What do you think about this passenger set
- Thread starter brubakes
- Start date
CP9302
Member
IHC makes a decent passenger car. The main issue is the truck mounted couplers. If you add some weight to the cars, metal wheels and body mounted couplers, they will run well for you. Just make sure you have large curves and don't run them through small switches. The Detail isn't as good as Walthers or Branchline, but they are nice enough.
brubakes
Member
Do you think 22" radius would be okay?
I run AHM heavyweights on 22" radius curves. They have the Kadee bolster replacement kit that replaces the truck mounted NMRA couplers with Kadee's. I've also replaced the wheels with 36" Proto wheels and added extra weight to each car. The AHM passenger cars are always too light as delivered and that's a major cause of problems. This is one time that I wouldn't recommend replacing truck mounted couplers with body mounted coupers. The Kadee's overcome the problem of the NMRA types trying to force each other in opposite directions on curves, which is the main cause of derailments. However, leaving the coupler truck mounted does help the cars cope with smaller radius track. The downside is you can only do a backing move for about two feet before something's on the ground but it does make them more reliable running forward.
That is a great price for 8 cars, BTW. AHM doesn't have all the separate details that some of the newer (and way more expensive) cars have but they look fine and their paint schemes are usually very well done.
That is a great price for 8 cars, BTW. AHM doesn't have all the separate details that some of the newer (and way more expensive) cars have but they look fine and their paint schemes are usually very well done.
brubakes
Member
How much would you say you have into each car in addition to the initial cost?
Let's see...Kadee conversion kits, about $3.50 per car. If these are newer run AHM cars, they already have metal wheels and won't need replacement. If they are plastic wheels, you'll need six replacement wheels. I can get Proto 36" wheels for about 80 cents each so we'll round that out to $5. I use bullet shaped lead fishing weights for weighting and use two per car. They are about 50 cents each so that's another $1. So, depending on the wheeel sets already on the cars, that's somewhere between $4.50 and $9.50 per car. That's still way less than the average $30-35 you'd have to pay for a Walthers heavyweight car.
You've got to make sure you get the right one. The #505 is the correct kit for AHM six wheel trucks and the #508 is the correct one for four wheel trucks. They mount on the same bolsters used by the horn hook couplers but are just slightly shorter so the cars coupler more closely. If that's a problem, you can replace the coupler itself with a longer shank version.
ripvanwnkl
New Member
If you want to use truck mounted couplers for 22" radius, I recommend McHenry couplers. Direct replacements are #53 and #54 for horn hooks on IHC, AHM, and Rivarossi 6 wheel trucks.
ThoroughBreed
Dcc~detail~diesel freak
I use the Mchenry couplers on my Rivarossi and IHC cars. I tried the body mount and it didnt turn out well, even on 30" radius.
edit: oh and as for weight, I bought the bags of fishing wieghts from Wallyworld for about $1 each and let my son flatten them with a hammer. I have 1/4, 1/2, and even 1 ounce weights for about $.10 each.
edit: oh and as for weight, I bought the bags of fishing wieghts from Wallyworld for about $1 each and let my son flatten them with a hammer. I have 1/4, 1/2, and even 1 ounce weights for about $.10 each.
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