Athearn Mike

[ebtbob]

Good Evening All,

       I work partime in a train store in the NW subs of Philly.   We just got in a couple of IHC engines and they still have the oversized flanges.   There have been sooooo many people tellin IHC for the past few years that reducing the flange size would be a good deal for them,  that if they had reduced the size on all their locos  then I would think that they would have advertised that fact.  If they have,  I certainly missed the announcement.  So any IHC engine you plan to invest in,  you should investigate if you are using anything other than code 100 rail.

Bob

[Atlantic Central]

Bob,

The most interesting thing about the IHC large flanges is the fact that Mehano, the manufacturer, made several of the same locos years ago with small flanges for Life Like. Someone at IHC surely should wake up.

Sheldon

[Virginian]

Bob, I am not questioning your word.  It is just so strange that they would have changed the flanges on some of them, and not all of them.  I wonder what in the world their reasoning is, assuming of course it has even been done consciously.

[SteamGene]

I have several IHC steamers.  I'm not sure the company reasons.   
Gene

[brad]

I've had 5 Athearn Mikes, no gear problems and they run very smooth although, I will admit they do have trackinig problems with the lead and trailing trucks. I added an ounce to the fromt of each loco with lead and bracss castings and they pull pretty good for my small pike. If you're getting sound though, I'd get a BLI, but, a couple guys in the club have had problems with these also, decoders or poor connections internally, being across the border didin't help for service times either, 6-8 weeks

brad

[ken black]

I have 3 mikes all with gear problems the good news is athearn now has the replacement gears have replaced mine all work great.The gears are available from athearn.

[ebtbob]

Virginian,

       No offense taken.   I,  for one,  hope that IHC actually does start putting RP25 sized flanges on their engines for reasons I stated earlier.  I have two of the 2-10-2s with the smaller flanges,  equipped with Tsunami decoders and operating couplers on the pilot that I installed,  and I am very happy with them.
        I am fortunate to live in an area quite close to the IHC company and at all the local train shows,  there is usually a large area set up by a company rep(who I just found out is no longer with the company) with a large selection of the IHC motive power as well as passenger cars.   I had a chance to speak to him last fall about the flange size and that is where I got my info that the company has been beseiged with requests for smaller flanges.   It is quite possible that they have started the retrofit and my store's supplier has just not gotten them yet.   If our stock comes from IHC directly,  then it is QUITE possible that they want to dump the majority of the older stock first,  interspersed with the newer stock.   One can only guess.

Bob

[Atlantic Central]

Bob,

you may be exactly on point about them changing over. Their web site shows almost everthing sold out with no comments about restocking or replacement products. They may well be dumping all the old product to make such a change.

Sheldon

[SteamGene]

The prices on the IHC ad in this month's MR sure sound like they are dumping everything except the 2-10-2!  The 0-8-0 for $50 and the Hudson for $90.  There "semi-streamlined" look awful Canadian to me!
Gene

[WoundedBear]

I picked up an IHC Hudson with the "elephant ear" smoke lifters from a place up here called SuperStore.

The set was 50 bucks CDN, and had all the cars painted with Smurfs or something.....total value on the track/power pack/cars.....about a buck and a half.

The Hudson, OTOH, is a smooth runner, strong puller and came with a smoke generator. I have been running mine around my layout......4% grades and 18" radii and no troubles. It has directional lighting and all metal wheels w/pickups on the tender. The wire grab irons and the old green CN paint scheme, really make for a sharp replica.

Sid

[Atlantic Central]

doctorwayne,

A few questions and comments;

It seemed when I went to the linked page I could not read the intire post?

How much additional weight did you add and how well balanced was the loco afterward?

I added 2.5 oz to mine by filling the steam chest and fee spaces in the front of the boiler with moldable lead from A-Line, much easier than all that cutting.

How much was the pulling power increased?

Using 4.3 oz 50 foot flat cars equiped with my special truck/wheel combination for all tests, mine went from 26 cars before to 35 cars after, on level track.

The truck/wheel comination I use is Kadee trucks with Intermountain wheel sets. Extensive testing has shown this to be the most free rolling and has by it's self increased the pulling capacity of my locos by 30% to 40%

Sheldon

[r.cprmier]

In my never-to-be-humble opine-ments,  I believe that the very best HO Mike ever produced is a Cary boiler on a Bowser mechanism.  They look gtood if done right, and pull like a Georgia mule!!

One day, I am going to go that route, just to say I did, and install a Tsunami decoder in it.  Tsunami sound is very good-and, they will "drift" when off-address.  Can make for a very convincing engine terminal, along with the sound modules that Greenway has available; coal down the chute!  Wow! Just like when I was a little boy!!
I also remember up from the Quincy, Mass station, there was a coal company-I want to say Alvin Hollis" was the name-but they sold "Blue Coal"!  Hmmmmmm...a little paint, methinks...

Rich

[Atlantic Central]

Oh yes, those old time loco kit bash projects.

I am currently gathering parts for a similar project. Two Mantua Pacific mechanisms with Cary boilers and a host of detail parts. Seems no one wants to take my money for any ready to run Pacifics so Bowser will be the primary winning bidder.

Sheldon

[Atlantic Central]

docterwayne,

That is a good result, but for all that work, I think I will just buy a BLI mike with traction tires or build a Bowser kit before I mess with anymore Athearn Mikes beyond the two I have.

Sheldon

[Atlantic Central]

Bowser sells the Cary boilers ready to mount on the Mantua/TYCO drive as well. And, they have a prepackaged detail kit to go with it.

Sheldon