How Is Walthers Trainline?

[KlickyMobster]

How are the trainline locomotives?  Are they comparable to regular life like or bachmann...better or worse?  Are the good, smooth runners?  Thanks for your help!!!

[One Track Mind]

They run smooth and quiet and IMHO are better than the lower level Bachmann and Life-Like. I've had a GP9 that's still running fine after 8 or 9 years. Decent quality for the money equals good value.

[Master of Big Sky Blue]

Train Line locomotives are like tanks. I have had several that have taken many unfortunate trips to the abiss below and they still run as good as they they came out of the box. Most of the shells are older tooling so their detail isn't as fine as contemporary models. But I have no problems reccomending them for a first locomotive or just a locomotive period.

James

[csxns]

I use mine for derailments/crashes/head on collisions and grade crossing acciedents.

[KlickyMobster]

Thank you all so far.  Do the locos come DCC ready?  If not, how easy/hard is it to install a decoder in it? 

[rrinker]

 I have a pair of Trainline Alco FA's. The body detailing is a little course, but the mechanism is top-rate. I saw them on eBay and rememebred I had the old MR issue where they reviewed them. When I saw the minimum speed in the review was less than 1 smph, I bid on them. Their slow speed characterictics rival my Stewarts. They do not have any sort of DCC socket in them, but everything is connected with wires - there are wires from the motor, and wires from each truck, so it was super easy to add a decoder. The motor is already isolated. Because the frame is open, I cut off one end of the stock circuit board to use as a shelf to hold the decoder and wires out of the gears and drivetrain.

                                      --Randy

[DrummingTrainfan]

They're not Kato or BLI quality, but they're also not Kato or BLI price. They're definately a good value for the money, however I do have one bad apple (but many great apples) so be sure to test run it before purchasing.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

The Train-line locomotives are pretty good. They're better than the Bachmann standard line and light years ahead of Life-Like's standard line.

[Darth Santa Fe]

I have a Trainline GP9M. The body is old tooling from Cox, and has the Athearn wide body. The mechanism is very nice, with a quiet motor, silent gears, perfectly rounded and centered wheels, a flywheel, all wheel drive and electrical pickup, and a heavy metal frame. The running quality is easily as good as Life-Like's Proto diesels.

Here's my review on the GP9M: http://www.trains.com/trccs/forums/545621/ShowPost.aspx

It was my first review, so there are no pictures. I did put some pictures in this week's Midweek Madness, so you get an idea of how it all looks.

[ezielinski]

I have a Trainline Dash 8-40BW and 2 GP9Ms.  They are all great runners and I would highly recommend them. 

[Anonymous]

I bought TWO trainline locomotives last year, both ran poor, they pulsed (surged). I returned them to the train shop I bought them they sent them back to walthers, I bought ONE good Athearn instead. That is my experience with Trainline.

[cacole]

I bought two of the Trainline U.S. Army GP9M diesels that Walthers had on sale.  The shell doesn't have as much detail as a Bachmann or P1K, but the mechanisms run very smoothly.  It's not DCC ready, but decoder installation was not difficult.  Only one truck is powered, but both have electrical pickups.

 

[JFdez]

I actually have a fair number of Trainlines, and I think that they are arguably the best "starter" locomotive you can get.  Aside from their running qualities (generally very nice for their price) and value, they are extremely easy to take apart for repairs, lubing and such.  My younger son learned HO loco maintenance with a Trainline GP-9.

On the downside, quality control is a significant issue on their earlier models (the Dash 8-40Bs in particular, many of which had a notorious wobble).  More recent models, however, are really quite good.

Juan

[steamnut]

In about 1995 I bought a Trainline GP9-M because there were no "quality" GP9s available at the time. It was a piece of complete crap, off-loaded it in disgust for about half of what I paid (fortunately, did not pay very much). If you follow the link to Darth Santa Fe's review post, you'll find a number of replies reporting the same experience. Looking at the detail of those replies, it appears that the currently-available GP9M must have an upgraded drive train, so be sure to buy it new, or at least check its provenance in terms of age.

[rrinker]

 Apparantly the GP9M is the oddball of the Trainline lococ, as my FA's have both trucks driven as well as all-wheel pickup. And I'm pretty sure the others do as well.

 The only junky Trainline item I have is an X29 boxcar. But I only paid $1 for it. The frame is warped, the weights were loose, and the brake wheel has a 10 foot shaft on it - a scale guy standing on the roofwalk couldn;t reach the wheel. I'll strip the trucks off it and make it a storage building or yard office.

                                     --Randy

[rghammill]

I have the FA/FB set. They have been good runners so far. Right now I'm running DC still, and they have a tendency to uncouple when run as a pair, but that's probably my trackwork as much as the locos (I'm guessing). When the FA is run alone it has the tendency to stall on dead frogs at lower speeds.

The FA has fallen 4 feet to the carpet-covered concrete floor twice without any issues (except knocking off a letter board that was easy to glue back on).

The colors for the NH warm-orange and hunter green scheme is off.

The shell is extremely difficult to remove. I plan to put sound into them eventually, and I almost left the shell off and running other locos because they are so hard to open. It was also tough to get the headlight in correctly to put the shell back on for the FA.

Minor complaints for an inexpensive locomotive, though. This is the primary one I run with my 3-year-old daughter because you never know what might happen...

It's easy to replace if I need to, and I'm planning on using it to improve my modeling skills (applying.modifying details and repainting it and applying new decals).

Randy

 

 

[Darth Santa Fe]

 Apparantly the GP9M is the oddball of the Trainline lococ, as my FA's have both trucks driven as well as all-wheel pickup. And I'm pretty sure the others do as well.

My GP9M has all wheel drive, and I've never heard of them having 4 wheel drive until now. Maybe it was something found only on the very early ones?

Cox made this same GP9M in the 1970s with a 4 wheel drive mechanism, so maybe cacole has one of those and mistook it for a Walthers?

[SSW9389]

I have a ABA set of ALCO FA-1s. As stated above not the greatest detail, but strong runners. My son has one of the GP15-1s also a strong runner.

[nbrodar]

I have a GP9m.  The detail is chunky, and the shell is a little too wide.  But it is a strong puller with a smooth drive.

Nick

[basementdweller]

I too have the GP9. I think it is an ok starter loco. I would say maybe comparable to a blue box Athearn. I think the electrical pick up is a little cheap as it only has wipers, but it works. I added a decoder with little effort. I think it is ok.  Don't pay too much for one.

By no means is it as good as a P2K or Atlas loco.

[ezielinski]

I have 2 GP9Ms, and they both have 8-wheel drive.