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A retired judge gave me a Rock Island 4-6-2 Heavy Pacific engine that he said he picked up in Florida about 20yrs ago. The unit is in great condition and runs/pulls like a plow horse. My question is this, was Mehano bought out by another company and where to get replacement parts for an older engine such as this? I know these were produced in what was Yugoslavia but I can't find info about them. Same thing applies for AHM/Rivarossi Steam engines. I've picked up quite a few at estate sales and yard sales. Any info would help and what better place to ask!
You're pretty much going to have to trust to luck on all of those.
There are a few places that will have the odd collections of parts (mostly from junked locos) but neither Mehano, Rivarossi, AHM nor IHC ever had a huge supply of spare parts for any of their products.
You could try
these guys, they say they have parts for Rivarossi and Mehano, but no online parts list.
These guys have some parts from "distressed" locos
Your best bet is probably trolling model train shows looking for busted/bent/broken (aka "distressed") models of your locos, and scavenging them for parts.
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Staff member
Mehano didn't relly "move" to another part of Europe. They have produced American prototype trains for over 30 years but usually under the AHM/Rivarossi brand. They are located in Slovenia, which was a state of the former Yugoslavia. After Slovenia became independent in 1992, Mehano struck out on it's own, using their brand name for the first time. They are a very prosperous company today, producing all kinds of toys, including trains. Their web site is
http://www.mehano.si/?PID=21&CID=39&ID=316. As you'll see, the 4-6-2 is still production. An e-mail to them should produce a parts source, either from Mehano or an affiliate in the US.
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Thanks for the link Jim. Maybe you'd consider adding it to
http://www.modelrailroaddata.com/suppliers/ as a reference. Shame to lose it now.
I have one of those downstairs, got it quite a few years back and it's still in the box never used. Bought it because some people said it was a great running loco.
Can't remember if it's a 4-8-4 or what, but it'll be in use soon as I get the new trackage down.
Cheers
Willis
Done, Willis, thanks for the reminder. For some reason, Mehano seems to be a mystery to North Americans but they have been doing a really nice job since Slovenia became independent, including some much need mechanical upgrades to the former AHM engines. The AHM steam engines usually ran well but not reliably since Mehano was contracted on a low bid basis. The newer motors, drive trains, and gear boxes are much better built and are usually drop-in replacements for the old AHM junk.
I'm not sure who their North American rep is now but an e-mail to Mehano should bring that information. No worries about language, everyone under about 35 speaks English. We were there in 1995 and we couldn't stand around on a street for more than two minutes before a helpful Slovenian would come up, apologize for their English, and ask if we needed help. Of course, most of them spoke better English than a lot of people I've known here.
Very nice folks and a lovely country.
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