IHC Steam engines...


W

wongsing

Member
I didn't want to hijack the thread about steam engines below, so I started a new one. Anyways, I wanted to know the deal about IHC cars and locomotives. Because I am a detail freak, but not rich the steep price of most steam engines is half of the reason I model modern diesels. I have only seen one IHC steam engine and the detail was...well, alittle outdated per say. Most of the details were molded on, and I do belive the loco was about 6-7 years old at least! The price doesn't seem too bad, but I have learned my lesson about buying cheap stuff from my plastic modelling days...Luckily I have never made such a mistake sinceI have been model railroading...Of course it has only been about a year! Any comments on IHC or their products?

-Rich
 
I've had a few IHC steam locos, and while they run good, they don't have enough weight to maintain traction on the rails. They pack alot of lead into their boilers, but its just not enough weight.:rolleyes:
 
so the final verdict is that they're woth the money? The loco that you put pics of is pretty looking. I guess I just don't know enough about steam engines to judge the accuracy as per the prototype, although the vanderbilt type tender is really neat I must say. How are the passenger cars and why exactly are all of their products so much cheaper than the other leading brands?

-Rich
 
Rich, I think the IHC steamers are a good deal. We have two older 2-8-0s and they run pretty darn well. The details can be added and would make a fun project.
 
I have 3 sets of their passenger cars. They are not top notch they are about middle rating. As for the locos, the one I posted a pic of is an older version. The newer ones now have DCC ready boards in them. These locos have good motors in them the detail in some cases are pretty good in others not so good. This will depend on the RR and level of detail you want. For example the one I posted... I actually changed out the smoke box cover for this loco number and changed the pilot light. I still have to do the number board and change the marker lights at the top of smoke box plate. I will put actual working lights on it. It has lights on the pilot and tender for reverse mode already. Over all I like IHC. The newer versions are alot nicer and DCC ready. Some I think have sound option now. I can show you some of my other locos I have 3 premier series and this one in the pic is a standard issue. I also have one other standard issue. Will post pic tomorrow. I want to get one of the new 2-10-2 .... in the UP

http://www.ihc-hobby.com/cgi-bin/bsc.cgi?sn=T9V728864B071B7842455793Y6I121

The diesel engines kinda suck....they tend to focus on their steam lines more a long with the passenger cars.
 
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I have 2 IHC HO steam locos - a new 4-6-2 Pacific "Alton Limited" in their "Gold" line and an older 4-8-2. Both are smooth runners. The "Gold" line is DCC ready and it appeared to plug and play okay. The older ones are more difficult to convert to DCC. Detail is okay. I like the Gold Pacific.

I also have a set of IHC heavy weight passenger cars "Alton Limited" with the 6-wheel trucks. The couplers are attached to arms on the trucks and they can be difficult to get aligned vertically to make the knuckle couplers the right height. I would like to see them done differently but they do handle tighter turn radii this way. I installed the IHC/Rivarossi interiors but I'm not real satisified with them. Lighting was also a pain but I think lighting is a pain in any passenger car.
 
I don't have any IHC steam engines but I have a lot of IHC passenger cars, both heavyweight and smoothside lightweights. As Tuna said, converting the bolsters to Kadee couplers can be a pain. I've taken to using a 40' express boxcar as a conversion car with a Kadde #5 on one end and a horn hook on the other. The horn hooks aren't really noticeable on a passenger train and the truck mounted couplers do allow tighter radius curves. It would be nice if they would use a system similar to the Bachmann Spectrum passenger cars with the swinging body mount couplers, but IHC cars can be had for around $10 compared to $30 for the Bachmann cars, although most of the Bachmann cars include lighting. The detail level on the IHC cars is not as good as the more expensive cars but is quite passable for the the three feet rule. If you need to make up a few good sized passenger trains, the IHC cars a good way to do it on the cheap.
 
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