Weaver Product Longevity

I'm certainly in the market -  Lionel and MTH Premier make nice looking scale stuff but all the added details are too fragile - and I find the plastic used on new Lionel to be too thin - everything I've bought new from lionel has required shipping it back for repairs - all due to shipping damage to the plastic. I'm afraid to touch them.  

I'm finding Weaver, trainman, scale king, and late k-line have much better durability and scale size to meet what I want at a price point I find acceptable. The extra detail stuff doesn't interest me - nor does the traditional items. Was very disappointed about Weaver - been gobbling it up for months.  I was kinda hoping MTH would buy Weaver molds and produce a whole scale king line.

Steve, great topic!

I suspect most folks will have no reservation whatsoever acquiring Weaver rolling stock for years to come.  However, locomotive products will be an entirely different story.  Reduced acquisition price only goes so far.  But if folks are uncomfortable/uncertain about service, that's gonna put a huge crimp in the interest level of Weaver locomotives in the secondary market, IMHO.

Wouldn't surprise me in the least if some of the folks attending Weaver's factory close-out sale last week passed up on locomotives for this very reason.

David

out of business for more than 35 years, Marx has ~4500 listings.

Steve,

I check eBay every few days looking for a bargain to add to my fleet of cars.  VBG

I some times bought 2-rail ones and swapped the truck sets.   Now that Weaver is gone it will be hard to swap out 2-rail truck sets for the 3-rail ones as no more Weaver rolling bearing trucks or Bettendorph are being made.  They had a nice weight to them and were less costly than MTH or Atlas-O ones.    need to ask certain people if they have the truck and coupler sets for sale.

Steve,

     I will continue to acquire only the engines and rolling stock I really want to add to my Layout, as I do with K-Line stuff and my Tin Plate trains from Lionel and MTH.  Use to make sure I purchased something nice each year from Weaver to help make sure the US based Pa company was always around, looks like I will not need to do that any longer.

PCRR/Dave

I must be in the minority. Except for the newest offerings from Weaver which are pretty good, every Weaver car I ever purchased was sub-par.  I have a bunch of covered hoppers where the shell is held to the frame by 4 tiny pins. Every single car has broken pins. Their latest carss are pretty nice, but I got so tired of getting junk in the 90's and early 2000's I basically gave up on them. They never made anything that compelling to me. I haven't had any problems finding what I want from other vendors.

I'm sorry to see them close and I know you aren't supposed to speak ill of the deceased, but this has been my experience.

I had a PRR C1 0-8-0 that was ok. They did make some nice Brass engines, but most were in roads that I didn't care about. The best thing for me was that you could get their cars in 2R and most of their 2R brass steam would operate on 36"r.

So to answer the original question, I'm not sure majority of Weaver products will actually last that long. At least mine haven't. Perhaps that is what you are seeing? The K-Line products that I own are much more robust than my Weaver products.

That has been my experience.

PLENTY available before they went out......will stay the same I bet. 

Slight price increase as some think they become 'collectible' but as long as some less than perfect fixer uppers out there...I'm happy. 

Longevity is in the hand of the owner and how you care for your stuff.. I like Weaver products I have a ton of them. I've been buying their cars since the late eighties and have never had a problem. I also have a number of their engines but that would be a different category because of gears and electronics. Now with them out of business the hunt for items will be like a treasure hunt.............Paul

My concern on a purchase now would be engine parts. I have not read that any one person/firm picked up on Weavers part inventory.

As for trucks except for the purest cut off the center beam at the last cross beam and mount MTH or Lionel trucks directly to the floor.

I think there will continue to be a lively resale market in Weaver for a long time to come. Most of the product is scale size, rugged, and nicely decorated. Also, Weaver produced by far the widest variety of railroads and other brands on their rolling stock. If you want, say, a wood-sheathed boxcar lettered for the Green Bay & Western, Weaver is your go-to brand. 

A couple of responses to comments posted above:

Locomotives: Weaver diesels don't sell well on the secondary market. I think this has a lot to do with the obsolete electronics - there's an awful lot out there with QSI-OEM, Proto-1, or plain QSI reverse boards with no sound. Supply exceeds demand for this level of technology. Even their TMCC offerings are mostly either first generation or TAS, which is an orphan product. Most of their molds were sold to MTH, which is selling the same engines with upgraded detail and modern electronics. Nonetheless, the remaining Weaver engines will be around for a long time. Electronics can be replaced, and at the prices they are bringing these days, Weaver diesels are a bargain.

On the steam side, Weaver made a lot of unique, high-end brass steamers. Many of these had mechanical problems, but there are still quite a few of us out there who are willing to put the work into maintaining them, simply because if you want, say, a Milwaukee Road F6a Baltic or a Lehigh Valley streamliner, it's worth it. 

Jonnyspeed mentions the two-bay covered hoppers. This is a very early mold, and IMHO the worst thing Weaver ever built. I have half a dozen of them for the unique graphics, but I agree they are a lousy design. The good news is that everything else is better. The older boxcar and reefer designs are OK, if a bit short on detail. The flatcars are fine. I could use a few more if I could find some lettered for Milwaukee Road. The last of their freight car designs, the B&O wagontops, the Milwaukee ribsides, and the TOFC's, stand up to anything from brands L or M. Trucks were always a bit of a weak point, but I don't consider that a fatal flaw. Trucks can be replaced. 

Jonnyspeed, I disassembled the two-bay Weaver hoppers that I own and added interior RTV glued #11 Gauge by 1 inch wide steel strip to get the car weight arounnd 17 to 18 ounces.

Some the the plastic pins broke at disassembly, for these cars after reassembly I glued the underframe corners to the side and end sills of the uppercarbody, the fit of the underframe to the car body orovided a snug butt joint for gluing. I used a styrene compatible glue on these four corner butt joints.

Weaver rolling stock owners, I run a lot of Weaver never a problem except for a few covered hopper side steps. I run all 3rail Delrin trucks and wheels. So if you need more metal 3rail wheels I have more to sell. Also a bunch of Delrin 2rail wheels and Delrin rolling bearing trucks. I'm looking for Delrin friction bearing trucks.

Clem

 Looking forward to the next show just to see how much the dealers jack up the price on Weaver products 

Clem,

I'm sending you an e-mail about the Weaver 3 rail trucks and couplers.

Nick

I think cars such as the  H30 covered hoppers, the B&O round roof box cars, the Milwaukee Road ribbed side box cars, the TOF cars, and the various gondolas made by

Weaver has made will continue to remain in demand.

BUT -

Remember, the Weaver troop sleeper problems. Many of these cars will not be around for long at all. I took a chance on purchasing a troop kitchen a while back. I paid too much, but there was no visible warping of the frame. After getting the troop kitchen home I removed the body in order reattach a window insert. As soon as I removed the body the frame warped and broke in half.

Buyer beware, stay away from the Weaver troop sleeper cars. The kitchen car is now in my "to be repaired box.

Richard