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Post by Donnell Wells on May 2, 2012 8:05:58 GMT -8
Is anyone else elated about having the complete train? I know I am! It has been long awaited ever since DA/TSP came out with their Hi-level car kits. Then, Intemountain stepped in with plans to finish the train, but for some reason (which we now know) backed out.
I know there is some controversy about the metalic finished, but they look pretty dang 'ol good to me! I'll have to put them next to the BLI Cal Zephyr cars to see how well Walthers did with the plating.
BTW, mine will be led by a pair of "noisy" Genesis FP45s!
Donnell
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Post by calzephyr on May 2, 2012 8:58:39 GMT -8
The Walthers cars are very nice overall and the finish is actually very good, but not like some of the brass cars which were way too bright for the prototype. I have the complete train in brass and now prefer the new Walthers cars since they can be pulled up grades with a lot less motive power. The Walthers cars do not have the correct trucks but most would not notice the difference. The picture below is the Walthers transition car with added glazing to make it look better, at least to me. The photobucket has pictures of the brass and Walthers cars in comparison so they can be viewed.  s806.photobucket.com/albums/yy345/Trainsforyou/Finish%20Comparison/?albumview=slideshow |
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Post by SantaFeJim on May 2, 2012 13:21:22 GMT -8
The Santa Fe El Capitan is my absolute all time favorite passenger train
Last year when Walthers announce that they were going to offer the complete set I pulled the trigger for the Deluxe addition. When I was placing my order I asked if I could purchase a couple of addition Deluxe coaches and was told the only additional El Cap cars were the standard un-populated and un-lighted version. I declined.
A few weeks ago I lucked out and how when I posted the following thread on the Atlas Forum:
In a post last week I stated that the Walthers Deluxe El Capitan coaches looked SPECTACULAR and that I already wanted a couple more.
I proceeded to call a total of 11 hobby shops in 4 states in an attempt to score a couple more coaches. Most said they never got them from Walthers because of the very limited (350 set) production run. One store owner said his computer showed them in stock, but after looking for 2 full days he called me back to say that he could not locate them.
As luck would have it, I decided to check that major auction site and I was able to get the 933-9771 and 933-9772 for less than what I paid of the first two. Paying less than the Walthers MSRP was not a huge surprise, FINDING these puppies was the real prize.
Auburnflyer (who goes by CalZephyr on this forum) said that his 5 coaches are scheduled to arrive on Friday. His El Capitan is going to be at least one coach longer then mine. I am guessing that he is going to model the actual 5 coach consist from 1957 as listed below.
Baggage (storage mail)
Baggage
Baggage-Dormitory (transition car)
Hi-Level 68-Seat Step Down Chair Car
Hi-Level 72-Seat Chair Car
Hi-Level 72-Seat Chair Car
Hi-Level Diner
Hi-Level Lounge
Hi-Level 72-Seat Chair Car
Hi-Level 72-Seat Chair Car
Hi-Level 72-Seat Chair Car
Hi-Level 68-Seat Step Down Chair Car
Mine consist will be as follows:
Baggage (storage mail)
Baggage
Baggage-Dormitory (transition car)
Hi-Level 68-Seat Step Down Chair Car
Hi-Level 72-Seat Chair Car #711
Hi-Level 72-Seat Chair Car #714
Hi-Level Diner
Hi-Level Lounge
Hi-Level 72-Seat Chair Car #717
Hi-Level 72-Seat Chair Car #722
Hi-Level 68-Seat Step Down Chair Car
I will number the coaches 711, 714, 717 and 722. The reason is my daughter's birthday is the 11th, my son's is the 14th, my wife's is the 17th and mine is the 22nd.
The actual car numbers were 700-724 and each coach comes with number decals with that number range.
The reason that Santa Fe had 25 of these coaches was because they had 5 complete consist of the El Capitan. At any given time there were 2 westbound from Chicago to L.A. and 2 eastbound L.A. to Chicago. The fifth set was being serviced in one or the other terminus locations.
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Post by calzephyr on May 2, 2012 13:44:47 GMT -8
The Santa Fe El Capitan is my absolute all time favorite passenger trainLast year when Walthers announce that they were going to offer the complete set I pulled the trigger for the Deluxe addition. When I was placing my order I asked if I could purchase a couple of addition Deluxe coaches and was told the only additional El Cap cars were the standard un-populated and un-lighted version. I declined. A few weeks ago I lucked out and how when I posted the following thread on the Atlas Forum:
In a post last week I stated that the Walthers Deluxe El Capitan coaches looked SPECTACULAR and that I already wanted a couple more.
I proceeded to call a total of 11 hobby shops in 4 states in an attempt to score a couple more coaches. Most said they never got them from Walthers because of the very limited (350 set) production run. One store owner said his computer showed them in stock, but after looking for 2 full days he called me back to say that he could not locate them.
As luck would have it, I decided to check that major auction site and I was able to get the 933-9771 and 933-9772 for less than what I paid of the first two. Paying less than the Walthers MSRP was not a huge surprise, FINDING these puppies was the real prize.
Auburnflyer (who goes by CalZephyr on this forum) said that his 5 coaches are scheduled to arrive on Friday. His El Capitan is going to be at least one coach longer then mine. I am guessing that he is going to model the actual 5 coach consist from 1957 as listed below.
Baggage (storage mail)
Baggage
Baggage-Dormitory (transition car)
Hi-Level 68-Seat Step Down Chair Car
Hi-Level 72-Seat Chair Car
Hi-Level 72-Seat Chair Car
Hi-Level Diner
Hi-Level Lounge
Hi-Level 72-Seat Chair Car
Hi-Level 72-Seat Chair Car
Hi-Level 72-Seat Chair Car
Hi-Level 68-Seat Step Down Chair Car
Mine consist will be as follows:
Baggage (storage mail)
Baggage
Baggage-Dormitory (transition car)
Hi-Level 68-Seat Step Down Chair Car
Hi-Level 72-Seat Chair Car #711
Hi-Level 72-Seat Chair Car #714
Hi-Level Diner
Hi-Level Lounge
Hi-Level 72-Seat Chair Car #717
Hi-Level 72-Seat Chair Car #722
Hi-Level 68-Seat Step Down Chair Car
I will number the coaches 711, 714, 717 and 722. The reason is my daughter's birthday is the 11th, my son's is the 14th, my wife's is the 17th and mine is the 22nd.
The actual car numbers were 700-724 and each coach comes with number decals with that number range.
The reason that Santa Fe had 25 of these coaches was because they had 5 complete consist of the El Capitan. At any given time there were 2 westbound from Chicago to L.A. and 2 eastbound L.A. to Chicago. The fifth set was being serviced in one or the other terminus locations. Jim Nice consist for sure and it is a great looking train. Using numbers of birthdays and other occasions in a great idea. The Santa Fe really had a nice fresh new train design in 1956 that set the basic standards for Amtrak many years later in the future. The new Amtrak cars reminded me of the HI Level El Cap in general and they were a delight to see when they were new. I ended up with an additional 700 coach car plus the five that were reserved came to the house last week. Normally, I would have limited the consist to five, but when I saw an extra one in the LHS, it just seemed to follow me home. A extra Lounge is reserved also, just in case something goes wrong during the glazing work. That will be the hard one to bend the glazing to fit the curves. I have done that with the UP dome cars by inserting the precut glazing into a short piece of PVC pipe, usually a 1/2 inch size and then blowing heat into one end with a blow dryer. The glazing will take on the curve as soon as the heat comes in contact. Larry |
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Post by SantaFeJim on May 2, 2012 14:24:22 GMT -8
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Post by Donnell Wells on May 2, 2012 14:25:29 GMT -8
I ended up with an extra step-down coach, not remembering that the last car of the set was one, with a drumhead. l may just put some Amtrak phase 3 stripes on it and throw it in my Walthers Superliner consist...
Donnell
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Post by calzephyr on May 2, 2012 15:31:07 GMT -8
I ended up with an extra step-down coach, not remembering that the last car of the set was one, with a drumhead. l may just put some Amtrak phase 3 stripes on it and throw it in my Walthers Superliner consist... Donnell True, they are still out there working their keep! Larry |
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Post by calzephyr on May 3, 2012 13:50:49 GMT -8
I received a call today that my last three cars were being shipped as of today, which was good news. On the plus side, I was told the diner has the correct trucks on it and it was new tooling.
Has anyone looked to see if they have the proper caps and detail on them? Thanks
Larry
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Post by SantaFeJim on May 3, 2012 13:53:31 GMT -8
Larry - Can you tell by this picture?  |
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Post by calzephyr on May 3, 2012 15:25:43 GMT -8
Larry - Can you tell by this picture? Jim The diner has the six axle trucks on it. I believe that the car in the picture is a coach car. From the news I received, Walthers actually has the correct truck on the diner, which is really great! I was wondering if they had the proper Timken caps on the trucks instead of the now standard rotating truck caps. The picture below shows the truck and the Timken bearing caps. Larry  |
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garr
Junior Member
Posts: 76
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Post by garr on May 3, 2012 18:22:35 GMT -8
Larry and Jim,
How is the finish on the diners you received? Mine seems to have more "feathering" in the fluting than any of the other bi-level cars in the series. A lot like what was described on the RPO or baggage car.
If your cars are clean I may need to send mine back to Walthers for a swap.
Jay
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Post by calzephyr on May 3, 2012 19:08:11 GMT -8
Larry and Jim, How is the finish on the diners you received? Mine seems to have more "feathering" in the fluting than any of the other bi-level cars in the series. A lot like what was described on the RPO or baggage car. If your cars are clean I may need to send mine back to Walthers for a swap. Jay Jay Sorry, my Walthers diner is one of the last three cars that are being shipped today. Some of my El Cap cars have been less than perfect but all have been acceptable. The picture I posted is from my brass El Cap. The Walthers cars so far have been fairly good and the weight is so much less than twelve brass cars. They are hard to pull so this train will be the one that I will run. larry. |
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Post by el3637 on May 3, 2012 21:04:07 GMT -8
The picture I posted is from my brass El Cap. The Walthers cars so far have been fairly good and the weight is so much less than twelve brass cars. They are hard to pull so this train will be the one that I will run. Of course the best time to sell my OMI El Capitan cars has come and gone... I'm sure I could sell them but not for the price I would have gotten the day before Walthers announced the train. But truth is, I'm keeping it. As nice as the Walthers cars are, the OMI cars are some of the best brass passenger cars I've ever owned. This is after having sold 2/3 of the brass I ever had because something better - much better - came along in plastic. My OMI consist is a bit odd. It consists of a Baggage, Budd transition bag-dorm, step-up coach, one 700 class coach, diner, lounge, and two more stepdown coaches. OMI underproduced the 700 class and I ended up with only one of them. I bought an extra 500-class stepdown just to lengthen the train, and unless you can see the end or the number, it's virtually identical. I even considered kitbashing it into a 700 by modifying the end. Anyway - I ordered enough extra 700s from Walthers to fill out my brass train, which means I'll have one stepdown coach to sell, but - like I said, this might not be the best time. Andy |
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Post by SantaFeJim on May 4, 2012 5:47:52 GMT -8
Larry and others - I am sorry that I posted the wrong picture yesterday, lets just say I had a brain-fart. I pulled that one off the internet. This morning I took 2 pictures of the trucks on my diner. Sorry for the lack of quality and detail as I took them with my cell phone. The good news is they DO have the proper Timken "caps", the bad news they have the molded springs as opposed to the functional springs on Larry's brass model.   Here is the Diner picture from the previously mentioned web site.  |
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Post by calzephyr on May 4, 2012 6:15:36 GMT -8
Jim
Thanks for the update. We have all posted the wrong picture and been there and done that!!
It is amazing they tooled up the correct truck for the single diner car and got the Timken truck caps on it also! Maybe for a future run of the 4 axle truck, they will retool it also.
The cars do look good and Walthers has really given Santa Fe fans a great looking train. Thanks Walthers!!!
Larry
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Post by calzephyr on May 4, 2012 6:20:55 GMT -8
The picture I posted is from my brass El Cap. The Walthers cars so far have been fairly good and the weight is so much less than twelve brass cars. They are hard to pull so this train will be the one that I will run. Of course the best time to sell my OMI El Capitan cars has come and gone... I'm sure I could sell them but not for the price I would have gotten the day before Walthers announced the train. But truth is, I'm keeping it. As nice as the Walthers cars are, the OMI cars are some of the best brass passenger cars I've ever owned. This is after having sold 2/3 of the brass I ever had because something better - much better - came along in plastic. My OMI consist is a bit odd. It consists of a Baggage, Budd transition bag-dorm, step-up coach, one 700 class coach, diner, lounge, and two more stepdown coaches. OMI underproduced the 700 class and I ended up with only one of them. I bought an extra 500-class stepdown just to lengthen the train, and unless you can see the end or the number, it's virtually identical. I even considered kitbashing it into a 700 by modifying the end. Anyway - I ordered enough extra 700s from Walthers to fill out my brass train, which means I'll have one stepdown coach to sell, but - like I said, this might not be the best time. Andy Andy I never considered selling any of my Overland train, but wanted the lighter cars to run at clubs. I am sure the brass cars have less value now compared to a year ago but having the cars still makes sense to me. I have noticed they do not show up often on Brass Train sites and when they do show up on a list, they still sell rather quickly in most cases. The people who own brass normally continue to purchase those, but Overland will probably not import them again. Larry |
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Post by calzephyr on May 7, 2012 5:41:08 GMT -8
As an update to the El Cap details, the following TO post shows the interiors painted. He has really done a nice job. I hope it OK to reference a forum for the article. Larry cs.trains.com/TRCCS/forums/t/205795.aspx |
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Post by Donnell Wells on May 7, 2012 7:21:19 GMT -8
I have no problem with referencing threads on other boards. Seeing as how most of us are members of multiple forums, it's a natural tendency...
Donnell
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Post by calzephyr on May 7, 2012 9:08:05 GMT -8
I have no problem with referencing threads on other boards. Seeing as how most of us are members of multiple forums, it's a natural tendency...
Donnell Donnell Thanks. I was not sure but this was a special work for the interiors that really looks nice. Larry |
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Post by riogrande on May 7, 2012 9:35:37 GMT -8
Of course the best time to sell my OMI El Capitan cars has come and gone... I'm sure I could sell them but not for the price I would have gotten the day before Walthers announced the train. Andy I owned a complete 11 car set of the Oriental Limited/Challenger brass California Zephyr of which most of the cars cost me an average of $170 each. These were not finished cars either and needed a good deal of work like windows, dome inserts (which I still have) and decals etc, not to mention interiors. When the BLI cars came out, I put my CZ cars up for Consignment at Caboose Hobbies and eventually had to drop the price to about $99 a car to sell the set. I took a bath but I had to be practical, I wanted fully finished cars and BLI provided them. The money from the brass CZ cars more than paid for them and in the end, I have what I wanted. Maybe your brass El Capitan are fully finished? Anyhow, it is very tempting to buy the Walthesr El Cap but it's really money I don't need to spend right now and it's "off topic" for me - although a gorgeous train. I suppose if I modeled the Joint Line, the El Cap did travel the Joint Line to Denver didn't it? Noooooo - must resist! |
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Post by Donnell Wells on May 7, 2012 9:48:17 GMT -8
Donnell Thanks. I was not sure but this was a special work for the interiors that really looks nice. Larry
No problem, Larry. The modeler did an excellent job finishing the interiors of that train. It those extra steps that really bring certain aspects of our hobby to life!
If I didn't have so many projects in the works, I'd probably try and do at least one car to see the difference for myself.
Donnell
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Post by el3637 on May 8, 2012 23:07:44 GMT -8
Maybe your brass El Capitan are fully finished? A lot more finished than a lot of brass, but less than what they really need. They come with interiors and glass but no people, and the sorriest excuse for a lighting system since Tyco. It's basically an elaborate hunk of clear plastic with a bunch of grooves and metal contacts embedded in it... and one single stinkin light bulb that burns out in 15 minutes. I've only done a makeover on two of the cars, the diner and the step-up coach, adding my own lights and people. I previously had a 10-car Hallmark El Capitan set. I paid $1500 or $150 per car originally. Cars did not have interiors or glass. Nor did they roll... total junk for trucks. I tried putting Intermountain's ball bearing wheels in them but I didn't like the funny side-to-side sashay. I ended up unloading the whole set at a slight loss, which was helped by getting $400 for the transition bag-dorm alone, apparently it represented a one-off prototype which I can make for 1/4 the cost out of brass car sides. That was basically sold off long ago when I acquired the OMI train. Now that I have the Walthers train, I am planning to keep the OMI for the time being. I actually don't know at the moment how many complete passenger trains I have. Let's see going back in time: El Capitan - Walthers Broadway Limited - Walthers Super Chief Plated - Walthers Powhatan Arrow - MTH City of Everywhere - Walthers 1935 Hiawatha - Fox Valley 1948 20th Century Limited - Walthers Twin Cities Hiawatha - Walthers 1951 Empire Builder - Walthers California Zephyr - BLI Super Chief Unplated - Walthers + one brass Palm 10-6 El Capitan - OMI 1937 Super Chief - Coach Yard 1983 Broadway Limited - Walthers 1983 Cardinal - Walthers 1938 20th Century Limited - Mine And I've got a Canadian coming, and I might buy this Crusader if it ever sees the light of day and isn't priced through the roof. I have appropriate motive power for everything except the Powhatan. I own two Bachmann Js but both run like crap and aren't ready for prime time. The 38 Century is a 1988 scratchbashing job I did, fairly crude but it has the best loco of the bunch: a Key/Mizuno Dreyfuss Hudson, one of the best built, best running brass steam locos ever. Andy |
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