International Hobby Corp locomotives

[mechengr]

Anyone have comments/experience (good or bad) with these locomotives? IHC is advertising an HO 2-10-2 in the Dec 2005 issue of "Model Railroader" (pg 118) for $179.98 (includes an additional "bonus")

[cacole]

I have several IHC steam engines. They all run very well but lack the detail that you get on the more expensive brands; but for the money, you can't find smoother-running engines. I have put decoders into all of them, which was relatively easy to do despite the fact that none of them were DCC Ready. Their motors were isolated from the frame. I have no experience with any diesels from them, if they even have such a thing.

I also have the IHC civil war and maintenance-of-way rolling stock sets, and they are very good kits. These are not listed in the current advertisement. Their vehicles are usually just thin plastic with no detail, but there have been exceptions.

Their passenger cars were made by Rivarossi and are very light-weight. Putting the interiors into them and adding weight helps.

Up until now, none of their products have been DCC Ready, so it was nice to see that they are catching up with the technology.

Their locomotives used to be made in Europe (Slovenia, Bosnia, Italy, etc.) but are probably now from China, especially with the demise of Rivarossi. These locomotives may be some of the new Hornby products, because they appear to have much better detail than previous, if the photograph is any indication.

[SpaceMouse]

I ditto the above. I have one 4-4-0 that can do nine inches in 22 secs pulling 3 cars with no hesitation or jerking.

[jsoderq]

The passenger cars have not been made by Rivarossi since the lawsuit and have many problems - no prototypes, some are just plain wrong (some heavyweights) and need some tinkering to run well. They are however the cheapest way to have a large impressive passenger train if you are not fussy.

[scole100]

I have several that have been wired for DCC. I agree with the previous posts. They are very good runners. Very dependable and inexpensive. BUT, They all look alike and are not really based on a prototype. They are a good way to get a start on a Steam fleet.

[topcopdoc]

Cacole,

I am ready to install a Digitrax DZ143 decoder in my IHC GG-1. I have not installed any yet. All the wiring in the GG-1 is Red. Since there is no right or left side do I just solder the Red and Black wires to either side of the power pickup? The Gray and Orange wires are supposed to be attached to the motor. The motor and power pickup seems to be on the same line. The headlights are another question.

The way I read the instructions is to solder the decoder wires in parallel with the wires on the locomotive and not break the connections or wire them in series. Where have I gone wrong?

Doc

[colvinbackshop]

Total agreement!!
I run four in all; two Moguls and two Mountains.
The DCC decoder installation wasn't all that difficult and they run real fine!

[twhite]

This subject comes up pretty frequently, lately. I've got one IHC loco, the heavy USRA Mountain, and it's a nice runner and a good puller. Like the other comments, the IHC locos are not great on detail, but they can be improved with either Cal-Scale or PSC detail castings. I'll have to check that ad for the 2-10-2--I'm a sucker for 10-coupled locos. The price certainly sounds pretty reasonable.
Tom

[Anonymous]

IHC steam is a good value. Not a whole lot of detail and usually not based on a prototype but worth the money if you are not picky and just want a steamer chugging around your layout. If you are willing to wait six months you will probably be able to purchase the 2-10-2 for around $85 to $100. IHC steam and the GG1 are reliable. Their diesels, however, get very mixed reviews.

[Anonymous]

What about they diesels? Anybody knows how good are they E8 drives? are they smooth and quiet? All I care about is they drives on Diesels and I understand that they C628 is nothing more than the old AHM models, but still is the drive better? The AHM drive in the C628 is not bad at all. I have one and it's way quieter than any athean BB. Just add some weight for pulling and your good. I put 4 of the breakable little 1/4oz. (7cm) square weights in them with some clay in the shell. I also had some small flywheels that came from kato that I put on the motor. Real nice

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jsoderq

The passenger cars have not been made by Rivarossi since the lawsuit and have many problems - no prototypes, some are just plain wrong (some heavyweights) and need some tinkering to run well. They are however the cheapest way to have a large impressive passenger train if you are not fussy.

Not quite. Many of these cars are very usable for the Baltimore and Ohio. For example, the heavyweight diner is a model of a B&O Colonial Diner as delivered, and the streamlined, smooth-side combine is a model of the B&O's 1949 Columbian coffee-shop lounge car. The smooth-side duplex roomette car is close to the "L.S. Hungerford", a Pullman built test-bed lightweight, which eventually ran on both the B&O and GN. I agree that the heavyweight sleepers and observation have odd proportions (letterboard too wide, doors too short) but from looking at the heavyweight baggage and baggage-RPO, they seem proportioned correctly; if so they are close to B&O prototypes (B-8 and E-7 respectively).

Greg

[colvinbackshop]

Doc.
You addresses Charles...I'm not Charles, but I'll respond...
Just pick a side (which ever way will you usually run the loco) regarding right and left sides.
And if I read you right...Yes the pickup and motor wire would be one in the same, wired for DC. You will be connecting the decoder to these pickup wires, so that it will be powered from the pickups and distributing the power to the motor and lights.
Three main things to remember: The motor has to isolated from the frame (does it have two wires on it? If so,it's most likely isolated), make sure all solder connections are protected (shrink wrap or tape) and also check to see that the lights are 12 to 15 volts, other wise you need to install a resistor or change out the bulbs.
With all the wiring being red in color......As for the remaining wires and wiring for lights and whatever, you will have to trace out those wires and connect/solder the function wires from the decoder as per the Digitrax wiring diagram/instructions.

[mechengr]

Thx to all who responded! It is good to know that there are reliable locomotives out there that don't cost $400-$500 dollars - we all just can't afford these higher price range locos.

[cacole]

I received quite a surprise Monday (October 31st) when I telephoned IHC to order their new 2-10-2 locomotive in Santa Fe livery with its free 8-car passenger set, and was told that it would all ship right away. No six months or more wait like most other hobby dealers or manufacturers. Everything is actually in stock instead of being advertised before production even begins. And IHC locomotives are now DCC ready with a NMRA 8-pin socket in the tender. If the photograph in Model Railroader is any indication, they have much better detail now, too.

In answer to colvinbackshop's question about wiring a decoder:

I don't own any IHC diesel or GG-1 electric engines, but suspect that they are wired exactly like the steamers. The motor should have two contacts on the rear to which four wires are soldered. Two of these wires go downward to the electrical pickups on the wheels, and the other two are the headlight wiring. Remove those wires from the motor and clean out the holes in the solder tabs. Be very careful here that you don't overheat the solder tabs on the motor. I use a 40 Watt or less soldering iron and a solder sucker to clean out these holes.

There have been some exceptions to this wiring scheme in that the headlight wiring was connected to contacts near the front of the locomotive's drivers and the motor was connected to contacts near the rear drivers. If this is the case with your locomotive, only two wires will be soldered to the motor instead of four.

I further disassemble my locomotives to get down to the contact strips that run alongside the drive wheels and unsolder the wires that went to the motor from there. If you don't want to go that far with disassembly, you can splice onto the wires that you removed from the motor, and solder the decoder's input wires to them, but be sure to put heat-shrink tubing over the wiring if you do it this way.

The red decoder wire solders to the pickup strip or wire on the right-hand side of the locomotive, and the black wire to the left side. Solder the gray decoder wire to the left contact on the motor, and the orange wire to the right contact. The white and blue decoder wires connect to the headlight wiring.

All of the IHC locomotives I have installed decoders into have 16 Volt incandescent bulbs for their headlights, so no resistors are necessary. Newer engines may have LEDs for headlights, so check this out.

[Anonymous]

I have an IHC Pacific loco and to me it runs very bad. It stops when it wants to. When it goes over switches it stops. I also have a IHC GG1 and it runs just great.

[colvinbackshop]

Richard:
I too, have one of the IHC Pacific's, it's a very early model (1986, maybe earlier), that didn't run well either. I found some trouble in the gearbox and it's still in the Backshop.
Is yours a newer one? Just wondering?
OTOH, my Moguls and Mountains are of newer vintage, all now decoder equipped, and as stated in my earlier post, run great! Could be that the early versions had some "lemons" in the run, or are of poor design in general.
My Pacific may become a static display as a scavenged loco at the CCRY shops! Or something, as I don't feel the drive to make it a runner.

[Anonymous]

I have three IHC steam locomotives. A B&O 2-8-2 mikado , A CB&Q 4-8-2-mountain and a GN 4-6-4 Hudson, ( Did the GN have such a loco???)
The best runners are the mountain and the Hudson which is also the newest. The Mikado wobbles a bit, I don't know why . Otherwise it runs quite well and has not derailed despite the wobbeling. Could it need some extra weight?
William [:)]

[jon grant]

I only have 1 IHC loco - a mogul - and it runs very nicely with a soundchip in it. As for detail, I tarted mine up for next to nothing




Jon

[Anonymous]

If you have a freelanced road, IHC locos are a perfect starting point to bash into your own prototypes. Other then that I wouldnt give them the time of the day. The new 2-10-2 sounds interesting though.

[Texas Zepher]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Willi-ro
a GN 4-6-4 Hudson, ( Did the GN have such a loco???)

Unfortunately no. The GN preferred to keep as much weight on the driving wheels as possible (hence the bizzare 2-6-8-0 & 2-8-8-0 type wheel arrangements).

[Anonymous]

Thanks for clearing that up for me Texas Zepher, looks like another decal change up ahead.
William

[CP5415]

I bought an IHC Pacific in 2000.
To this day, it runs great, never had a problem with it .
The only time it has difficulty hauling a train is up my 3.5% grades without assistance.

Gordon

[fwdguy]

I just got in the mail a 0-8-0 in Northern Pacific, looks nice to me.

Waiting till Christmas do have it run on my pike.

Looking forward to it.

Mark