Product Review: Walther Metroliners

Several months ago, Walthers released their Metroliner models. Even though I have little desire to eventually model the Northeast Corridor, this was an intriguing model to me. I was curious to see how it had turned out. I was curious to see how well they had hidden the motor, and how well the models ran. I was also curious to hear the sound. Electric model sound is somewhat of a rarity in the hobby, as most modelers choose subjects that use either steam or diesel locomotives. While I have heard plenty of electric locomotives in the "real world," I was curious about how one might sound in the layout room. Despite all of this curiosity, I initially chose not to buy any Metroliners, on account of the price and my disinterest in actually modeling a railroad where they operated.

All photos by James Ogden.

Several weeks ago, I got an email from Walthers, indicating that the Metroliners were on sale. The catch was that you had to buy four of them, but in packages of four, they were going for about half price. Despite not wanting to model a railroad on which they operated, I could not resist. I took the plunge and bought a four-pack of Amtrak Phase 2 Metroliners. Four-packs of different paint schemes came with different combinations of cars. I chose Amtrak Phase 2 primarily because I liked the consist it offered. In that particular package there were two coaches, a parlor, and a snack bar coach. I ordered the set, and approximately one week later they arrived at the door.

Upon arrival, I opened the box and did a quick inspection of the cars through their individual boxes. I was headed to the Northern Lights Model Train Club that evening anyway, so I decided to do the bulk of the inspection and operating there. The club has much more space to run on!

I ordered a set of cars that were all equipped with DCC and sound from the factory. These are equipped with Tsunami decoders, from SoundTraxx, which are specifically designed for this model. Like most decoder equipped models, the cars were all programmed to respond to address 3 initially. The cab ends of all cars, regardless of specific type, are programmed as the front. As such, if you intend to run several cars together, they will need at least some minor programming to respond in unison when facing in opposite directions. Since I had four cars, I chose to run them with two facing forward and two facing back. To facilitate this, I set up a consist, and programmed two of them to run in reverse within the consist. This was the extent of the programming I did. After that, I placed them on the layout, in the staging yard, and ran them out to the main layout.

Right off the bat, I was impressed with how smoothly the cars operated together. I had done nothing to attempt to speed match them, but they were pretty well matched right out of the box. One would think this is normal--they each have the same decoders and electronics--but it is not always the case. I noticed some minor surging between cars at very low speeds. Once the speed was above a crawl however, the cars ran very smoothly together.

The prototype Metroliners had a headlight on each end, and markers on the A end. Because the headlight function on most DCC decoders allows for two outputs, instead of three, Walthers chose not to light the "B" end headlight. Instead, they chose to light the "A" end, or cab end, marker lights. When the car is operated forward, that is with the cab leading, the cab end headlights come on. When the car is operated in reverse, the marker lights on the cab end light up.

In addition to headlights and markers, the cars also have lighted number boards, lighted interiors, and a Mars light, activated by functions  one, five, and six. There are also typical sound functions, such as the horn, coupler noise, brake squeal, cooling fans, and air compressor. Note that the prototype had no bell, and so the model has no bell sound. As one would expect from a SoundTraxx product, the sound quality was excellent. The cars were a little loud for my taste, but the sounds were clear and responsive to throttle inputs. The sound volume can easily be adjusted to the desired levels.

The cars were nicely detailed from the factory. The underbody matched photographs I looked at, and the model came equipped with finer details, such as grab irons and rooftop electrical details. The only disappointment I had in the details were the pantographs. There are a couple of different types of pantographs featured on the cars, but I was disappointed that they were plastic. They were clearly not designed to collect current from an overhead catenary, and that is just fine. In HO scale, that is not usually reliable or practical anyway. But, during the models' life on a layout, chances are the pantographs would be handled a bit. They are fairly fine details, and I think they would hold up better if they were metal, instead of plastic. Other than that though, I felt as if the model was nicely detailed. While it looked out of place on the club layout, which is set in fiction but represents Alaska, they are nice looking models.

Overall, I think this is a fine model. For those who model the Northeast Corridor, particularly in the 1970's and 1980's, these would be a great addition to the fleet. They fill a noticeable void, and are a major improvement to the Metroliners offered by Bachmann many years ago. However, being as these only operated under catenary in the northeast, these models fill a very specific place. I think most modelers, like myself, will find that these probably do not fit well on their layouts. They are lovely models, but if you do not model the area they ran, they will always look a bit out of place. To be honest, I was surprised that Walthers would pursue such a model. Surely other Amtrak models would have been applicable to more modelers.

Manufacturer: Walthers Proto
Paint Schemes: Penn Central, Amtrak Phase 1, Phase 2 (Phase 1 cars come numbered, others come with number decals.)
Cars: Snack Bar Coach, Parlor Car, Coach
MSRP: $169.98 with DC, $259.98 with sound and DCC

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