Model Quality Of Mehano Brand
- Thread starter Nicholas
- Start date
This is a Mehano Alco C415 I got from a friend. Original paint was stripped and I did it up in my home road scheme. Mehano couplers were truck mounted which also left both pilots wide open to allow swing. Cut them off the trucks and built up under the walks for Kadees. Also had to built new front and rear pieces to fill in the pilots around the Kadees. Also installed directional lighting. As you can see the molded detail of the steps and handrails is quite thick and even after a lot of work the cab roof doesn't meet the sides well. However it does run well enough and smooth enough to use as a switcher. Being an Alco lover I was always looking for a C415 and they are pretty rare, only available in brass or the Mehano offering.
Thanks Terry. I caught that in a recent magazine. I would expect they should do well as the only choices up to now have been either brass or the Mehanos. With Atlas always having been favorable to us Alco fans I was hoping they would have come out with one long before now.
Iron Horseman
Well-Known Member
It would depend on the exact model. Some are fair, others ok, and some are great for the money. Did you have a specific loco you were thinking of?
I believe some Pemco branded units are the same as the Mehano. Without doing some research I cannot remember if Pemco became Mehano or the other way around.
I seem to remember Pemco was an almost exclusive brand for Woolworths. That was a long time ago, in a land far, far away, but that's what I remember.
The 2-10-2 and the 4-6-4 do seem interesting and if i remember correctly they are available with dcc sound as an option, I haven't checked them out in detail but i would also be interested to hear/know about the 4-6-4 one (for some sort of ATSF tourist train i have in mind).
If in N-Scale I think this model Con-Cor/Kato (Japan) JNR DD13 Centercab Switcher would be a good starting point . Anyone else agree ?
BCK RR
BCK RR
Selector
Well-Known Member
As far as I know, the only steamer they made that is a decent attempt to look like a representative model is the 2-10-2 they introduced about six years ago near Christmas. Their other steamers were highly generic and not well detailed. The valve gear was not accurate with the linkage simply wrong or missing details that the more costly BLI/MTH/Bachmann/Athearn models would always have. As for running, they ran well and pulled reasonably well due to their internal weight.
