Well, here as in other places I frequently speak to people who would love to get their hands on a H8 in N scale. Speaking with a couple people who had informed opinions, they recommended emailing Intermountain. So I did. I very simply expressed my interested in a plastic C&O H8 (2-6-6-6) Allegheny. If there are others amongst us who would be interested in an N scale version of the H8, I would encourage you to email Intermountain and express your interest. If you want to, the email is intermountain@intermountain-railway.com These email campaigns rarely amount to much, but I think it's a model screaming to be done in a version that costs much less than $1000 (as opposed to the brass offering). I just feel someone is missing a good opportunity and think there is more than an ample market for it.
I sent them an email and got a reply back saying it was forwarded to their production & design team for consideration. It also stated they are currently considering their next choices for steam releases but that no decisions had been made yet. Sure would be nice to see, but not gonna hold my breath.
Yeah, it's only a shot, but still. I think the first one to come out with a solid model will do quite well. I am actually surprised that it has not been done more often. Even in HO scale it is poorly represented. And it's not as if it is an unknown or unsuccessful engine either. The example in the Henry Ford museum adds a lot to its potential as a good selling model. Anyone who has ever seen that remarks on it's sheer size. There are people I have met who once learning I am into trains, tell me that I need to see the big one at the Henry Ford museum, hehe. I think there are enough big boys and challengers running around right now to last a good long while. I guess we will see.
I know this may sond like a longshot, but dont be suprised if Bachman does one. They seem to have a soft spot for C&O steam. So far they have done the H-4, H-5, Heavy Mountain and Consolidated with the first three with C&O detail.
I'd be surprised if Bachmann did an H-8. They'd need completely new tooling. The H-4 and H-5 share a common mechanism as well as boiler. The Mountain shares a mechanism and boiler with the USRA Heavy. I'd be more inclined to think they'd do a USRA heavy 4-6-2 and piggyback a C&O F-19 off that since they have the proper tender and cab tooling as a starting point. Bachmann has a tendency to do those engines where they can get maximum bang for tooling bucks. The H-8 is just too specialized an engine. Yeah, yeah, I know about Big Boys and the fact that the combined total (C&O/VGN) for the 2-6-6-6's was nearly 3 times the total of 4-8-8-4's built for UP. Andre
