True, wish Walther's had left any mention of DCC off of the ads. Their idea of friendly isn't the rest of ours...so the motor is isolated...big whoop. Also on their facebook they mentioned when I asked, that it should be done by an experienced modeler...not sure if they were saying I'm an amateur or not. But as I replied back, if Atlas could do it in the VO-1000 and MP15 and Kato in the NW2, why couldn't they in the SW1200.
Tooling costs. I assure you, they would have the chassis drafted in a few hours to take a decoder, and they could mill frame prototypes cheaply, but when it comes to molds and production it can be quite cost-prohibitive to retool a model more than minor changes, and Walthers isn't likely to spend that $ on N. Heck, Con-Cor makes Butterknife NP cars in HO but pretty much disregarded my communications with them about doing 'em in N because, well, no money in N. Hmmph.
Motor being isolated is like 90% of the battle. I'll take it. Yes, a Facebook post to the General Public about upgrading this model to DCC should be done by an experienced modeler, was in fact directed soley toward you...... Some of you read way to into things.....
Let's see... A person goes on a a Public Forum like Facebook. They go on a specific page run by Walthers. They ask a specific question regarding a specific Walthers item. Someone from Walthers replies with a specific reply to their specific question...and they think the reply was directed specifically to them ? How could that be ?? Is it even possible ??? LOL. BTW...This is TrainBoard...a Public Forum. I dont want anyone to think this reply was directed soley towards them ! ROFLMAO
No where do they say, "Hey ******, you obviously can't do installs, get an experienced modeler to do it for you. And to end this DCC Friendly nonsense, here's their take on it:
Wthout all the rhetoric.... For the 'average' DCC modeler it goes like this: "DCC Friendly" = PITA "DCC Ready" = A caveman could do it "DCC Equipped" = RTR
Let's see....the description of the DCC ready C liner was "New run will feature DCC-Ready mechanism with Isolated Motor". On the other hand the new GP20 and GP60 were "DCC-Friendly Mechanism w/Clip-Fit Circuit Board" In the end, the C liner had a clip fit board just like the GP20 and GP60. Basically, Walthers is inconsistent in their use of the term "DCC friendly" and the nonsense is theirs.
Somebody please explain to me how the SW1200's motor is isolated from its frame? If there weren't frame contacts, the danged thing wouldn't run. -Mark'
Mark... I could be wrong (wouldnt be the first time) but I 'think' it means the motor tabs go up to the board and 'dont' touch the frame. The board then supplies power from the frame halves down to the motor. Someone will correct me...I'm sure...LOL
If only that were true; then it would be full-on DCC Ready. Unfortunately, like every other "no provision for DCC" engine, the motor tabs contact the frame directly - Not necessarily "DCC Hostile", but not particularly friendly either -Mark
Interesting. BLW is now showing these locos in stock ... along with this notation: These locos are now being "short discounted" by Walthers - the exclusive importer. BLW honored pre-reserved pricing on all orders in place ... we sold these below our replacement cost. Quantites are limited ... Sounds like Walthers is making friends everywhere. Jim
That must be QUITE the short discount, as what I assume to be the new price at BLW is only 12 1/2 percent off the MSRP. And I believe that makes it more costly than the Kato NW-2. At another large retailer (we won't name names!) the difference between the two locos is about a dollar. Wow.
"Wow" is right. Talk about a huge swing and a miss. Listen, I have no particular axe to grind with Walthers. But it's hard not to look at this and go, "What the ..." Jim
Well, I'm glad to see the brass worms, I'll probably pick one up down the line, when the price is more reasonable. I was looking at pictures on the ¤¤¤¤¤ site, and was wondering if anyone had a prototype picture of the CNW units, the back side of the cab doesn't look right with the yellow not extending down to the walk way, the Northwestern had several variations on their paint scheme, so it could very well be prototypical.
I can't find any proto pictures that have the back side of that stepdown green like Walthers does either. Perhaps a C&NW expert will chime in. -Mark
What assumptions. The facts are that the KATO NW2 can be bought from the same retailer for less than the Walthers SW1200, and pretty much everyone agrees that the NW2 is a better model than the SW1200. In addition, based on information from that same retailer we know this was because of Walthers.
