IHC vs. AHM/Rivarossi

[Anonymous]

Greetings all,

Anyone have some information or advice on the running quality of the old AHM/Rivarossi steam locomotives and diesels to the new IHC steam locomotives and diesel?

Anyone have a Alco C 628 IHC? I saw one on E Bay in Northern Pacific paint. I do not own any IHC and would like some insight on there locomotives.

Thanks,

Mark in Texas

[CP5415]

Hi Mark

I don't have any IHC or Rivarossi Diesels, but the AHM & Rivarossi steam locomotives i have do run well. One's an AHM 4-4-0 & the other is a Rivarossi 0-4-0. Both run extremely well & they're both over 35 years old.
I have an IHC 4-6-2 Pacific & it runs quiet & smooth. I'm not sure how much it will pull, but with the 5 Athearn passenger cars it does pull all the time, it doesn't stall on either of the steep curving grades that I have on my layout.
I do plan to but an IHC 4-6-4 Hudson when they come out next year.
I hope this helps.

Gordon

[Anonymous]

Thanks Gordon,

I too have several AHM locomotives from the past and some diesels that run quite well.

I have from AHM/Rivarossi 4-6-2 Pacific, the Berkshire, and Mikado for steam.

And a 2-8-0 from Bachmann which is wonderful and even smokes.

In diesels I have 2 U25c, and an Alco 1000.

They all run fine, all were made in Italy.

All the rest are Atlas and Athearn and one Bachmann Plus SD 45.

Although I do not own any IHC, so I am unfamiliar with there running history.

Mark in Texas

Fan of the Great Northern

[Anonymous]

You may also wi***o visit their site, www.ihc-hobby.com and then CLICK online catalog.

[Anonymous]

Hi, Mark
IHC locos (advertised in MR in the last few years) are made in Slovenia by a company called Mehano (www.mehano.si). The diesels - ALCo C628, EMD SD40 and ALCo C415 - are the same models that this factory produced in the past for AHM and some other companies (Model Power, etc.) Those are old models made almost entirely of plastic, with oversized handrails and cast-on details like grab irons etc. The drive is somewhat improved in the last decade or so - they use better (but not top quality) motors with rather small flywheels and all 6 axles are powered (before it was 4 axles powered in 6-axle diesels and only 4 wheels picked up current - I don't know for sure if they improved the current pick-up). For the ALCo C415 I'm not even sure if it has both trucks driven. There is another 6-axle diesel produced by IHC/Mehano, the SD35 - I think the body of this loco is made with old Atlas molds back from the late 70's, again not much detail by today's standards, but better than their C628 and SD40.The SD35 has a metal chassis and the fuel tank is better looking than the old Atlas one (it has no gap in the middle), again rather small flywheels, grabs and lift rings cast-on, handrails somewhat better but fragile plastic, 12 wheel drive, again not sure about the current pick-up. With a little tinkering, weight-adding and installing extra pick-up wipers they can be made to run decently, but the detail is pretty crude. I'm almost sure the ALCo's even have talgo trucks (couplers on trucks instead of body-mounted, so big hole in the pilot) - take care if you're buying, look for the later version with better motor and all wheel drive, but only if they are a real bargain.
As for the IHC steamers - they seem to run pretty well, but again - too much plastic in my opinion, even their chassis are plastic, so they won't pull much, and if you add weight it is questionable how much their bearings would last.
Hope this helps. Have fun & best regards,
Oliver

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Oliver Trzok

Hi, Mark
I
As for the IHC steamers - they seem to run pretty well, but again - too much plastic in my opinion, even their chassis are plastic, so they won't pull much, and if you add weight it is questionable how much their bearings would last.
Hope this helps. Have fun & best regards,
Oliver

Sufficient weight in any diesel/steamer I think should be at least 16 oz to avoid wheel slippage.
I have the 4-8-2 Mountain and that comes in at 16.9 oz. The IHC on-line catalog should also give you the weight of the steamers.

[Anonymous]

I bet my bachmann mountain will out pull your mountain he he he.

Lee

[dknelson]

The answer kind of depends on just when the stuff was made. When I think of AHM I think of the mid 1960s which is probably twenty years older than what some folks on this forum are thinking of.
The old AHM motors for steam and diesel were an unusual design, rather flat, three pole, with a wire brush for one contact, meaning that while the drives were quiet the slow speed operation was jerky and they were not particularly strong, which is why they often had traction tires. The unusual way the motors were linked to the drive can make remotoring a challenge, too.
Dave Nelson

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by HighIron2003ar

I bet my bachmann mountain will out pull your mountain he he he.

Lee

If you're talking about the new spectrum 20oz HW, you are correct.

Sometimes I double head the 16.9 oz IHC with the 20 oz Spectrum

[Anonymous]

I have a newer model Rivarossi Challenger and it's a smooth quiet runner and pulls 10 properly weighted cars easily on a 4% grade. I also have a new IHC Premier 4-8-2 that runs smooth but pulls poorly. 4 unweighted cars on the same grade, and thats when the track is perfectly clean and dry. Pulls 6 properly weighted cars on level track with little slippage on start up. I now use the IHC as a "helper" engine most of the time.

[Anonymous]

My IHC Mountain will outpull my Spectrum 4-8-2, and stay on the track better at the club. But, I "stolt" the tender from it and put it behind a Spectrum 4-8-2, looks like it has a proper size tender now. IHC tenders also take a Kadee #5, 58, while Spectrum needs the !@#$%^~! Bachman coupler.