HOn30.....AHM

[Anonymous]

I have some of the old AHM tramway style HOn30 locomotives and four wheel cars.
Any advice on how to make these little beggars run better?
I'm trying to build a small display layout (48"x15") but the poor running quality of these models has me stopped dead in my narrow gauge tracks.

OLD DAD[V]

[IRONROOSTER]

You might try poking around this web site http://www.hon30.org/ They have a mailing list that might help.
Enjoy
Paul

[dknelson]

Yes the old "mini-trains" as AHM called them. When they discontinued them they were selling them at give away prices so I bought a set, with a tiny 0-4-0T and some coal cars. The cars new were just a dollar (and came with a piece of N scale track at that). But they never ran well. The engine was eratic because the electrical pickup was poor, the cars were underweight and the wheels rolled very very poorly (they were just metal pins in plastic holes, no bearings no nothing). AHM dumped the line before they could give us the Maine prototype 2-6-2 they advertised.
Dave Nelson

[vsmith]

OLD DAD

Send me an e-mail. I'm also doing the micro layout thing based on Carl Arendt's webpage, HOn30 pizza layout in 9"x10" and a G guage (yes, full G gauge) micro layout.

Those old AHMs are really only good for display the way they are. I'v read that some have used bachmann chassis with the AHM shells. Others have used Northwest Shortlines drive trains to repower the bachmann chassis to get an even better running drivetrain. I used Bachmann N gauge because it was all I can afford, But the AHM shells are great for HOn30 and repowering them would be a very worthwhile thing to try.