure that you will really enjoy running them on your layout!

Daniel

Hi, Daniel and thanks for the welcome to the forum.

I had first heard of the Passenger & Commuter forum when AntonioFP45 had mentioned it over at the MR forums (was that over a year ago?) I took a peek here and bookmarked the site... then got busy with other stuff and let it slide. More recently on the MR forum somone posted a thread "Any Amtrak Modelers out There?? and it aroused my curiosity and I rediscovered this forum. With the release of these Metroliners (and the Amfleet cars) it got me to thinking about dusting off some of the Amtrak equipment and running it for a while on my layout.
I primarily model NYC, Pennsy, B&O Nickel Plate and some Erie and my era is mid to late 1950s... BUT I get a kick out of running my Rapido Turbotrain, Amtrak Superliners, E-33s and a handfull of other more current stuff.

I've been busy at work the last few weeks so I have not had the chance to "raise the pans" on the Metroliners but hope to soon (you have to immediately program them since they are all set up for cab forward running so two of them will have to be "reversed" I'll probably program them all for the same number rather than consist them.

I too plan to correct the headlight and perhaps get a different value resistor for the number lights. One thing that I am a bit more disappointed in is that the "real metal plating" looks like it has a big oily stain on the roof. This is a result of the plastic injection process (I've had a similar thing happen when spraying certain paints onto bare plastic without a primer) you can see it in the top photo at the center of the car. That's the worst car, on the other three it's not so noticeable. I wonder if the Amfleet cars have that problem?

I've been thinking about a way to represent a stretch of NEC/PRR catenary since it is so distinctive and, let's face it, if you're going to run "motors" the catenary is every bit as important as the track! I'm from the Cleveland, Ohio area and I've studied the C.U.T. Catenary that ran from Collinwood to Linndale on the NYC. CUT had neat lattice steel supports that would be fun to model in etched brass. Seeing an electric motor without catenary is like a steam engine without a tender!

I'll take you up on posting a bio soon. Thanks again, Ed

I agree with you, Antonio. I mulled around the thought of passing up these Metroliners and I, too,  would have much preferred the Penn-Central version as well since that's what I rode back in '70 and '71. (I remember seeing one with the outline of the Keystone still showing on the front)
Then I figured it might be a year or two before Walthers even thinks about a P-C version and with todays climate of limited-run-get it while you can, we're only producing 300 of these, etc. made me dust off the credit card and bite the bullet.

Yes, it's a marketing ploy by Walthers, like the exclusive 20th Century carpet and figure set ONLY available with the $1600 limited run set (even though I bought 2 of these carpet/figure sets on ebay for about $15. ea not too long ago!)
So they try to sweeten the deal but stick you with the high retail, get-it-now, be the first on your block marketing ploy.

Still, I WANTED the Metroliner and I wasn't too crazy about that particular Amtrak scheme so score one for Walthers. Usually I can wait until an item shows up in the sale flyer but it looks like the trend is toward REALLY limited runs. I paid full Walthers retail for the recent Pullman 10-6 in B&O smooth side and NKP with stainless fluting below the belt rail and I'm glad I did. They sold out at MB Klein immediately and I haven't seen them anywhere else since so I bought direct from Walthers... win some lose some. [edit: I see MB Klein has 4 of the NKPs in stock now]

Looks like we will have to get used to this GAMBLE of pre-order, limited run, buy now—you snooze-you-lose policy from here on. Add in the fact that the Chinese manufacturers themselves are going through some kind turmoil and all you can do is grab it when you can and PAY the man!

Take care, Ed

Oh, I agree with you wholeheartedly on the "stuffed and mounted" crowd, Backshop... I have several acquaintances who passed away with closets full of expensive brass that never saw the light of day... or ever touched a rail for that matter. It's sad to think that all they ever got to do was dust off the boxes and sniff the foam every now-and-then. I'm at the point in my life where I am somewhat comfortable and I am blessed with the ability to be able to afford a few luxuries now-and-then. A while back I bought one of the Rapido Turbotrains—which I had the opportunity to ride from NYC-Penn to New Haven (still have the ticket stub!)—and I thought the Metroliner would be a neat addition to my little NEC collection.
Mind you, I model the 1950s New York Central and Pennsy [with a little B&O, Erie and Bessemer thrown in for good measure] in the eastern Ohio/Western Pennsylvania region! But, hey... it sure is neat to see these shiny Metroliners blast through town at 110 MPH and the Turbotrain huffin' and puffin right behind to keep pace!  Boys just wanna have FUN! I figure when I'm gone my kids will have this stuff listed on EBay before I'm at room temperature so, to heck with resale value, I'm going to run the wheels off my equipment! 

It looks like the collectors are keeping their checkbooks close to heart... I bought my Metroliner set from MB Klein a couple of weeks ago when they had four in stock... and the inventory has not gone down since! (Limit one per customer at $999.99)
IF Walthers ever releases a PENN-CENTRAL version I would get a pair and add them to the 4 PRRs. Somehow, I have an affinity for the ol' PC and I would like to see the Metroliners in the paint scheme that I remember...

Happy modeling, Ed