Everybody is forgetting AHM’s classic, the heaviest 0-8-0 ever built, the Indiana Harbor Belt’s (NYC) U-4a class. Had a boiler that would have graced a 2-10-0 or 2-10-2 (there have been kit bashes). Not really a switcher, they were used for pushing endless strings of cars up the hump (other NYC system roads used 0-8+8-0’s for the duty). They even had a tender booster for added grunt! RR made both O and HO versions. I learned how to use a lathe in shop class to turn down the flanges, added a front coupler and fifty years later, she’s still in service on my pike.
I built a perfectly serviceable 4-8-4 from one of those – I admit that was at an age I was fascinated by Reading 2102 and the way she originally came to be.
The Rivarossi Krauss-Maffei didn’t do much for me, no pulling power. It only had two axles on the rear truck powered. I kitbashed an Atheran PA chassis and in installed the Rivarossi shell on it, looks great and has good drawbar too.
I bought two Rivarossi Krauss-Maffei off eBay about 8 or 9 years ago, I only did the Athearn thing to one. I’m an SP guy full out and thought I needed them to complete my SP roster but they are a bit out of my era of the early to mid 50s. They wouldn’t cut the mustard in mountain freight service so the SP scrapped them after 9 years of service, the SP had a lot of F7s for flat land freight and didn’t need the Krauss-Maffei.
I sold the other Rivarossi but kept my kitbash, great conversation piece.
I neither speak nor write Japanese, and no translate utility told me enough to be able to navigate to an actual picture.
But be aware that AHM did at one time market (with its own special stock number - 5086!) a ‘simulated gold’ version of the IHB three-cylinder 0-8-0. I would suspect that a photo of one would be indistinguishable from brass to the unwary. And AHM definitely imported brass engines of various kinds – you would have to know the 0-8-0 was never one of those ( I firmly believe it was not.)
When I started in HO (1988) my first engine was a maroon-box Rivarossi 0-6-0 decorated for the Omaha Road. It ran pretty well, but only hauled maybe 4-5 cars…and running it caused static on the house’s televisions.
