My first Walthers' catalog --- I was like a pig in mud.

[Anonymous]

I'm pretty new to model railroading. I never bought the big Walthers catalog as I told myself everything is online, and it was so expensive for a "catalog." But I broke down and bought it a while ago, and just left it in the drawer.

Early today my wife says she's taking the boys to say hi to Grandma. I throw the rake back in the shed, and I sit down with my favorite beverage in the easy chair with the Walthers'.

Hours later, my head is all full of ideas for a model railroad. I want to knock down a wall in the house, combine two rooms into one train room, make two of my sons bunk together in one bedroom. I see forested mountains turning into deserts, finely detailed coal mines, my own paint shop in the garage, etc etc etc

That Walthers' book made me feel like a greedy kid looking in a toy catalog at Christmas time. Or maybe it was the multiple favorite beverages I had.

Ken

[gvdobler]

Ken

I agree with you about the catalog. It's true that most of the stuff is on the web, but it is much easier to find it in one place. I think many people use it as a reference guide even if they never order from them. That's why they charge for it.

Have fun. [:D]

Jon - Las Vegas

[IRONROOSTER]

I love the catalog. Even though I'm in S now, I still buy the HO catalog every 2 or 3 years just to read it. I also enjoy going back and reading the old ones I have back into the 70's.
Enjoy
Paul

[Anonymous]

For HO, over 1,000 pages and it's not inclusive. Among the missing, Athearn. I'm on their
discount monthly filer mailing list. That's when I might buy from them.

[Javern]

my catalog is a couple years old and I've looked thru it 14 dozen times but......I get it out and look thru it monthly

[Anonymous]

Definitely the best reading material in the house...

[dave9999]

Ken,
You sound like me when I picked up my first Walthers catalog. For several
nights in a row Nancy would say "turn out the light and go to sleep".

I still get a copy about every other year just to see what they have added(or
removed). Good luck, Dave

[chutton01]

When I was 11 or 12 I got my first Walthers Catalog - I think it was 1976 (It had the E60s on the cover, along with the Metro cars on the cover). I studied it almost everyday, kept it in easy reach in my room. To this day I remeber stuff from that catalog: I studied the 'Trolley Layout' photosection (which I found utterly fascinating - the left half was the 'town section', and the right half the country section - the scenery to me seemed excellent) - I remember the ads for Goo, the Piker and The Oscar, the (well, then) exotic Kirbi and Wiking stuff, the Jordon vehicles (AND THE ORIGINAL ULRICH trucks - and hoppers too!), the E. Syndum[?] cardstock industrial buildings (including the Belkins Storage Warehouse, the Purina Feed Mill, and the Lumber Yard - almost every layout of any size had at least one of those buildings at the time) and all the detail parts (admittedly most of those parts were for the turn of the 20th century).
Well, I have brought many catalogs since then (usually one every three years or so) and no way do they stick out as much as that first one - indeed, I don't even remember anything from the 1980s lot , and the 1990s I only remember 'cause I saved pages of the various 'Magic of Model Railroading' photo sections over the years.
I must admit it's gonna stink buying the 2006 catalog, and not seeing Athearn or MDC in there...

[Anonymous]

Walthers also sells some of their suppliers catalogs. I've found the Precision Scale, the Northwest Shortline and the Circuitron catalogs to be helpful. Then there are some suppliers listed by Walthers but you need to go to their sites to see what will be available when like Atlas. Suppliers for Walthers come and go for a variety of business reasons so remember it's not the end all for products but it's tough to beat for generating ideas.

[randybc2003]

The Cataloge actually has good prototype info. My best (document ) source on the US Army Hospital Ward cards is an old W' 'log from '80s. I kicked myself I didn't get some of the kits.
Last winter after 15 years of trying, I got lucky.
There's a reason the LHS keeps counter copies out. [:)]

[siberianmo]

Yeah! I remember my first Walthers HO catalog ..... long time ago, but it was one helluva book to spend some "quality time" with. [tup]

Enjoy it ....... sounds to me as if you'll become a "regular" in no time at all.

See ya![tup]

[dknelson]

The Walthers catalog also used to be filled with some pretty corny cartoons and jokes. The really interesting Walthers catalogs were back when they were a major domestic manufacturer of kits, parts, throttles, paints, and decals. Also their subsidiary The Terminal Hobby Shop used to have its own catalog, which included lines NOT included in the Walthers catalog, oddly enough.
Walthers also sells the Plastruct catalog -- well worth getting and almost essential if you buy Dean Freytag's book The Cyclopedia of Industrial Modeling. Fortunately years ago I was present when a LHS closed and I bought the entire Plastruct display, for $15.

It will be interesting to see if Athearn/MDC continues in their current path. It seems to me that very few hobby shops are carrying anything like a complete line of Athearn and prefer to carry the new locomotives and dabble in the freight cars and trucks. I'm thinking something's gotta give here.
Dave Nelson

[davekelly]

chutton,

I think you and I had the same first catalog! I get an new one 'bout every other year. Mostly to see what is out there - especially detail parts and things like that, but also to get ideas. If I am thinking of a new structure - it is amazing the ideas I can get just paging through the structures section - let's see, I can ba***his, and add this piece from this . . . . . .

[cwclark]

I get a supplimentary Walther's catalog in the mail about once a quarter..that's where their stuff "on sale" is at...I just ordered a bunch of stuff out of it just yesterday...you may want to get on their mailing list ...I order all the time from it and it's a free publication...Chuck

[brothaslide]

I just received the 2005 catalog. There is one item that I would love to get but I have no room in my home for it. It's the 3 foot tall Television Tower Resturant on page 478. I also like the Brawa Cable Car set on page 507.

Take care,

[tatans]

Did I read this right? you "bought" a catalog? Is this some new concept in fleecing the public. Why would anyone pay a business for a flyer of their products? This world is getting stranger by the minute, Hey I've got this piece of swampland you might be interested in.

[Anonymous]

It's not just any catalog, its the Walthers catalog, its more of a book then a catalog and worth every penny.

[dknelson]

Walthers has been selling their catalog for years .... not a new concept at all.
Dave Nelson