AHM, Mantua, ConCor, etc...Any of these worthwhile?

[Anonymous]

I see a lot of Mantua and AHM locos and rolling stock, as well as some ConCor and Roco on Ebay all the time. Are any of their products (HO) worth getting? I have never seen any of their items in person, so I don't know how to judge the value/quality of the product.
Tim

[Anonymous]

My experience with Mantua is limited to their line of steam locomotives. These have provided a solid mechanism, but are sorely lacking in detail. I have rebuilt those that I own, some with new superstructures, all with substantial detailing. If you are not into detailing and want to purchase something that rivals the current offerings, I would suggest you pass them by. AHC does provide a decent running mechanism and do possess reasonable detail (again, steam locomotives only). You do need to pay attention to the gear mechasnisms, they do occasionally vaporize. I cannot comment on either Roco or ConCor as I have no personal experience with their product lines. I do not know if this is any help. I am certain you will receive other responses that will, perhaps, be more meaningful to you. Good luck, and have fun.

Tom

[orsonroy]

Mantua steam are reliable runners, but aren't prototypes of anything in particular. They're a little spartan when it comes to details. None of their rolling stock is prototypical for anything, and some looks REALLY bad.

AHM locos are Rivarossi. Fantastic for the 1960s, great for the 1970s, good for the 1980s, and horrible for 2005. Their passenger car line is nice but underweight, and their freight cars are toy train quality.

Roco American stuff is poor, and toy train quality. Their European stuff is better than most of what we can get in the USA.

Con-Cor is horrible. Their best products are the E8/9 and their passenger cars, and you can get brand new items for as much money that are FAR better.

Old & cheap is generally exactly what you're going to end up with: old & cheap. Good quality engines and rolling stock generally didn't hit the market until the late 1980s, and realistically the 1990s. And on Ebay and on some of the internet RR hobby shops, you can find super high quality equipment for less than the old garbage ($30 for a P2K diesel or $3 for a P2K freight car? They're all over the place)

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the info. I see so much of those on Ebay, but I had no idea most of it was old and of poor quality. I guess most bidders don't think about asking someone about the products BEFORE they bid, as many of those products sell at high prices. I have acquired quite a few good deals on Atlas, some new Athearn RTR, and some P2K items. I am now an Ebay junkie. I search a bit every day, but only attempt to bid on very low priced items of known quality. It just amazes me what some people will pay for some of the offerings. Higher than retail, plus ridiculous shipping charges in many cases.

[orsonroy]

Remember, just because it's not the highest quality stuff out there there will still be people who will buy it. Some people use the toy train quality stuff because they don't care about proto accuracy at all but want a large fleet of cars. Some people think the stuff is "collectable". Some people like to spend a LOT of time tinkering with the old stuff to get it to look or run better. In general though, from my experiences of being a seller at train swapmeets, most modelers don't read the trade magazines, don't beling to a club, don't come to this sort of forum, have never seen another model railroad, and are happy with the junk. That or they're REALLY cheap.

[mikebonellisr]

I have used a few IHC,AHM,and Mantua locos as a start in super detailing locos for my layout.Of course it's not a very effective way to build your roster.I strip all or most of the cast-on details,do a lot of filing,filling and sanding.Then apply cal-scale,etc.,details,usually re-power,add a decoder and sound.This usually costs more than buying a BLI or LL Heritage or Bachman Spectrum,but it's a enjoyable part of the hobby.Right off the shelf,they don't compare with the newer quality models.And even with all the work put into them they are still a little behind

[Anonymous]

Roco have made some good models for the US market - branded as "E R Models", they made an FP7 and Baldwin Sharknose, both of which are fine-running locos that look pretty good too - they have DCC sockets fitted so converting is easy. Admittedly the detail isn't up to the latest Proto 2k standards but considering these are probably the best available models of these locos they're worth spending time on. I have 2 FP7s and a Sharknose (planning to buy another Shark in Baldwin demonstrator livery when I can afford one), which have proved to be smooth, quiet runners. My only problem with them is the gap then two locos are coupled together - currently modifying the Shark to take Kadee #58s so it will match the P1k C-Liners it runs with and in an effort to reduce the gap, not sure what I can do with the FP7s as there's no space to mount the couplers closer in. Given I picked them up cheaply from a store over here that must have got them from a clearance sale, they're amazing value for what you get. Hope this information is of use!

[cacole]

The steam locomotives that Mantua made for the last couple of years before going out of business had horrible motors in them. I bought two of them when they were having their fire sale, and neither one would even run the motors were so bad. Display models only.

On the other end of the spectrum, I have a couple of Mantua/Tyco all-metal locomotive kits from the 1940s-50s that run like clockwork, and will probably run forever.

I bought two Con-Cor MP15 diesel switchers that they were advertising as "DCC Ready" a few years ago, and will never touch another Con-Cor locomotive. They were not even close to being DCC ready because they have a really cheap, slot car motor screwed directly to the frame, and I cannot find any other motor that is narrow enough to replace them. Definitely not a good product.

This week, I purchased a set of 7 Con-Cor SP Daylight passenger cars. They have no interiors or lights. Some have McHenry knuckle couplers and some have horn-hooks; they are all going to need additional weight and metal wheelsets.

Con-Cor buildings and Route 66 vehicles are very good products.

AHM is now IHC. I have several old AHM box cars and one locomotive from the 1970s. Their locomotives were made in Europe, usually by Rivarossi or Lima. Changing the rolling stock to metal wheels and knuckle couplers is difficult, but not impossible.

[TurboOne]

QUOTE: Originally posted by enduringexp

I see a lot of Mantua and AHM locos and rolling stock, as well as some ConCor and Roco on Ebay all the time. Are any of their products (HO) worth getting? I have never seen any of their items in person, so I don't know how to judge the value/quality of the product.
Tim

Hi Tim great name [:)][:)]

Unlike some of the more sophisticated folks on this forum, I like some of the cheap brands. I like billboard boxcars, those with name brands names on them, and I don't want to pay a lot for a tootsie roll car. My kids enjoy the popsicle, starkist, carnival and others. They are colorful and pretty cool looking. 20 brown boxcars is boring, especially to a 6 and 9 year old. So I think it depends on what you are looking for. If you want high detail, and a realistic model, get some of the newer engines and boxcars. The new locos with sound, lights and DCC are awesome. If you decide you like all the sound and lights, the less expensive new stuff doesn't come with it, so adding it creates additional expense. If you have a tight budget, get some inexpensive cars and engines. If your budget can handle it, check out DCC with all the toys. Great detail on engines, and the rest of the toys are great. Nothing like hearing the sound of a steam engine as it takes off, smoke billowing, and a bright headlight guiding the train.

Tim (got in for the kids, great father kid hobby)

[Anonymous]

got 2 AHM. DON'T BUY THEM!! save your money and buy an athearn.

[twhite]

I have two trains made up of Con-Cor 72-foot passenger cars, the SP CASCADE (or LARK, if you want) and a set of Rio Grande ski-train cars that serve as my PROSPECTOR DELUXE. I have no complaints about them. Yes, they don't have lights or interiors, but I'm running these as daytime trains, so big deal. If I want interiors, I'll get some kits and kitba***hem--I'm in no hurry. They are pretty light, but they have metal wheels and I've had no trouble with derailments. As far as Mantua, I've heard good things about the running quality of their older steam locos from the '60's and '70's, but I don't have any, since their styling is not what I'd be using on my railroad. The original AHM locomotives had NEM wheels, which means they'll bounce along the ties on any track under Code 100, and the mechanisms are--shall we say--noisy. The thing about AHM when they first came out, was that they afforded prototypes of large steam that was reasonably well-detailed and reasonably priced. However they have been bypassed by the detail of the new Rivarossi, BLI and Proto offerings. I still have an old AHM cab-forward that I run occasionally--it's dependable and a good puller, but next to the BLI cab-forward, it looks kind of like a toy.
Tom