Re-Power for AHM Loco

[Anonymous]

[8D] Greetings again from the rainy Northwest! I have a A-A set from AHM that is by appearance old. This is a model of (as near as I can tell) a Fairbanks-Morse diesel unit, in HO. The fine print on the undercarriage says made in Yugoslavia. The powered unit still runs, but is loud and a bit jerky so I'd like to try and re-power this and then repaint as well. Any ideas on new motor(s) for this old girl? I love fixing things and learning a new skill but haven't had experience with this particular job. The dummy unit has lights, and should have plenty of room I would think for DCC and sound equipment. I love reading on the forum and appreciate all the advice and tips. Have a great week-end [:)][:)].
Dane
UP 4ever

[Anonymous]

Personally I would forget it and find the Proto 1000 FM C-Liners - These were well done and I have seen them around on E-Bay and some LHS. The Proto 1000 units were more correct than the old AHM ones and there is not much you can do to those old units to make them run better, the whole drive train was pretty much crap!

Rick

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jesionowski

Personally I would forget it and find the Proto 1000 FM C-Liners - These were well done and I have seen them around on E-Bay and some LHS. The Proto 1000 units were more correct than the old AHM ones and there is not much you can do to those old units to make them run better, the whole drive train was pretty much crap!

Rick

Ya, I have two AHM diesels (HO SD40) and they suck (in everything).

[Anonymous]

I'd advise buying a couple of the P1K C-Liners as well - I have an A/B pairing in NYC paint and they're superb locos, especially at the prices that they go for on eBay! As far as the Mehano locos are concerned (they are Mehano, IHC is the US importer though they usually rebrand the locos), I'd say the best approach would be to take the bodyshell off and have a look. It may be worthwhile just cleaning and relubing the existing drive system - older models are often transformed by this. Hope this helps!

[Anonymous]

Trainworld has the Proto 2000 C-Liners for $19.95, can't beat that. The AHM ones are toy junk, not worth while upgrading. Very coarse detailing, 1980's technology.

Bob Boudreau

[Don Gibson]

IF you're primarily interested in the Challenge,

try NW Shortline for wheels, motor's, and gears and Walthers Catalog for parts, Yu can bring it up to date better than the Chinese competition, and say "I did it!"

[jsoderq]

Actually the AHM Cliners go back to 1957 and were originally sold by Lionel believe it or not. They have a very weird drive and the bodies were screwed up and the trucks are totally wrong. Throw it away and buy the Proto

[Anonymous]

Here's an example of a drive I built for one of the AHM C-Liners.
http://www.the-gauge.com/showthread.php?t=12731&page=4&pp=15
IHC sold the same C-Liner shell with an 8 wheel drive chassis. You may find one of these at a trainshow and swap drives.
Unless you have the parts on hand and the patience, I would recommend one of the Proto C-Liners as well.