Rivarossi parts?

[RR_Mel]

The Big Boy should have a Centipede tender, 5 fixed axles and a 2 axle truck on the front.  It doesn’t have a Buckeye truck.

 

The standard 1.02” axle length with 42” wheels should work fine.

 

 

 

Mel

 

 

My Model Railroad   

http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/

 

Bakersfield, California

 

I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.

 

[thomas81z]

i have a few rivarossi big boy tenders that the wheels just fall out when 

i move them off the track  jb is the best replacement ?? or should i go with buckeye trucks , i noticed they

RR_Mel

Thomas

 

I might add that my two Cab Forward tenders with sound decoders don’t have Rivarossi trucks.  The Rivarossi power pickup isn’t good enough for good DCC operation.  The Rivarossi trucks use axle wipers on the two outside axles.  I use a graphite lube on the axles to help electrical connection at the axle.  The Rivarossi connection between the truck and frame is also pitiful.  I solder a super flexible #28 wire from the wipers to the decoders.

 

The Rivarossi truck frames with the JB wheels do very good for straight DC operation.

 

 

I prefer using Bowser #35107 Buckeye Trucks on my Rivarossi oil tenders with decoders, very good power pickup and track great, never derail.  Kinda hard to find since Bowser discontinued them.

 

 

I bought several Precision Scale #3197 trucks and they are worthless!!!!  They constantly derail at turnouts and crossings, they’re junk.

 

 

Mel

 

 

My Model Railroad   

http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/

 

Bakersfield, California

 

I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.

 

 

are sold out

[snjroy]

Thanks for the tip! 

[RR_Mel]

Simon

 

Don’t add weight to the Rivarossi round motors, they will over heat easily.  The Canon EN22s and Faulhaber 2224RS will handle extra weight without creating extra heat.

 

One of the Y6B clunkers I picked up off eBay had a round motor with a melted cab.  There was some extra lead inside.

 

 

Mel

 

 

My Model Railroad   

http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/

 

Bakersfield, California

 

I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.

 

[snjroy]

That is very impressive Mel... I also love my old Rivarossis. I have a Mallet and two Heislers. I kept the original motors in all of them, and they work fine in DCC. They do draw a bit more current, but those old round can motors are very good and smooth. I also have a NYC Hudson that is still in my "repair" bin, but I will get to it some day. 

Simon

[RR_Mel]

Simon

 

My experiences with the older Rivarossis has been very positive.  A little bit of tender love and care goes a long way.

 

I have restored 18 Rivarossi clunkers to better than new operating condition.  With a newer can motor and a white grease lube job they all run great.  I have added between 8 and 10 ounces of weight to all but two of my 19 Rivarossi articulateds.  That more than doubles their drawbar.  I have one Cab Forward that I bought new in 1990 and it is sock out of the box with the exception for added DCC wiring and a LED headlight.  I don’t run it very much because without the added weight about all a stock Cab Forward will pull is 8 cars up my 3½% grades before wheel slip.

 

With the added weight the rest are good for more cars than I can put on my small layout.

 

Because of parts availability I made a mold of every removable detail part on both the Cab Forward and the Y6B.  Every one of my Rivarossis have all of the original detail parts in place.  They make a great looking display in my yard.

 

I only have two SP Sound Decoders and two extra oil tenders.  I swap the tenders to the locomotive I want to run with sound.  I run more in DC mode than DCC so the rest are ready to go anytime I want.

 

 

Mel

 

 

My Model Railroad   

http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/

 

Bakersfield, California

 

I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.

 

[snjroy]

RR_Mel

Simon

 

One would think that after almost 50 years with lousy tender power pickup they would have reengineered it better.  My only experience is with the Cab Forward and Y6B tenders but no changes from the early 1960s to the early 1990s.  The later runs with both rail power pickup in the locomotives was a great improvement.

 

With a little TLC the older Rivarossis do very well.

 

 

Mel

 

 

My Model Railroad   

http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/

 

Bakersfield, California

 

I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.

 

 

RR_Mel

Simon

 

One would think that after almost 50 years with lousy tender power pickup they would have reengineered it better.  My only experience is with the Cab Forward and Y6B tenders but no changes from the early 1960s to the early 1990s.  The later runs with both rail power pickup in the locomotives was a great improvement.

 

With a little TLC the older Rivarossis do very well.

 

 

Mel

 

 

My Model Railroad   

http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/

 

Bakersfield, California

 

I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.

 

 

My Rivarossi Big Boy, that was manufactured in the 2000s, runs great and the tender is certainly not a problem. Maybe I should have tinkered more on the Mallet...

[selector]

Hmmm..I have the 2006 first issue of the H-8 with DCC/sound, and it runs like a champ.  Changed out the decoder, but it still runs well on my track system.  I have not modified it, either.

[RR_Mel]

Simon

 

One would think that after almost 50 years with lousy tender power pickup they would have reengineered it better.  My only experience is with the Cab Forward and Y6B tenders but no changes from the early 1960s to the early 1990s.  The later runs with both rail power pickup in the locomotives was a great improvement.

 

With a little TLC the older Rivarossis do very well.

 

 

Mel

 

 

My Model Railroad   

http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/

 

Bakersfield, California

 

I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.

 

[snjroy]

I like Rivarossi products, but their power pickup systems are not great. I own a Mallet and I tinkered with the wheels and trucks for a while, and gave up. The trucks were too wobbly. I ended up buying a Bachmann tender with full wheel power pickup. Works great since then...

Simon

[RR_Mel]

Thomas

 

I might add that my two Cab Forward tenders with sound decoders don’t have Rivarossi trucks.  The Rivarossi power pickup isn’t good enough for good DCC operation.  The Rivarossi trucks use axle wipers on the two outside axles.  I use a graphite lube on the axles to help electrical connection at the axle.  The Rivarossi connection between the truck and frame is also pitiful.  I solder a super flexible #28 wire from the wipers to the decoders.

 

The Rivarossi truck frames with the JB wheels do very good for straight DC operation.

 

 

I prefer using Bowser #35107 Buckeye Trucks on my Rivarossi oil tenders with decoders, very good power pickup and track great, never derail.  Kinda hard to find since Bowser discontinued them.

 

 

I bought several Precision Scale #3197 trucks and they are worthless!!!!  They constantly derail at turnouts and crossings, they’re junk.

 

 

Mel

 

 

My Model Railroad   

http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/

 

Bakersfield, California

 

I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.

 

[RR_Mel]

Thomas

 

This evening I took a close look at a pair of my Rivarossi tenders, one with .97” and one with 1.02” axles.  It’s been awhile since I changed out the wheels and I would say to go with the standard 1.02” axle.  The .97” are quite loose in the truck frame and the 1.02” have been working very well and I don’t remember using the truck tuner tool on them.

 

I prefer the 36” wheels over the original 33” Rivarossi wheels, they just look better to me.

 

 

Mel

 

 

My Model Railroad   

http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/

 

Bakersfield, California

 

I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.

 

[thomas81z]

 mel 

the only 36 " 41" on JB site say NEM is that still ok to use for rivarossi tenders ??

[thomas81z]

 hit up ebay they have stray  centerpede tenders on there all the time i bought 2 or three 

for spares 

[RR_Mel]

I have one late run Rivarossi Cab Forward and the tender has pointed axles.  I bought new wheels from JB Wheelsets.

 

I would suggest measuring the axle length and checking the JB sight.  Finding Rivarossi wheel sets would be pretty hard, I know I wouldn’t part with any Rivarossi parts for fear I might need them later on.

 

I have 18 older Rivarossi articulated locomotives, all of my Rivarossi tender axles older and late run measure .97” long with .37” wheels or 33”, I have replaced most of my Rivarossi tender wheels with JB Wheelsets scale 36” or .41”.

 

http://jbwheelsets.com/pointed.html

 

EDIT:

 

If you have a truck tuner tool you can replace the short .97" axles with the longer standard 1.02" axles.

 

 

Mel

 

 

My Model Railroad   

http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/

 

Bakersfield, California

 

I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.

 

[Class5]

I am looking for about 4 or 5 wheels for the Centepede tender small flange late style. Am restoring a FEF late version and the tender is missing 5 wheels, Rivarossi

[DAVID FORTNEY]

Got your message and that should be a good tip.

 

Thank you Mel.

Dave

 

[RR_Mel]

David

 

My thing is restoring Rivarossi articulateds.  I have restored 19 Rivarossi Articulateds over the last 10 or 12 years to as good or even better than new condition.  In acquiring the locomotives most were in very bad condition.  I made molds of all the detail parts and cast my replacements.  I also remotored all but one keeping it as close to original as possible.

 

I searched everywhere for Rivarossi parts for years and I did find some one that had a large Rivarossi parts inventory.

 

Check your messages for his info.

 

 

 

Mel

 

Modeling the early to mid 1950s SP in HO scale since 1951

 

My Model Railroad   

http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/

 

Bakersfield, California

 

I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.

[DAVID FORTNEY]

I contacted them last week and the response I got was also from Arevids who told me they don't have the parts and in 2004 when Hornby took over Rivarossi they did not get the parts from previous runs. 

Thanks for your post ,

 

Dave

[selector]

David, three years ago or more, I found I'd lost the very tiny part on my Allegheny that represents the mechanical lubricator arm on one of the engines.  I did a search and found they had a N. American office in Washington State.  I sent an email through the website and had a reply very soon.  The gentleman sent me a business card with TWO of them taped to the back of it.

His name, if he's still Hornby's agent in N. America, is Arvids Breikss. 

www.hornbyamerica.com

[e-mail]

[DAVID FORTNEY]

When Rivarossi was taken over by Hornby ( 2004 ) they did not get the parts for previous runs. 

The parts have gone thru several companies since but all are no longer in business. 

Does anybody know who would have the parts now? They must be out there somewhere.