Associated Hobby Mfg

[Anonymous]

I received passenger cars # 4461p-coach, #4471p-Combine, and 4481p-Observation, but no engine, is there an engine available that goes with these cars? If so, where? And does this company still exist?

[Anonymous]

I presume that your cars came in blue and yellow boxes. AHM doesn't exist, but I think Rivarossi manufactured most of their stuff.

[Anonymous]

You are correct the boxes are blue and yellow and they say made in Italy. I will check it out. Thank you very much.

[Anonymous]

Jim, you are correct the boxes are yellow and blue and the box says made in Italy. Would you know by any chance when they were manufactured.
Thank you. I will check With Rivarossi.

[Anonymous]

You might be better to contact Walthers for Rivarossi related questions.
Best regards / Mike

[Anonymous]

Thank you, I will give it a try.
Cher

[cacole]

I believe IHC is the same company that used to be AHM -- same products, just changed their name to protect the guilty.

[dknelson]

Actually IHC gradually sold off the AHM stuff and now relatively little is the same. Maybe some buildings.
The IHC streamlined passenger cars for example are not the same as the AHM/Rivarossi cars -- and the IHC paint schemes (at least for the roads that interest me) are laughably wrong.
Some AHM stuff was not Rivarossi and I think Con-Cor picked up some of the freight cars.
Dave Nelson

[ndbprr]

AHM was a late 60's importer of predominantly Rivarossi equipment that was state of the art at the time. They were instrumental in making a quantum leap over what was available at the time and intorduced what would become the first reasonably priced full length passenger cars and a variety of engines in plastic that were not avaialble previously. I don't recall AHM ever having sets. Everything was pretty much assemble your own and purchased separately. AHM (probably Rivarossi but this is opinion) ran into financial difficulties and split with Rivarossi. They then introduced their line as IHC. Several years ago there was some reference to a lawsuit by Rivavrossi for copying the passenger cars as I recall. They are still offered by IHC so it must have been settled somehow. AHM engines all had the large flanges when they first came out. This was changed to RP25 over the years. Earll AHM engines had a 3 pole motor that is both noisy and cogs. they nearly all had traction tires which some people like and some don't. Their GG1 had a vertical motor and is a smooth runner. The current GG1's don't really offer much in the way of improvements as far as detail goes. The current BLI G has the carbody steps and some better insulator and roof details but the shells are all pretty much the same. Handrails on diesels were another problem as they were either stamped or way oversize. These have been refined over the years. Booton line is that your cars were probably not part of a set in my opinion.

[cjcrescent]

AHM was a 50's-80's importer of not only Rivarossi but some Lima, Mehano and others. The company was started by Bernie Paul of Philidelphia. Their address was listed as Tioga st. Eventually after Rivarossi went bankrupt a couple of times, AHM went as well. It was reincarnated as IHC, and funny thing still imported the same stuff from Rivarossi, and others. The address was also the same on Tioga St. there were some sets offered by AHM up to a tleast the late seventies, MR did a review one year and reviewed a set by IIRC, Tyco, Life-like and AHM, with the AHM set, again IIRC, coming off the better of the three. Rivarossi was bought by the Lima Groupe, consisting of Lima, Arnold, Jouef, and Rivarossi. As of the end of July and first of August, and I must say i have nothing about it since, the Lima Groupe had declared bankruptcy and asked the German courts, (home base for Arnold) to come in and name a liquidator.

[dknelson]

Back in the mid 1960s AHM in fact did have train sets. It was called the Thunder Line. I think even the 2-8-8-2 was in one set.
Dave Nelson