Rivarossi - I've heard the name, but don't have any experience with them. Most of my fleet is probably Athearn, a little IHC, and a little Bachman (I'm a Philly boy.)
I recently won a bid on Ebay ($26 + 8) for a Rivarossi 4-4-0. Unfortunately it got damaged in the USPS system, so it was a bit of a kit by the time I got it. Interesting loco. Very tiny! It has what looks like a "pancake" motor in the tender, then a driveshaft over to the loco to drive the wheels. When I went to clean the wheels, nothing was coming off. I have to wonder if this thing ever saw any runtime. Seams to run smooth. Here's a short video...
http://curtisdehaven.com/trains/Rivarossi%204-4-0.htm
Tips, comments, opinions welcome...
Curt
Hello,
Rivarossi was a model manufacturer located in Como, Italy. Formed in 1945 by none other than Mr. Riva and Mr. Rossi.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rivarossi
When I was feeding my HO train habit with money earned from a newspaper route Rivarossi, imported to USA through AHM (American Hobby Manufacturers) was a welcome source for pretty reasonably priced locomotives and rolling stock. I could walk a mile in any direction from my house and find a dozen stores stocking AHM/Rivarossi trains.
Sometime in early 2000s they were bought by Hornby and they continue to use the Rivarossi name for certain products. I don't believe Hornby is going to export any more Rivarossi models to North America.
Too bad because the last two models I bought from them, GE U-25-Cs are excellent models and great running engines.
Regards, Ed
When I was in N scale in the early 1980s, Con-Cor imported N scale steam locomotives made by Rivarossi. I had one, a Heavy Pacific, that ran great. I bouight it at A&J Models in Cape Coral, Florida for about eighty dollars. That was a whole weeks pay from Winn Dixie when I was 16.
It was a great locomotive.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
I’m a heavy steam guy (Southern Pacific) and really like the Rivarossi Articulateds. I bought a new Cab Forward from AHM in 1990 before they went belly-up and it was and still is a very nice locomotive, many many hours of running time.The Cab Forward has run so nicely that I have bought over a dozen used Rivarossi articulateds off eBay since then and overhauled them to be as good or better than new. The older Rivarossi motors draw a lot of current so I replace them with can motors, many with dual motors.Excellent locomotives.Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
Over the years Rivarossi has had connections with Lionel, Athearn and Walthers. The 60' HO C&NW based RPO, Baggage, and Utility Combine and Utility Coach (like Cody Grivno used a while back in an MR article on making a commuter train) have been sold under both Rivarossi and Walthers names for example.
I really like the old AHM/Rivarossi HO passenger cars, it's not unusual to find them online or at a railroad flea market for $10-15. They have molded on details, but otherwise look very good and generally run well. (They are a bit light, I usually stick a couple of the square 'peel and stick' weights in the vestibules.)
The AHM imports were in a blue and yellow box with clear glazing so you could see the car inside; later under the Rivarossi name they had a solid maroon box. The later Rivarossi cars came with a one-piece plastic interior.
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
Thats a cute little bugger. Looks good to me for $26, sounds like you got a good deal. It will probably run forever.
Michael
CEO- Mile-HI-RailroadPrototype: D&RGW Moffat Line 1989
I should have mentioned that I also have the identical Rivarossi 4-4-0. It is also a good runner but with one exception. It is too light and although it does OK with three cars on level track it can only pull one shorty coach up a 1.6% grade without wheel slip. New traction tire didn’t help, just too light.I use it for my Golden Spike Central Pacific 60 run on level track with a like Rivarossi Union Pacific 119.I bought both Rivarossi locomotives off eBay and restored them, both have the original motors.Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
In its heyday, Rivarossi was seen as a major player (vs. the toy manufacturers). The main problem with the 70's engines was the poor power pickup on the steam engines. Adding extra wipers on the tenders is an easy fix to that. The can motors were excellent at the time. I have a few that still run. I especially like my Heislers, that remain unique in the non-brass category. The 1990's engines are nice and affordable, if you don't mind plastic. As mentioned above, Hornby acquired the company and still uses the name for some of its rolling stock. I appreciate the fact that they keep the legendary name alive.
Simon
Growing up in the '60s, Rivarossi was one of the fabled names in RTR, particularly the 'holy grail' cab-forward and Big Boy models. You had 'arrived' if you had one of those!
Something I haven't seen mentioned is the crude 'pizza cutter' flanges (this, I always thought, is why the sobriquet about Italian food is used) that they used. It is possible to stone these down, even to approximate a NMRA tread profile on them... but the plastic wheel centers require very, very careful handling. (In fact, I did my high-school senior independent project on what were then called 'metallic glasses' and got some of the idea on how to spin and quench them from using refrigerant streaming on Rivarossi wheels spun on a Dremel to work down...)
wjstix...I really like the old AHM/Rivarossi HO passenger cars, it's not unusual to find them online or at a railroad flea market for $10-15. They have molded on details, but otherwise look very good and generally run well. (They are a bit light, I usually stick a couple of the square 'peel and stick' weights in the vestibules.)...
I, too, am a big fan of the Rivarossi passenger cars, and have bought quite a few of them off the "used" table at a now-gone nearby hobbyshop - usually for considerably less than ten bucks apiece.
New England Rail Services offered a lot of useful parts for detailing the Rivarossi cars, along with conversion kits to change the Rivarossi 12-1 Pullman cars into most of the other prototypical Pullmans that had been in-service. They also offered lots of underbody details suitable for most makes of heavyweight cars, as did Precision Scale.
Here's one of their Pullman cars, with not too much modification, changing it into a coach (my freelanced railroad isn't long enough to need Pullman cars, although it does handle a few between connecting roads)...
Here's a similar Pullman converted into a solarium tail-end car...
This combine was originally a Rivarossi diner, and has been shortened somewhat....
I've also altered some Pullmans and coaches into wooden bagagge cars, based on photos of real ones...
...while a Rivarossi coach became a fairly accurate rendition of CNR's "mountain observation cars", used in the Rockies...
...and a couple shots of some underbody detail...
Wayne
Overmod Something I haven't seen mentioned is the crude 'pizza cutter' flanges (this, I always thought, is why the sobriquet about Italian food is used) that they used. It is possible to stone these down, even to approximate a NMRA tread profile on them... but the plastic wheel centers require very, very careful handling. (In fact, I did my high-school senior independent project on what were then called 'metallic glasses' and got some of the idea on how to spin and quench them from using refrigerant streaming on Rivarossi wheels spun on a Dremel to work down...)
OvermodOne of Rivarossi errors was the wheel sizes on their articulateds. I kicked around doing something with the Cab Forward deep flanges but after measuring them I decided not to. Rivarossi eroded with the wheel diameter, the 63.5” wheel diameter isn’t the wheel tire diameter, the Rivarossi 63.5” is the diameter to the outside edge of the deep flange. Reducing the flange will make the wheels look too small.I discovered that accidently when drawing a Cab Forward (and AC-9) on my CAD. I found out when I was scaling and measuring the Rivarossi wheels for my drawings. I chose to leave the deep flanges as is, the only problem I have had with the deep flanges on code 83 track is they don’t clear Shinohara or relabeled Shinohara code 83 turnouts. 30 years ago I tried every brand of double crossover and none would work with Rivarossi deep flanges, shorts from the oversized flanges.I didn’t have any problems with the deep flanges on code 83 Atlas or Peco turnouts so I built my own double crossover using Atlas Custom Line Turnouts and crossing. I’ve never had any problems with my Mel double crossover, all my Rivarossi locomotives run smoothly fast or slow through my double crossover.
https://melvineperry.blogspot.com/2012/06/june-25-2012-my-double-crossover.html
Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
Lastspikemike I'm not sure I follow the point made about grinding the flanges down making the wheels look too small. The look of the wheel is surely of the wheel and not the steel tire. The oversize flange definitely makes the actual wheel look too small.
I'm not sure I follow the point made about grinding the flanges down making the wheels look too small. The look of the wheel is surely of the wheel and not the steel tire. The oversize flange definitely makes the actual wheel look too small.
I painted the flanges black on one side of one drive and to me they looked better as is.Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
LastspikemikeI'm not sure I follow the point made about grinding the flanges down making the wheels look too small.
I bought a set of Poxbox 63” driver wheels from Greenway Products and they wouldn’t fit in the Rivarossi driver assemblies the wheel touched so as I said earlier I chose to leave the Rivarossi wrong size wheels on my Rivarossi articulateds. With the deep flanges they look OK to me, but then I’m not a rivet counter.
http://greenway-products.com/greenway-products/wheel-sets-trucks-and-drivers/replacement-drive-wheels/locomotive-boxpox-drivers/The Rivarossi Cab Forwards are very good runners and with new can motors I have added 10 ounces of weight to the boiler shell and they will pull the paint off the walls, 5.8 oz to 6.5 oz of drawbar. A bit better than the original motor and no added weight at 2.8 oz drawbar. Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
snjroy I have a few that still run. I especially like my Heislers,
I forgot about the HO scale Rivarossi Heisler. I have one that will eventually be painted for my railroad. I have no idea what I will use it for, but it does run good.
doctorwayneI, too, am a big fan of the Rivarossi passenger cars,<SNIP> New England Rail Services offered a lot of useful parts for detailing the Rivarossi cars,
I have an eight or ten car set of Rivarossi heavyweights undecorated with lighted interiors that might eventually be painted for my railroad. I have four of the NERS ice activated air conditioning kits for them. Each kit would do 2-3 cars, so I should have enough.
Overmodthey ARE too small -- at least, in many cases <SNIP> the heavyweights
The Rivarossi Heavyweights I have came equipped with deep flange 31" wheels. 5 inches too small. IHC has replacement metal wheelsets with the RP-25 profile that drop right in. They are still too small, but track better.
I cannot see the wheels behind the passenger truck sideframes anyway, certainly after they are weathered, so the undersize does not bother me.
SeeYou190...The Rivarossi Heavyweights I have came equipped with deep flange 31" wheels. 5 inches too small. IHC has replacement metal wheelsets with the RP-25 profile that drop right in. They are still too small, but track better...
I used Kadee 36" wheels in most of my Rivarossi passenger cars, while the rest got replacement trucks. If you use the 36" wheels, the brakeshoes on the sideframe casting will need to be shaved a bit, so that they don't act like actual brakes. A sharp #11 blade works well, as only a pass or two is necessary.
Must be a YOUNG Philly boy Prior to it being IHC, there was another company run by the same guy, called AHM. Most of AHM's locos were Rivarossi products. As were their passenger cars and a lot of their other rolling stock. A few things were marked as being made by Pocher, which was a related company - notably the 4-4-0, and a similar 2-4-0 (there were 2 versions of the 4-4-0, an original, with long wood pilot and a balloon type stack, as built wood burner, and the moderized version of the same prototype which had a smaller pilot, a straight stack, and an oil tender. These were both based on a specific loco from the Virginia and Truckee railroad. As was the 2-4-0). Another Pocher product was a model of the Lincolf funeral car
Rivarossi made some big locos, like a Big Boy, Challenger, and the SP Cab Forwards. Also more moderate size locos like a Bershire and NYC Hudon - available in both plain and streamlined versions.
I had two of the 4-4-0's, the Reno and the Genoa, and also the 2-4-0, the Bowker. And a streamlined Hudson. Biggest problem witht he tender drive locos was losing the drive shaft, if you are not careful when picking up the loco, the drawbar will flex sufficiently to allow it to drop right out. You can't jackrabbit start them, the motor torque twists the whole tender and lifts one side off the rails. But the Reno in particular was probably the smoothest running loco I had at the time. I had some other old time rolling stock, both AHM and Tyco, and I would often use the Genoa, a horse car, a combine, and a coach to make the Wild Wild West train (the TV show with Robert Conrad and Ross Martin - still one of my favorite all time TV shows - not that horrible Will Smith movie).
Compared to the rest of the stuff we had back then, mostly Tyco and a little Life Like, the AHM/Rivarossi stuff was like fine art. By today's standards they are probably considered fairly crude, and depending on just how old a particular piece is, it might have pizza cutter flanges that won't run on Code 83 track. But back in the day, they were closer to top of the heap.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Awersome response, Everyone! Thanks for taking the time. Really enjoyed it.
RANDY - I like the Robert Conrad/Ross Martin WWW show as well. Just wish I could find a decent source to stream it from. The ones on YouTube leave a little to be desired IMHO...
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.
https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/topic/ferocious-switchers
https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/topic/assembly-instructions-needed-for-a-rivarossi-indiana-harbor-belt-0-8-0-switcher-kit
Anyone speak Japanese....Is this REALLY a brass AHM model !
http://o-colle.seesaa.net/archives/201204-1.html
BEAUSABREEverybody 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).
OvermodI built a perfectly serviceable 4-8-4 from one of those
Do you have a picture? I would love to see that conversion.
Hello All,
Rivarossi also manufactured some of the only Krauss-Maffei ML-4000s in HO that I know of.
The prototypical ML-4000s rand on both Southern Pacific and Rio Grande rails in the 1960s.
Compared to the relative simplicity of North American diesels the K-Ms never really caught on here in the U.S. because of their mechanical complexity.
I have managed to acquire two of these Rivarossi K-Ms, both in the Rio Grande livery.
These units are definitely in the, "You either love their looks or hate them" category.
Unfortunately, they both have the horizontal direct drive motors to only one set of wheels.
Currently, they are "Shelf Queens" with hopes of restoration in the future.
Hope this helps.
"Uhh...I didn’t know it was 'impossible' I just made it work...sorry"
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. Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
RR_MelI kitbashed an Atheran PA chassis and in installed the Rivarossi shell on it, looks great and has good drawbar too.
I was considering some other re-motoring options.
Your frame stretching intrigues me.
Thanks for the inspiration.
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. Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps. .I sold the other Rivarossi but kept my kitbash, great conversation piece. Melhttps://2.bp.blogspot.com/-deu62TRZnL0/WWT9V7iGp7I/AAAAAAAAMFs/s5km3DyQzvIkpWpxvMF-KtIEVTTnOnc4wCLcBGAs/s1600/AC12%2B4244%2B03%2BS.jpg My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
BEAUSABREAnyone speak Japanese....Is this REALLY a brass AHM model !
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.
wjstixrunning it caused static on the house's televisions.
My Tyco locomoitives did the same when I was young.
I remember not being allowed to play with my trains when the news was on.