HH660 in HO or N????

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Does anyone know of a manufacturer that makes a HH660 in R-T-R or in some kit or conversion form? I’ve seen a few HO HH660’s in various layout web pages, but can’t seem to find any for sale. (except one where they wanted way to mush for the conversion…) Any help would be wonderful. [:D]

jim

2

Jim,

Eureka! Hoover! [bday] There is my friend!!!

I just found out a couple of weeks ago. Try http://www.jjlmodels.com . It’s a kit and kinda pricey but it sounds like he does quite a bit of machining of the P2K frame and drive to fit it to the resin kit top. You’ll have to put it together, paint, and decal it yourself. I have a P2K S1 and the drives on those things absolutely crawl.

I’ve actually considered purchasing one of the HH660s and turning it into a HH600 because the NYC only ran HH600s on their line. From what I have been able to find out, there are only 2 very minor dimensional differences, the largest being a little over 1/16" in HO scale. Not enough for anyone to notice - except for maybe the most finicky of rivot counters. I’m primarily a steam guy but I REALLY like them early diesel switchers. [^]

Jim, let me know if you decide to get one or not. I’d like to hear how you like it. The only other alternative to this is finding an old Walthers HH660 on ebay somewhere.

Tom

3

I’ve never heard of the HH660 in my life!?[(-D]

4

HH660:

  • Manufactuerd by Alco
  • Primarily used as a yard switcher
  • Had 660 HP
  • HH stood for “high hood”

Check out Yard Limit (http://yardlimit.railfan.net) for more info on diesel yard switchers. Direct link on the HH diesels: http://yardlimit.railfan.net/alco/hh/index.html

Tom

5

In HO possible sources are:

  1. JJL Models - kit
  2. New Haven Terminal (Branford Hobbies, CT) - RTR
  3. OMI brass model (from 10-15 years ago) - RTR
  4. Walthers (circa 1938-50) - kit

The first two go for $175-$200. The OMI undoubtely much more (but was about $200 at time of issue). The Walthers item is really outdated compared with anything available today. It’s sad that none of the current manufacturers have seen fit to do this once popular early diesel.

CNJ831

6

CNJ831,

I agree. I mentioned it to Bowser/Stewart last week but they said they don’t have any immediate intentions to model any more switchers in the near future. Unfortunately, the bottom line is: the decision to market something is ruled pretty much by the return on the dollar. I understand the reasoning but …a number of terrific locomotives will probably never be manufacturered because the investment into making it will outweigh the return on it. [:(]

Tom