Hello, I am new to these forums, but have been working with HO scale model railroads for seven years. I have several diesels right now, but only two steam locomotives, neither of which are in proper working condition. I am considering the purchase of a 4-6-2 Pacific B&O Locomotive from International Hobby Corp. (IHC), but I have never heard of this company before (having owned only Bachmanns and Life-Likes). Does anyone know whether or not IHC makes good quality products, and is $65 a good deal on such a loco?
I have an IHC 2-8-0 Consolidated that runs great. It has pickups on the engine and the tender, but I think the larger IHC engines don't so you may want to check that (if that is something that you want). Mine is a smooth runner and cost $50 at a local hobby shop.
First things first ,Welcome to Trainboard.And now second things second. Up until 6 months ago I had two IHC steamers both were excelent runners and never failed me even once. Infact the sole reason I bought the first one was because a friend bought a used one and impressed me with it's running qaulity so much I bought a new one. Oh yeah,the reason I don't have them anymore. I switched scales and the darn things won't fit on Nscale track
Thanks for the input guys, I just checked some of the other threads in the HO Scale forum and found some other positive remarks about IHCs...I think I'll check a couple of hobby shops in my area before ordering online. I actually considered switching to N-Scale once, but I've heard it can be extremely frustrating. [ 26 September 2001: Message edited by: Nowhere Man ]</p>
A little frustrating? Have you ever tried to get a HO engine through one of those mouse holes? How about pulling one of those derailed trains out? (heheh, of course, they do have some really beautiful stuf...like scenery and Craig's Locomotives)
A couple more comments on the IHC Pacifics. First, IHC sells them on their web site (www.ihc-hobby.com) for $55, with free shipping and no tax unless you live in Pennsylvania. Trainworld in NYC may have them even cheaper. Second, the Pacifics definitely don't have motor pickups on the tender (neither do the Mikados), and they hesitate badly on non-electrified switch frogs. I bought one from a dealer a few months ago and it was so bad I returned it. However, there are pickups for the backup light on the tender, and I found out recently that IHC will sell you connectors to hook these pickups up with the motor for about 3 bucks. The connectors are not on the website - you have to call their customer service line. I have not tried the connector kit myself, but it sounds like what you need to make these engines perform. BTW, I have a Consolidation and a Mogul, both with factory engine pickups on the tender, and both run well. Dan
My IHC-4-8-2 Mountain is a super performer, just because it also has the tender electrical pick-ups and therefore runs as good as my diesels.
If you are interested in either the light USRA 2-8-2 or the light USRA 4-6-2, then you may want to look at the Athearn offerings. They are better detailed than the IHC engines. Also, Bachmann is comming out with a Heavy USRA Mountain which will probably be better detailed than the IHC Heavy mountain. If you look around the AThearn engines can be found for under $100. Eric
Thank you all! I have been told that the radius of the track curves might be an issue with the larger locos. I'm not quite sure what the radius on my turns are, I'll check that.
The Consolidated runs great on 18" and I have heard that the Pacifics and Moguls will too...sorry I can't help you out anymore, but the Cons is the only steam in my tiny fleet...oh, except a life-like 0-4-0 worth about .12 cents.
I have a Life-Like 0-4-0 steamer as well...that was a completely useless purchase. Absolutely no low-speed response, stalls on anything resembling a switch, and is very sensitive to even the slightest spot of dirt on the track. It's noisy, it's either not moving or blazing along at about 200 scale miles per hour; I could list so many problems I have with that thing. I'm considering removing the motor and using it as a display piece, along with my Bachmann 0-6-0 that was unable to be repaired.
Nowhere Man, The Life-like 0-4-0 I have came with a set I purchased off of Ebay from a private seller. I don't know what it would retail for, but I was serious when I said it was worth about .12 cents...actually about $1.12 to be fair. It is a little black Union Pacific with the same motor and speed issues you stated, and it is so wobbly to watch wiggle down the track that it makes people laugh out loud. I knew what it was before I bought it, and bought the set mostly because I wanted the track and rolling stock, not the engine. Now I use it for a switch engine, but don't run it, or leave it on a repair track...I also use it to practice weathering. You can see a pic of it at this address... http://www.angelfire.com/ut2/justindennis/trains/pages/layout.html
I have an IHC Pacific and Mikado, these were sold with and without smoke units. I picked up both with smoke units a few years back (so I could impress my then very young son). Anyway they performed like champs the last time I used them. This is more than I can say for my Athearn Genesis Mikado, which had to be returned for repairs because a screw came off the drive gear and the drive gear fell off. I will say this, Athearn fixed it no questions asked and could not have been nicer to deal with.
Nice-looking layout, Justin. Yep, that's the 0-4-0 I have all right, only the road name on mine is Pennsylvania. I bought it for about $20 a few years back, in my early days of model train construction. I bought it mainly because my Bachmann 0-6-0 was so unreliable, and I had no idea what a train should cost back then, so I figured that was a pretty good deal. Well, I'm proud of myself today - I went out and bought a 4x8 piece of fiber-board to add on to my small 4x6 layout, and I'll begin laying new track for the expansion tomorrow. Wish me luck, this will be a big and extensive project!
Well, I ordered the Pacific over the phone a few weeks ago (after checking a few local hobby shops, which didn't have any decent selections). After I checked in on the order, they said it wasn't able to be shipped until spring or early summer - 2002! So I changed the order to a B&O 2-8-0 Consolidation, and I think I'll be even more happy with it (especially since it has the motor pickups in its tender, unlike the Pacific). This one'll ship in just a couple of days!
