I see that IHC has a sale for these little engines on thier website.
I have a set of B&O passenger cars that are of a early model and would fit right in with a small engine such as this one.
Does this engine accept sound and DCC or would it be better to wait for a similar engine to be released by any one of the other manufactors such as BLI?
I have been waiting now for 4 years for a decent 2-6-0 to be released by someone else like P2K herritage, BLI and anyone. I’m affraid that except for brass, IHC has about the only 2-6-0 out there.
The IHC 2-6-0 is NOT DCC ready. It can be converted, but you really have to know what you are doing. It’s not as easy as opening the tender and pluging in the decoder.
The IHC Mogul is not DCC ready so a decoder will have to be soldered in. I have done that and it was not difficult, since the motor brushes were already totally isolated from the frame. The only thing I didn’t do was try to rewire the headlight to the decoder because it picked up its power from the front set of drivers. So the headlight is always on.
Sound would be a challenge because the decoder would have to go into the tender, which does not have electrical pickup.
The motor, like everyone has said, isn’t DCC ready, but everything is isolated from the frame, and there’s room in the tender for sound and DCC, so it shouldn’t be a hard installation.[:D]
cacole, the Moguls actually do have tender electrical pickup (two wheels on each truck), and that helps make it reliable on dirty track.[:D]
I did a review last year here: http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=43309
Actual scale speed: 73 MPH
Thank you for the answers.
Hmm. I guess the Spectrum Ma and Pa 4-6-0 can handle the passenger train for now until something better comes along.
Dont you share the feeling that we need more small steam in the hobby from the likes of PCM, BLI and others??
I agrree with you. Like I said earlier, I’ve been waiting for someone…anyone to make a nice 2-6-0. There are a few other small steamers out there if you want. P2K makes a real nice 0-6-0 and 0-8-0, and they both come DCC with sound. You can even find some of the older ones on Ebay without the DCC & Sound already installed for much less money.
I LOVE my IHC 2-6-0. Nice detail, run quiet and smooth, and I got mine for only $35!!
I super detailed my IHC,Mogul and had TTX install a Lenze decoder and a Soundtraxx sound unit.The engine looks,runs and sounds pretty good…it can be done.
SV, I say go for that 2-6-0.
my theory is that we won’t see small engines from these guys because there’s no room for the big 2 speaker sound systems they use , and they won’t release an engine unless they can get the sound up to their specs .
anytime they want to prove me wrong i’ll be quite happy to apologize by buying an engine or two [:)]
ereimer
I’m in total agreement with you. The majors aren’t going to do the small engines some of us crave for several reasons:
as you said, the expected level of sound quality won’t fit without a lot of engineering and testing
MRs aren’t willing to pay as much for a small engine as they are for a large one. If anything, a small, 1900 era Mogul costs more to produce than a 1940s Mikado, Mountain, or Hudson. Drawings and photos are much harder to come by. More engineering and testing of the sound system and drive train in the smaller space is required.
the market is smaller, which ties in to pricing by locomotive size. If given a choice between a Hudson or a Mountain, and the small Mogul, both at the same price, which is going to move off the dealers’ shelves faster?
Sorry for ranting when I should be grateful for the choices I do have. Sometimes I just get a little envious.
Fred W
in foggy coastal Oregon where it’s always 1900
I dont know why the smaller has to be more expensive. But suspect it is a whole another fight.
Smaller steam doesn’t HAVE to be more expensive. But it’s unlikely to be cheaper, and that’s the rub. Think about the number of parts, castings, etc., that go into a small and a large (non-articulated) steam engine. Except for the number of drivers - and the extra are duplicates of each other - everything is basically the same. The main rod has a couple more holes, and the frame has a couple more holes and bearings, but those cost very little to add. If early era slide valves and Stephenson valve gear are modeled there is some simplification of the drive gear, but modern modelers will think something is “missing”.
In a smaller locomotive, the motor and gearing takes more thought (and perhaps more testing) because of the limited space. Net result - cost to manufacture is nearly the same, but MRs like to pay by the size of the locomotive. So a smaller steam engine is unlikely to be as profitable as a large one.
my thoughts
Fred W