IHC locomotives, passenger cars- good / bad?

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I’ve heard IHC steam engines are pretty good- here are the ones i like
2-6-0 http://www.ihc-hobby.com/cgi-bin/bsc.cgi?sn=3599859A96E7H981920K3573J1G549&id=M522 is such a small loco a good puller/ good runner?
2-8-2 http://www.ihc-hobby.com/cgi-bin/bsc.cgi?sn=9RJ6461113450981941K542P474PO8&id=M9800 good runner?
passenger car i’d like to get some of http://www.ihc-hobby.com/cgi-bin/bsc.cgi?sn=9801R34366429817F6NM998327FC28&id=49021 good for the price?
i don’t know about their diesels because they’re only $35 but are they any good? http://www.ihc-hobby.com/cgi-bin/bsc.cgi?sn=3WY29C6FI65491708R891266418579&id=24101
Thanks for the opinions that i know are coming.

2

I got a 0-8-0 NP Switcher locomotive for Christmas and its a great little loco. Its very quiet and a strong puller and even has a rear light on the tender.

The passenger cars are similar to the old AHM/Rivarossi cars. Not bad and a great price.

Mark

3

I remember having a good harty laugh when I saw the name on their PRR dome car

“Catenary View”

You see, the reason the PRR did not own dome cars was because of there catenary, the wire would have been mere inches above the dome! putting passengers that close to thousands of volts is not a good idea.

4

The diesels are pretty good. I have a CNW C415, and a MILW Streamlined Pacific 4-6-2. My 4-6-2 I got for Christmas about 7 years ago, and it still runs perfect. I can’t say IHC is the best company for detail, but I don’t really care. At least they run good.
Phil

5

I have two IHC loco’s that I have super detailed,re-painted and installed decoders into.
mine run fine,w/good slow speed control and fairly smooth operation.I can’t comment or thier pulling power{i run short trains}
I too want to find out the pro’s and con’s of thier passenger equipment

6

so the FP45 might be okay for $35? i really just want the steamers and pass. cars but for the price i’d probobly get the fp45 if it’s good. i like what i’m hearing so far, IHC’s stuff seem very reasonably priced.

7

AVOID IHC DEISELS AT ALL COST

8

I have passenger cars just like that and I love them. real smooth running.
If all the stuff they say about the engine. I would grab it at thart price.
The only thing is, I run N scale.

9

i was afraid of that

10

i see several posts in a similar vein but the Question remains that the comments are valid but there is never any remarks about the DCC system that is driving the loco. does Digitrax run Athern better than MRC with the same loco for example. just wondering

11

The passenger cars are somewhat generic in that all roads are offered with identical units. They are underweight by a considerable margin, they have (or at least had when I got mine) old style horn hook couplers. The trucks and wheelsets are not particularly good either. Having said all that. They are good value, especially if you can get them on sale. IHC, frequently has the sets discounted on their web site. (Under $10 each right now). They are quite easy to upgrade. I have added interiors, more weight and replaced the couplers with drop in replacement knuckle couplers from McHenry. With some upgrades you can have a very nice passenger consist for a lot less money than the Walthers recent offerings. I happen to really like the Walthers cars, but recognize that not everyone wants hundreds of $ tied up in one consist.

12

Are the current IHC production steamers DCC ready (wired with the connector in place) or do you have to hardwire the decoder in? Their website doesn’t say (at least what I can find doesn’t say).

13

With the execption of the new 2-10-2, all IHC steamers need to be hardwired.

14

I have one ofthe IHC Hudsons 4-6-4 in C&NW livery. It is not super detailed, but looks really good to me. I have recently started trying to figure out how to put a working coupler into the front of the loco…mainly because i want to buy another one and run them together. It pulls ok, but I think running two together would look really cool.

I did not want to chop the front of the loco up to put in a Kadee coupler box, so I searched for another solution. I may have found it. I noticed at a recent train show at the Kadee booth that there are couplers for European models that “snap” into the coupler area, similiar to what you see in the front of the IHC steamers. So I ordered some of these couplers ( medium and large size) and they arrived the other day. I’m
playing around with these and hoping to come up with some ideas to get something installed on the front of this loco.

Any one else tried to do this?

15

I got the SD-24 President loco and 3 heavy weight pullman cars for X-mas. For the money, I’m really happy. The cars look really good for $9 each. You DO have to put some weight and new wheel sets on them right off the bat. I put 4 oz and Proto 33" wheels on them and they run good now. (couplers too)

16

I purchased four alco C-628’s from IHC, several had horn hook couplers although they were billed as premier units. Three had one or both trucks that seem to bind or jerk as you turned them. I wrote IHC without success and then as their ad says I wrote the boss. He did call me on a Sunday as I recall. He said he would get back with me. That has almost two years ago. Glad I did not hold my breath. I haven’t purchased anything from them since and don’t plan too. Phl

17

I have one IHC loco its 2-8-2 and its never worked well. I have had it worked on twice and still doesn’t work right. Go after a Kato or Athreans Gen.

18

Junk.

19

then what is a good choice for steam engines?

20

Bachman Spectrum