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Hi, Mark <br />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. <br />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. <br />Hope this helps. Have fun & best regards, <br />Oliver
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