A couple of weeks ago I purchased a couple of Intermountain autoracks. A couple of months ago I purchase a couple of the new Walther’s Proto autoracks. So I thought I would do some comparison.
Firs off they are both excellent cars. Paint is crisp and
well done with clean lines.(Walthers is BN and Intermountain is the UP) All the labels and stencils on the cars is legible
and well done. I would call it a tie here. All couplers were at the proper
height and the wheels were all in gauge on the NMRA gauge. Both cars are very
free rolling and have excellent wheelsets. Weight is 6.6 oz for the Intermountain
and 8.8 for the Walthers. NMRA recommended for a 12 inch car of this size is 7 ¼
So Walthers wins there.
The sides of both cars are well done. Walthers did an
excellent job but Intermountain went above and beyond with those see through
sides. Hand brakes, roof, and underbody details are pretty comparable between
cars. I think another tie here. The ends are another story. Intermountain has
the opening doors but they seem to be pretty fragile I would not be opening them
very often. I also had some difficulty getting the one I open closed again. Intermountain
has couple cut levers and the Walthers does not. Neither have air hoses.
Because they are fixed I think Walthers has better door detail as you can see door
latches and other items that are lacking in the Intermountain cars. On the
other hand the Walthers car has a little flash the should have been cleaned up
at the bottom of the door. You might also notice some bare plastic that got
missed in painting in the photo as well. I think Intermountain did better on the river detail as well.
Over they are both excellent cars. I do think the Intermountain
is a little better car in terms of detail. One thing to keep in mind in there
is a significant price difference as well. The Walthers is MSRP of $64.98 vs
$99.99 for the Intermountain. I would point out though that I got them both from
Model Train Stuff online and paid $53.99 and $69.99 for the Intermountain.
Although I will be changing out the Walthers couplers for Kadees so there is a few bucks less difference in the end.Bottom line is they are both good cars and I will probably buy more of each in
the future. I need another dozen or so of these cars and I will probably buy both brands again.
Thanks for the review. Can you comment on how sharp curves each can take? I have been looking at these, but am concerned about my curves.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure. Neither manufacturer lists that. Since I am in between layouts currently I can't check it. I have some Bachmann EZ track I use around the Christmas tree. So I was curious and set up some of that. So I can tell they will track on that tight of curve. Unless they are coupled to anything. In my case I am going to use 32 inch minimum radius on my new layout and only that tight in a couple of places.
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