Your inquiry led me to re-visit the trucks on the baggage cars I have. Turns out I had some Walthers 920-2124 trucks on hand and proceeded to do a conversion.
Really quite simple:
Here is the original six-wheel truck;
NYC_Rivbag1 by Edmund, on Flickr
The Walthers trucks come with an alternate spring plank/bolster that is a direct replacement for the Rivarossi bolster:
NYC_Rivbag0 by Edmund, on Flickr
NYC_Rivbag2 by Edmund, on Flickr
At first I was afraid that the truck centers were too far back from the end sills but looking at prototype photos I found some that look just fine.
NYC_Rivbag by Edmund, on Flickr
I'm glad I picked up several of these and the RPO and combines when I did. I like lots of head-end equipment on my trains!
Cheers, Ed
Belated and long-overdue thank you for the replies! The baggage car I was looking at just dropped a few bucks in price. Decision made. :)
Just to clarify, the OP is asking about the 60' Baggage car that is / was one of the four 60' C&NW-based cars (Baggage, RPO, Utility Coach, Utility Combine) offered in recent years under the Walthers and Rivarossi brand name (and maybe one other?) at different times. They have nothing to do with the AHM/Rivarossi heavyweight cars made in the 1960's-1990's.
I have several of these. In my experience, if the coupler support bracket (see images in an earlier post above) and everything else is correctly in place, there should be no problem with the couplers (although I do change them out for Kadee No.5s, which fit the box perfectly.) I've used them on a branch line with 22"R curves.
I have a set of three coaches and one baggage car like this. I've popped the top and detailed the interior, adding light and passengers. They have the body-mounted couplers and replacement trucks that came with the lighting kits. The couplers are loose and sometimes fall off completely. They need shims and other work.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
If it is the older production model McHenry makes a snap in replacement that is easy to do. #54 fits the 6 wheel RPO/ Baggage. If you have the other cars #53 fits the other 6 wheel heavyweights or 52 which fits the streamlined cars. They snap right in place and although they are plastic they do have a metal knuckle spring. Jim
It looks like the coupler depends if yuo are talking about new or old production. I have a few old production HW cars, and they all have truck mounted couplers. I have converted them to Kadees using the #505 "Passenger Truck Conversion Bolsters For 6-Wheel Passenger Trucks"
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
Hi,
If we're talking about the same cars, the Rivarossi head-end cars I have the coupler is on a swing bracket nearly identical to the one the Walthers cars have.
IMG_8034 by Edmund, on Flickr
IMG_8036 by Edmund, on Flickr
Mine run just fine and I use a Kadee whisker coupler in the box. Yes, the journal box arrangement is odd but I can live with it. I have some Walthers four wheel trucks on hand that are closer to the NYC Rx style truck. I may see if they work.
I've already converted some coaches:
IMG_2278 by Edmund, on Flickr
I have a pair of the U25Cs and agree with you, they're excellent locomotives. I haven't heard any updates but IIRC Rivarossi (now a line of Hornby) is no longer in the HO model market? Could have simply been another hobby rumor.
Good Luck, Ed
The subject says it all -- anyone know if the Rivarossi 60' bags have body-mount couplers? Any opinions on these cars? I'm always looking for heavyweight NYC baggage cars and though the trucks are wrong, I'm thinking about one of these. (Recently bot some Riv U25Cs and I LOVE them.)