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heads up on Walthers trainline GP15-1

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heads up on Walthers trainline GP15-1
Posted by ndbprr on Friday, December 23, 2022 2:33 PM

I ordered one from an on line retailer that has a Conrail GP15 shell with the box labeled for Conrail GP15-1.  Since it was a mail order I couldn't check it until it arrived.   I assume this was a mistake at the source but there are probably others out there.  If purchasing one in person it wouldn't hurt to physically check for the correct shell before buying 

 

p1

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Posted by maxman on Friday, December 23, 2022 3:04 PM

Again I'm confused.  Is there a difference?

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Posted by gmpullman on Friday, December 23, 2022 3:51 PM

maxman
Again I'm confused.

Add me to that list. I thought all 100 of C-R's were "dash ones".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMD_GP15-1

I may be mistaken? Who made the model you bought and what is not right on it? N, HO, O or G scale or other?

Good Luck, Ed

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Posted by PC101 on Friday, December 23, 2022 3:58 PM

WoopsEmbarrassed

 

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Posted by ndbprr on Friday, December 23, 2022 4:55 PM

it is a Walthers trainline HO.  The difference is GP15s have a short duct and louvered doors above a short duct on the left side of the car body directly behind the cab.  Gp15-1s have an extended duct and an air inlet above it.  Walthers makes both bodies. look up a picture of a Frisco GP15 for the visual difference. the Walthers label say's GP15-1 and has the stock number for GP15-1.   can only be the rocket scientist who was boxing them

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Posted by maxman on Friday, December 23, 2022 9:19 PM

ndbprr
it is a Walthers trainline HO.  The difference is GP15s have a short duct and louvered doors above a short duct on the left side of the car body directly behind the cab.

Following is from Walthers website and looks like what you are describing.  Walthers is calling it a GP15-1.  If it is what you are describing, then what is in the box is correct so far as Walthers is concerned, even though it might actually be incorrect.

EMD GP15-1 - Standard DC -- Conrail (blue, white)

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Posted by Autonerd on Saturday, December 24, 2022 12:13 AM

Trying to piece this one together... just so happens the Contemporary Diesel Spotter's Guide was my bedtime reading the other night. :)

OK, so, first of all -- there is only one model, GP15-1. (Actually there are two others, more on that in a sec.) What you're looking at is two different types of air filters. A GP15-1 with inertial air filters has the big blower duct with the "landscape"-oriented inlet above it. A GP15-1 without inertial filters has the smaller duct and multiple groups of vertical louvers cut into the body. 

According to TCDSG, only C&NW and SLSF (Frisco) ordered GP15-1s without inertial filters. Model name did not change with this option.

It looks like the Walthers GP15-1 was initially produced as a Proto 1000 model, which was offered with both air filter versions. Here's a Walters Flyer showing both:

https://www.walthers.com/page/ads/MarchSaleWeb.pdf

(Though it refers to what TCDSG says are inertials as "Farr", and the other filter style as "Internal" -- as opposed to external??  Marre and Pinkepank have rarely failed me, so I'll stick with TCDSG's definitions.)

Based on what Walthers offers now, it looks as though when the GP15-1 was switched from Proto to Trainline, they only kept the small-duct, non-inertial (or, if you're Walthers, "internal") shell. That's all I see on Walthers' own site. Obviously, this is the wrong filter style for a Conrail GP15-1.

I looked on eBay and saw several ads for the Trainline loco using a photo of one with inertials. It looks like a stock photo so I'm guessing it was grabbed from Walthers' site of the old Proto model:

https://www.walthers.com/proto-1000-diesel-emd-gp15-1-powered-conrail-1650-blue-white-quot-quality-quot-inertial-air-filters

So, probably not a packing or picking error -- more like they used an old photo and you got the new loco.

Looks like you'll have to either find an older Proto 1000 model, or get one of the Athearns, or pretend Conrail bought some GP15-1s from CNW, Frisco or BN. :)

Aaron

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Posted by Autonerd on Saturday, December 24, 2022 12:26 AM

Oh, I forgot to write more about the GP15-1 itself!

So, the GP15-1 was EMD's alternative to a capital rebuild of a GP7 or GP9. As I understand it, you'd send EMD your old Geep, they'd re-use much of the electrical gear (including the generator, trucks and traction motors, and, I imagine, most of the electrical cabinet), and build you a GP15-1 on a stronger frame (a GP-7 weak point) with a more fuel-efficient 12-645E engine in place of the old gas--er, diesel-guzzling 16-567B/C.

The -2 line started in '72 and denoted the use of a modular electrical system. Since the GP15s didn't appear until 1975, my assumption was that the "-1" denoted that they did not have the modular electrics and were not built to -2 standards. Which makes sense if the electric transmission was out of a GP7 or -9.

There were two other models, according to TCDSG: GP15AC, built for MoPac, which used a new AR-10 alternator in place of the recycled DC generator, and the GP15T, which used an even-more-fuel-efficient turbocharged 8-645E as well as the alternator. TCDSG doesn't say, but I have to wonder if the ACs and Ts were built without Geep trade-ins -- as far as I can tell they are basically MP15ACs (or MP15Ts) with a toilet, which was required in some states.

So far as I can tell, there is no GP15 without a suffix -- only GP15-1 with DC transmission and GP15AC and GP15T with AC alternator-rectifier transmission.

Aaron

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Posted by trwroute on Saturday, December 24, 2022 7:33 PM

Yep, Conrail never had the body filter version.  That is for sure a foobie.  It is nice looking, though...

Chuck - Modeling in HO scale and anything narrow gauge

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Posted by Doughless on Sunday, December 25, 2022 6:38 AM

As another has mentioned, the current Walthers Trainline predecessor, the Walthers Proto 1000 product, had both the "Farr" air filter  (aka Conrail Version) and the "Internal" air filter (aka CNW version (but no gong bell) depending upon road name.  The Proto 1000 product was an upgraded product from the original Walthers GP15 that was produced under the origianl Trainline brand many many years ago. Proto upgraded the mechanism with the current Walters trucks, motor, DCC Ready plug and LEDS.  It is a fine runner.  I assume the Proto 1000 shell would just slip onto a modern production Trainline chassis, if you wanted to go that route.

So if OP is looking for the proper Conrail version, search for a Proto 1000 in the second hand or NOS market:

 

This version is also painted for the UP.  Interestingly, Spring Creek Model Trains still has some NOS Proto 1000s in stock (not Conrail scheme however). 

- Douglas

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Posted by Autonerd on Sunday, December 25, 2022 3:43 PM

Doughless
and the "Internal" air filter (aka CNW version

Wrong nomenclature, by the way -- it's an inertial air filter. As I understand it, it basically spins the air as it comes into the loco, cyclone-style. Centrifical force causes larger bits of debris to separate out (that's the inertia part, I guess) from the intake air (which I am assuming still runs through a filter).

What Proto 1000 labels as the "Farr" air filter is the inertial, and what they label as the "internal" air filter is the non-inertial type. (Dunno if the non-intertials are Farrs.) That Walthers bulletin I posted above also says the F3 was replaced by the "more powerful" F7. Both were 1,500 hp, though the F7, I believe, did produce a better tractive effort... technically true, but I'm guessing there wasn't a ton of research going on over on the marketing side...

Aaron

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Posted by Pruitt on Sunday, December 25, 2022 4:05 PM

trwroute

Yep, Conrail never had the body filter version.  That is for sure a foobie.  It is nice looking, though...

Manufacturers (or, more accurately in most cases, "importers") do this all the time. Take a look at the BLI GN Consolidtion. Nice looking model, but very inaccurate for the GN, as GN's Consolidations had the Belpaire firebox and the BLI version doesn't. But hey, even large discrepancies like these don't matter if we can offer inaccurately modeled units and get people to buy them.

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Posted by Doughless on Sunday, December 25, 2022 4:33 PM

Autonerd

 

 
Doughless
and the "Internal" air filter (aka CNW version

 

Wrong nomenclature, by the way -- it's an inertial air filter. As I understand it, it basically spins the air as it comes into the loco, cyclone-style. Centrifical force causes larger bits of debris to separate out (that's the inertia part, I guess) from the intake air (which I am assuming still runs through a filter).

What Proto 1000 labels as the "Farr" air filter is the inertial, and what they label as the "internal" air filter is the non-inertial type. (Dunno if the non-intertials are Farrs.) That Walthers bulletin I posted above also says the F3 was replaced by the "more powerful" F7. Both were 1,500 hp, though the F7, I believe, did produce a better tractive effort... technically true, but I'm guessing there wasn't a ton of research going on over on the marketing side...

Aaron

 

Yes, I know.  I had originally typed Intertial but changed it to reflect the actual Walthers labeling, since I was commenting about their models.

Walthers originally tooled both versions many years ago and sold them under the original Trainline brand as well as the Proto 1000 brand when they upgraded the running chassis. 

Apparently, they've cut back to only the one version. 

In other forums, I've read the distinction as more clearly the "CNW Version" and the "Conrail Version".   And the Protos were generally accurate with the correct paint schemes on the correct versions. 

- Douglas

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Posted by Autonerd on Sunday, December 25, 2022 5:28 PM

Doughless
I had originally typed Intertial but changed it to reflect the actual Walthers labeling, since I was commenting about their models.

Fair enough. I was still looking for the version with external filters! :)

Aaron

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Posted by SeeYou190 on Sunday, December 25, 2022 6:07 PM

My understanding of Walther Trainline is that it is an entry-level, economy, basic, good running source of models.

Certainly, they only use one bodystyle for economy's sake. Little details like filter inlets are not a concern of the market they are seeking.

These are "Train Set Plus" models.

Frankly, I am thankful Walthers used these categories. Unlike Bachmann that just throws the label "Silver Series" on a whole bunch of different levels of models.

-Kevin

Living the dream.

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Posted by Autonerd on Monday, December 26, 2022 1:51 AM

SeeYou190
Frankly, I am thankful Walthers used these categories. Unlike Bachmann that just throws the label "Silver Series" on a whole bunch of different levels of models.

Agreed. I have a friend who works at Athearn, and it's interesting how there are some models in the RTR line that have detail suited to a Genesis loco -- the last run of SW1500 is a good example. He told me there often is some debate about which line a given model, especially when it's updated, should be sorted into. 

Oddly enough, Bachmann had some gems in the Sound Value series -- the FAs had seperate grab irons and handrails. And the detail on my little SV 2-6-0 is ridiculous. Not bad for $99!

Aaron

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