A Surprise (to me) - Walthers Reissuing DL109

[magi46]

Ordered my Wathers 0759 McGinnis DL-109 in August 2012. Any day now, any day now. 

[peteski]

But would anyone put a DL109 on their mantle?

No, but I will put one in a train display case. 

[Mark5]

I actually like the looks of this loco, but have no need for one.

Interestingly, Walthers made no attempt to make these DCC ready.

Mark

[PGE-N°2]

I'm starting to like the looks of the DL109, too, although I am now wishing I had bought the Milwaukee units from the prior run.

I would say, though, that for everyone who is complaining, unless you can prove yourself correct in your opinions by fronting the capital, time and personnel to buy out the business, marketing and manufacturing process for all of Walther's N scale product lines, and show a profit making and selling them successfully, then there really is nothing else you can say, aside from writing a letter.

[CrazyLynx]

Weirdly attractive-looking engine, in 2 road numbers for Southern.. I couldn't be happier (unless they had updated the tooling for DCC-ready but it's the old Life Like tooling).

I can't believe people keep complaining that Walthers is sitting on all those old LL toolings.  When they actually do a rerun, people are complaining some more because it's not their "favorite engine of the month" rerun.  If you don't like the engine, don't buy it.  It's as simple as that.

[bbussey]

I like the looks of the DL-109, but I like Art Deco, anyway. Walthers made a poor decision here. Erie Builts in As and Bs and A-B-B-A sets would have been a much better new offering. I wrote Walthers two years ago, suggesting the Erie Builts; but, I did not receive a reply.  I suggest we individually write – not e-mail – Walthers with our complaints and suggestions. Maybe someone there will listen, even if no one there has the courtesy to respond to an interested customer.

The Erie-Builts are simply a different flavor of the same situation.  Fewer roads had the Erie-Builts than did the DL-109s, and the eras and lifespans are similar.  You're simply swapping one set of fans for the other.  Modelers who are fans of neither would be perturbed either way.

This will be the third release of Life-Like/Walthers DL-109s, which were initially an updated better-quality model to the Con-Cor version from a couple of decades earlier.  The Life-Like/Walthers Erie-Builts have been released only once, and the predecessor was a third-party bodyshell designed to fit the Con-Cor PA1.  The PAs also have seen three or four releases during that time.  So it would seem that Walthers is releasing the models based on past sales performance to some extent.  No doubt the Erie-Builts and the C-Liners will return at some point, but clearly the company feels the Alcos are a better sell at this time.
 

[sirenwerks]

No doubt the Erie-Builts and the C-Liners will return at some point, but clearly the company feels the Alcos are a better sell at this time.

Makes me hope the Centuries will be back soon then.  I would grab a pair of Milwaukee Road Erie-builts though, especially Armor yellow units.  I wouldn't mind some more FAs (not the Bs, plenty of those floating on eBay) and E7s, especially if they were to refine the detail on those models.

[PGE-N°2]

I too would love to see a re-release of the C424s... then I could give Jeff Briggs some business by buying his C425 shells.

Another option for those who disapprove of Walthers business and production practices: If you truly want an Erie, PA or FA, then upload a file to Shapeways to print a shell for you.

[wcfn100]

Still some good paint schemes left for a BL-2 run. 

I think they should look at the E7s.  With the Kato passenger sets and all the individual passenger cars, there's probably a profitable run in there with the right road names. 


Jason

[mcjaco]

Still some good paint schemes left for a BL-2 run. 

I think they should look at the E7s.  With the Kato passenger sets and all the individual passenger cars, there's probably a profitable run in there with the right road names. 


Jason

Those and the FAs.  There's so many road names they haven't touched, and with all the Cheeseheads working at Walther's you'd think someone on staff is waiting for a GBW or Soo FA. 

[Ed Kapuscinski]

The funny thing about those FAs... LL was blowing them out. I remember having pallets of them showing up.

So, I wouldn't be surprised if they were a bit gun shy of doing them again.

Of course, that was because they had done tons and tons of, lets just say, less popular road names (Frisco, for example).

[wcfn100]

Those and the FAs.  There's so many road names they haven't touched, and with all the Cheeseheads working at Walther's you'd think someone on staff is waiting for a GBW or Soo FA.

Those FAs really need a new company to do them justice in regards to paint schemes.  But like Ed said and I touched on a few pages back, the way those were blown out was ridiculous.  I own two ABBA sets of the RI.  I didn't need them, they were just too cheap to pass up.

To your post, I don't know that I've seen any custom painted FAs from those runs (I remember some from the old plastic frame days).  Maybe they really aren't that popular of a model.   

Jason

[mcjaco]

I picked up a pair from Charlie Vlk for $30.  They're the super old ones that weighed a ton.  I'm in the midst of detailing and repainting them into the Soo Line Maroon and Delux Gold scheme....but, yeah you never see them custom painted either. 

They run like champs and could pull a stump, so not sure why they aren't as popular....then again, are the PA's???

[pnolan48]

Didn't Walthers already re-run the FM C-Liners? I got a bunch from the first run, which sat around a few years until I milled the frames--and then they announced the DCC-ready frames within a few months. I was buying TCS-1s by the 20s just to put in all the first-gen split-frames.

As I've mentioned before, all the split-frame LL diesels were essentially the same mechanism. I believe that DL-109, PAs and Erie-Builts were actually a bit too heavy for long freights up my 2.5% grades, as the FA-2s still hold the crown for best pullers, with the FA-1s just a notch behind.

[MVW]

Happy to see the DLs coming out again ... but after being burned by Walthers early "DCC ready" claim for their recent SW, I won't be touching these until I hear specifics.

Personally, I'm not buying anything that isn't truly DCC ready. But by all accounts these are excellent running models, and I like the looks of 'em. I hope it's a successful run for Walthers, but I'll likely stay on the sidelines unless it's a plug-and-play situation.

Jim