Walthers Greenville Hoppers are in. (Photo's Added)

[NS-CRE]

Good enough for me ... I'm an operator, not a details person and I've been waiting on this model to be done for years.  When you get to an operating stage with 500 or so cars and a dozen people vying for jobs in the freight pool, you worry less about the detail and more about cars to carry the commodities.   I only wish they had done more numbers, and hopefully they will some day.

Chuck was kind enough to call and check on me before sending them out, since NC has been ravaged by tornadoes recently.  Once again, great personal service from Feather River Train Shop... thanks Chuck!  I'm looking forward to getting my shipment.

Marcus

[SkipGear]

I don't have a dog in this fight but when they were first announced, they were $16.95 and anybody that pre-ordered them, got them based on that pricing.

It's a hopper, something that you generally run in greater numbers. The detailing doesn't have to be as fine in my opinion. The main detractor on the car to me is the plastic brake wheel step. The trucks are 100T Atlas/Accumates with 36" wheels and what I am used to looking at compared to similar cars. They roll well and are weighted properly, both good qualities of a car to be run in large numbers.

If I needed them, I would not hesitate to buy them. Looking at the photo's of the real thing, they are a rather bland car to begin with, somewhat like the model portrays.

[Robbman]

It's a hopper, something that you generally run in greater numbers. The detailing doesn't have to be as fine in my opinion.

Yet the price does?

[SkipGear]

The upcoming run of Atlas Offset sides are also $17.95 per car. The Atlas 55 tons's were $15.95 3 years ago and they are cruder than these cars. I'm not offended by the price although the $1 per car price increase this month makes them a lot less appealing than before.

[NS-CRE]

I received mine from Chuck today and they look good to me. 

Of note, they have a pad and a hole already in them for body-mount couplers, for those who are interested.   They seem weighted similar to the ballast hoppers, which I have a bunch of.

I say well done, and a welcome addition to the N scale rolling stock fleet.  Now, how about those Greenville woodchip cars that are so common in the Southeast?

[Robbman]

Now, how about those Greenville woodchip cars that are so common in the Southeast?

Not a problem... I'm taking pre-orders at 25.95 a piece for 1970's tooling... I'll even forget the brake chain and rod on the side of the car

[Denver Road Doug]

Well, I'm reluctant to judge n-scale cars based on HO or O scale photos, but I agree these are "later Trainman" quality.  The "end cage" details look similar to the Trainman 3560 covered hopper, which I think are better than other Trainman style tooling so not a total crime against model railroading humanity.  Mine should be waiting for me when I get back from travelling so we'll see.   (I'm writing this from the Texas Eagle on the way from Chicago to Dallas.  ;D )

Robbman, that's your age old catch-22 argument about "giving in to the man" and paying too much for sub-standard tooling, rewarding mediocrity.  I think most of us see your point, and I personally agree, but...what do you expect us to do?   It's not like anyone will release a better mousetrap any time soon.  Heck, if you decided to do one today it would be three years at best before we'd see it.  Walther's cars are "priced to clearance" anyway, so most seasoned veterans will just buy maybe one number of each to hedge their bets and then wait for the clearance flyer.  I think that's a dumb way to operate, but that's their decision.  Besides, with the latest trend for each model to have duplication, I guess the old m.o. of one manufacturer being the kiss of death is no longer relevant.

[Hyperion]

Walther's cars are "priced to clearance" anyway, so most seasoned veterans will just buy maybe one number of each to hedge their bets and then wait for the clearance flyer.  I think that's a dumb way to operate, but that's their decision.

I think this is the key right there.  Walthers might be pricing this car at something in between Trainman and AAA-tier price while only offfering Trainman-quality, but Walthers' strategy has been to simply offer stuff at sales prices all the time.   They might offer this thing up at that "MSRP" for a little while to draw a handful of "suckers" in, but they'll be offering this car for Trainman pricing in no time, and then the "suckers" will be those who go "Wow, a car at 50% off, I'm gonna get 10 while they're 'on sale'".

You can convince a lot of people to buy something they otherwise wouldn't simply by making it "50% off".  If you've got to inflate the "MSRP" in order to make it look like you're giving them a great deal, so be it.  You'll get a lot more sales in the end by putting it "on sale" than you ever turned off with the higher MSRP, since no one is going to pay that price anyways.

[GaryHinshaw]

I'm no big fan of Walthers, but I'm definitely glad to see these cars hit the market, and I don't find them to be egregiously over-priced - just a little bit.

The other recently-tooled open hoppers that come to mind are the Bluford 3-bays (MSRP $17.95) and the BLMA Top-Gons (MSRP $19.95).  I wouldn't say either of those have significantly finer end cage detail.  (No offence intended, that's just how I see it. My current favorites for cage detail are the Atlas 5700/5800 covered hoppers, but they're $24.95.)  The Bluford's do have body-mount couplers, a separate air hose, and a load.  The BLMA has an etched brake-wheel platform and interior bracing.  So maybe the Walthers should have been $15.95.  But it's a far cry from their re-issued NE caboose for $24.95 - that's just nuts.

-Gary

[asarge]

It doesn't much matter what we think about it. The car is selling well, for us especially the NS and Southerns. Even better than the BLMA cars (OMG I said it) but that's because of the local interest in the Greeneville's. Most people who want these cars will grab them up. It's also selling to people who aren't interested in prototype operations.

it's a car that has been asked for for quite awhile, so it'll sell. As to whether it ends up in the Bargain Depot because those of us who are the "proto guru's" and derail specialists not buying, who knows. But I certainly hope it doesn't as it means the car is a success and maybe they will do more N scale stuff.
 

[Denver Road Doug]

It doesn't much matter what we think about it.

Of course it matters what we think about it.

Just because it is selling well doesn't mean that it's a great model, or that it's not overpriced.  Probably boils down to "only game in town".   For the record, I'm not ready to concede that it's not a great model, but based on the photos it's not state-of-the-art tooling. 

If we truly want Walthers to be successful and produce more n-scale, they need to get feedback, and I think we certainly have the right as their customers to provide it.   At some point, Walthers will end up going head-to-head with a superior opponent and while you would think that Walthers knows that they are charging mismatched prices for their level of tooling, maybe they don't know.   I mean, at some point maybe we DON'T want Walthers in the game for freight cars....let them stick to structures and their token handful of locos and their existing tooling and get fat.  But I'm generally not among the crowd that is insulted by Walther's lack of interest in n-scale cars and locos. 

Again, I think these Greenville cars are acceptable, they're just apparently not very "current" for the price.  I will buy them because I have a rock train that uses 'em, but the price bump does mean I will buy less (on principle) and wait for the competition.  I'm still relatively young.   

[Denver Road Doug]

As expected, these were waiting when I got home.    I stand by my thoughts based on the photos.

The dollar bump was just a stupid move.   Just wait for the next run and nobody would've cared probably.  Anyway, overall I'm happy to have the cars.   If a better one comes along, even better. 

[48Fan]

Well i just order a few to include in my FEC rock train. I am sure they will look great even if other people think they paid to much for them.