Over the years, I've forgotten or lost track of what is Walthers and what is not. I think my 18-stall roundhouse was originally made by Heljan but purchased from Walthers. I think I've got Merchants Row and Merchant's Row II, but I slice and dice these kits so much I barely know. I cut the turret off Merchants Row II and used it elsewhere. I guess I've lost track. I've always wanted to build one of their big scenes, like the steel plant, but my layout was already too industrial, especially since its original purpose was a pastoral route through the woods. A pastoral route through the woods with 16 good-sized ships and five long-span bridges--hmm--I guess I'm the person who drives Walthers marketing department truly nuts.
Yep... Like Medusa Cement and Vulcan Manufacturing. Those kits always sell for over $50.00 on eBay. I actually don't like the Vulcan Manufacturing building that much... but the steel frame shed with the rails for a crane should be a kit all by itself. I can't understand why Walthers made the heavy duty crane and didn't make a small steel frame structure to put it in. Medusa Cement seems like a good industry that should never have been retired.
Not really... but it seems that way. A couple of years ago, Walthers introduced several 'new' [or re-branded] kits in N scale. They also retired some nice kits [Icehouse Platforms, Allied Rail] and brought back a few old favorites [R J Frost, Brachs]. They do this from time to time... but... sometimes very nice kits are not brought back. I suspect that something has happened to the tooling [damaged/worn-out?] of both the Medusa Cement and Vulcan Manufacturing models... it's been too long since they were available... and many formerly retired kits have since been brought back [albeit temporarily]. Some kits have become ready-built items [with different names]. I prefer kits because they can be easily kitbashed... and are usually cheaper. Unfortunately... Walthers modulars have not done very well and new sections and kits have not been released in the past few years. The prices for the modulars were excessively high... now you can buy modular kit parts for about 50% of the original issue MSRP.
Does it count if you have taken some parts from a Walthers kit and included it in a major scratchbuilding project? If so here is a sawmill that I built using the trusses from the Mountain Lumber co. and the green chain that I shortened and also narrowed down for this building.
Well Tad- The chip loader is an interesting topic. I actually built that with 2 photos. The ONLY dimensions I had to build it was knowing that a chip trailer is 8' wide and about 13'6" tall. The rest of it is ENTIRELY proportionate. I wrote an article about the mill in the June/July 2009 issue of N scale magazine.
Just checked eBay and there is one currently at $49.99 with several days to go. Wow! How much did they sell for when they were available?
Here is another one, actually two Walthers kits plus some scratch built and other kits as well . . . . .
Added the following: Ice House Platforms Farmers Co-Op Jim's Repair Red Wing Milling Allied Rail Repair Oil Pump Still looking for Medusa Cement; been outbidded during the last two on eBay.
That looks very cool! You do not happen to have additional photos showing more of the track work for the paper mill and track leading into that area do you??
Despite all of our griping at Walthers (me included), they do make some great kits. The first photo is the office from the lumber yard kit (and later available by itself) that I turned into a tavern for the local miners. It's complete with a scratchbuilt interior and lighting. The second photo is of a highly kitbashed New River Mining kit.
