Hi guys! Here's a quick comparison between some HO Amfleet cars! One is a Walthers Proto Amfleet II Cafe car, and the other is a Bachmann Amfleet I Cafe car. Enjoy!
The "Amtrak" and "Cafe" lettering on the Bachmann car seem too large compared to the prototypes. The Walthers Amfleet II is a beautiful model, I have a couple of Amfleet II Walthers cars from their first run back in the early 2000s, they are some of my favorite Amtrak cars in my fleet. They don't have the chrome finish, however, so their finish looks much more like the Bachmann car in this review. Also another identifying feature between the Amfleet I and II cars are the larger passenger windows on the Amfleet IIs in addition to the larger door windows. Also the Amfleet II food service cars have an uneven number of windows on each side of the center counter area where I believe the Amfleet Is have equal number of windows on each side.
good point. I forgot to mention this, but yea the lettering is too large on bachmanns, amfleet IIs have larger windows on single doors, and the uneven windows on amfleet II cars. I dont believe I mentioned these since it was less about comparing amfleet IIs to amfleet Is but rather between Bachmann and Walthers cars. Good info to others unaware nonetheless!
The end doors on the Amfleet cars are only closed and locked when the car is the lead or end car in a consist on the prototype, so you see the arched grab iron on the door at the end of the train. Those doors are open when they are not at the lead or the end so you can get between cars. They swing open 180 degrees and latch in against the inner wall of the vestibule. Thus, the arched grab iron you see when the door at the end is closed becomes one of the handrails for the boarding steps when the door is open and latched against the inner vestibule wall. So that is what those are for :)
My Amtrak fleet is by LifeLIke which are illuminated with incandescent lighting. I changed the incandescent lighting for 12 volt LED strip lighting with keep alive circuits. I think they look much better with LED lighting. I don't like the Walthers coaches because I don't care for the lack of truck side frames on the wheels. I don't ever recall seeing just wheels and no sideframes on any coaches. I don't like the Bachmann either because of the trucks. They just don't look right. Cheers from eastern TN
Nice review, highly respect your opinion, however with that said when you asked are the amfleet proto Walther's car worth it over the bachman? For prototypical modeling YES. Definitely, period. That's unfortunately why they cost so much. You want quality you have to pay for it. The bachman cars are great if your on a budget or just pleasing your kids for basic running around a 4x8 home layout or a Christmas tree bachmann works., but those plated finish amfleet are by far superior when you want to model Amtrak correctly. Walthers got the chrome paint, amfleet tube shape, wheels with trucks, side and undercarriage details, and inside seats correct on there amfleet run.bachmann dropped the ball on all those points. I will agree the led is over the top, bachmann lighting is better, but those can be easily removed to get rid of the lights. The main problem with the walthers even with they're inside Baring trucks, with massive lubing they still don't roll very freely, I have a dozen of them, I know from experience.
absolutely! Walthers cars are most certainly far superior in detail from Bachmann in every single way! Bachmann amfleets are a tad shorter, the paint has no chrome plating effect, trucks look terrible, etc etc. I believe when I was talking about which one being "worth it" I implied value for money. I think bachmanns are "good enough", and a better overall value for money, but if youre looking for upmost detail and precision, the walthers ones for you. That I dont deny, and I think I already stated in the video. Thanks for watching!
I am no sure tbh since I only have one. It will nagivate 22" fine by itself, but coupled to another car Im not so sure, but probably. One thing to note though is it does look terrible on my 22" curves. If possible id highly recommend getting larger curves. Cheers!
Some may go with the Bachmann cars but I would go with Walthers even though they're more expensive. The windows on the doors are more prototypical and the grab irons and stirrups are more prototypical as well. And the shiny finish looks great as well. But Bachmann did a good job on the Acela set.
Indeed, the Walthers cars are definitely better than the Bachmann cars in both detail and accuracy, but their main downside is the price, their rarity, and them requiring bigger curves. Im strapped for cash, I got tight curves, and I don't model Amtrak so Bachmanns work good enough for me, but Im sure if you want to be accurate Walthers are certainly for you. Thanks for watching!
For the underbody details, give me the Walthers. Trucks, Walthers. Lighting, Bachmann. The real ones had warm white fluorescent lights, and the windows were a bronze tinted Plexiglas. I am not a fan of lighted passenger cars. That said, I would have to do something with the lighting in the Walthers car.
agreed, although I would say its much easier adding better lighting to a walthers car than it is adding all the detail and trucks to a bachmann car :) I think everyone agrees that walthers amfleet is far more detailed and better looking. But the bigger question is, if its worth spending almost double the cost for a walthers over a bachmann. The point of this video is for viewers to decide for themselves if they think the bachmann is good enough or if they "need" the walthers version. In my case, I just have a bunch of bachmann amfleets. Cheers!
The details are superb on the Walthers, however Bachmann does turn out a good product. However, buying the Walthers Amfleet cars on eBay is more expensive than ordering on Trainworld which I did, and Bachmann is less expensive on eBay than it is on Trainworld.
indeed. The buyer's decision must balance both choice, availability, and detail expectations. Some people need the chrome finish, prototypical length, and details. Others are on a limited budget. This video's goal was to hopefully help a purchaser in their decision.
@@trainman440 pretty much me in a nut shell. I like to have the best, which is why I stopped going on eBay and just order my stuff through my friend who owns a hobby shop
@@gerardlang1356 yep, unfortunately many of us dont have hobby shops that supply everything near us. And many online shops run out of rare stock, such as Walthers Amfleets.
Im not sure about scenemaster, but with their current offerings: Trainline is trainset level beginner stuff. Detail isnt great BUT their drives are just as good as the proto stuff. Not DCC ready. Mainline has slightly more detail than trainline stuff. Drives should be the same as the trainline stuff however they are DCC ready (and dcc equipped if choose to pay more). The main difference is they sell separate "superdetail kits" which allows the user to add more detail if they choose to. Proto is Walther's top of the line stuff. Really expensive, best detail compared to their other lines.
Strictly speaking passenger cars: Mainline cars are very similar to older rivarossi stuff. Windows exist but they arent flush mounted. (its basically just a giant piece of clear plastic that sticks throughout the length of the car). The cars aren't prototypical (wrong windows, underbody details, etc) but they look good. They do have interiors. No wire formed grabs, but they sell kits that allow you to add them yourself. No extended swing coupler boxes, and plastic trucks with metal wheels. Proto stuff has flush windows, generally very prototypical (anything in those gray boxes), metal wheels and trucks, extended swing couplers, factory added grabirons and such, realistic metal finish, and painted window gaskets. And very expensive. I personally recommend finding older cars from ebay with the tan boxes. Those are identical to the proto cars except no realistic metal finish and no painted window gaskets, and the wire grabs you have to install yourself but are included. They are much more accurate than the mainline stuff. Everything else is the same as the proto cars and they sell for around $20-40!
Black paint is hardly the correct color for an Amfleet wheel. Neither of them are right, but Bachmann by no means got the right color wheels. Neither of them are rust/dirt colored.
@@CSXKid5016 Indeed, from my experience traveling on the northeast corridor, the wheels are a dirt/rust color. I think the original commenter was stating atleast a painted wheel is more realistic than an entirely unpainted wheel. (which I agree with)
honestly though, if you're trying to run full length 85' passenger cars, the fact it can run on unrealistically tight curves really isn't a mark against them imo.
