I did not receive a reply from any of the three companies relative to truck wipers (for improved electrical contact through turnouts) for the Rivarossi 4-4-0. Since diesels work fine on my layout, I'm just going to to go back to 100% 4 axle diesels. Conversion to DCC will also be simpler and easier with diesels. The 4-4-0 is cute little loco but creates some headaches for me.
Thank you for your detailed answer Mel! Most helpful, and I'm looking forward to running the Rivarossi on my layout. The seller told me it had been one of her father's locos and he tested them a few years ago. The price was small so worth a shot! thanks for all your time and assistance Mel!
IDRick Thanks Mel, your description was pretty clear but if you wouldn't mind, pictures would also be helpful. The athearn trucks are not available till this summer so there's plenty of time!
Thanks Mel, your description was pretty clear but if you wouldn't mind, pictures would also be helpful. The athearn trucks are not available till this summer so there's plenty of time!
The old Athearn blue box heavy weight cars look just right to my eye. This is what the average passenger car looked like, right up to Amtrak. The Athearns run happily on 18 inch radius, and I found most of mine at trainshows.
David Starr www.newsnorthwoods.blogspot.com
RR_Mel I like the Athearn trucks with the wires attached, yes they would work great but wouldn’t fit the time frame of the 4-4-0s. I didn’t go with all wheel pickup and used the Rivarossi trucks. I do run a wire from the truck frame for better power pickup. I drill and tap the trucks for 0-80 brass screw then solder a super flex #30 wire to the screw. Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
Would these work for improving contact in the tender?
http://www.athearn.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=ATHG61383
I have also contacted tomar industries about their Tomar shoes (parts 804 or 805)
https://tomarindustries.com/acc.htm
I also contacted this company that sells wipers for tenders:
http://sbs4dcc.com/hoscalewheelwipers.html
Hopefully, someone will have a solution for me... Not sure how it goes together though. Staying all diesel is looking like the easiest option.
RR_Mel Rather than power my frogs for just two locomotives I spun the rear tender trucks to help the power pickup. That was the simplest fix and it works pretty good. I rarely run either of my two 4-4-0s, they’re mainly for my Golden Spike Display. They don’t do well on my 3% grades. They will pull three 28 footers on level track. I rewired both for DCC operation so the added wire was included in the decoder wiring. Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
Sorry, I don't understand... What do you mean you "spun the rear tender trucks"? No clue what this is or how you do it... Sorry, I'm a complete newbie in regards to steam locos. My four axle diesels are laughing at me, they don't give me any problems... :-)
The Rivarossi is a nice little model, but suffers from its poor power pickup design. You might want to read about how to add power pickups on the tender wheels.
Simon
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/267961.aspx
I've never had to do that, but many on here do, so I'll let them tell whats involved.
I'll go read the thread.
Mike.
EDIT: OK, maybe Mel will chime in.
My You Tube
Uh-oh, I was just reading this thread: http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/267961.aspx
The money quote from RR_Mel: "Powered frogs are a must for the AHM 4-4-0s to prevent jerking at slow speeds."
Yikes, I have atlas turnouts, will I really need to power the frogs? How is it done? If it matters, I have code 100 Atlas track.
Had some good luck today on e-bay! I was able to score two Roundhouse 50' passenger cars and a Rivarossi 4-4-0 loco + tender for $40 + shipping. They are all from the same time period and labeled for Virginia Truckee RR. Youtube has videos of current VT excursion trains using this a 4-4-0 loco and passenger car set. Wahoo! :-)
ALL cars of LION are 50' cars.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
wjstix IDRick wjstix The 60' Rivarossi cars have been made/sold under the Walthers name and one other (perhaps Hornby after they took over Rivarossi). The coach and combine are based on real C&NW "utility" cars which were 60' long. The baggage and RPO 60' cars are also I believe based on C&NW cars, but many railroads had similar 60' head-end cars. (Interestingly, Walthers made craftsman kit versions of these cars at least as far back as the 1960's, maybe much earlier?) The old MDC (now Athearn) 50' Pullman cars are cars from the 1870's-1880's. To be accurate for a historical recreation you'd want a 19th century steam locomotive like a 4-4-0 I would think. Keep in mind Walthers full-size passenger cars are supposed to be able to take a 24" radius curve, so you don't have to go with teeny tiny cars. You also don't have to have a steam locomotive to haul heavyweight cars! An excursion train of an F7 and several heavyweight cars would look fine. The Athearn heavyweights are good cars, but don't come with interiors. I'd maybe look at picking up a couple of old (not the 60' ones discussed earlier) Rivarossi coaches, which you can sometimes find with a plastic one-piece interior with seats and dividers. Why would you stay away from the 60 ft Rivarossi? They have new tooling, knuckle couplers, complete interiors and metal wheels for $20 + shipping. Seems to be a great buy and I have read several posters describing excellent performance with these cars... I wouldn't / didn't say that. I have several and they're nice cars. One should be aware that they do have body mounted couplers so may not go around as tight a curve as the Athearn or 'old' (AHM) Rivarossi cars with talgo trucks, despite being shorter cars. Plus the coach and combine are kinda specific to C&NW, whereas 70' was pretty much the norm for heavyweight coaches.
IDRick wjstix The 60' Rivarossi cars have been made/sold under the Walthers name and one other (perhaps Hornby after they took over Rivarossi). The coach and combine are based on real C&NW "utility" cars which were 60' long. The baggage and RPO 60' cars are also I believe based on C&NW cars, but many railroads had similar 60' head-end cars. (Interestingly, Walthers made craftsman kit versions of these cars at least as far back as the 1960's, maybe much earlier?) The old MDC (now Athearn) 50' Pullman cars are cars from the 1870's-1880's. To be accurate for a historical recreation you'd want a 19th century steam locomotive like a 4-4-0 I would think. Keep in mind Walthers full-size passenger cars are supposed to be able to take a 24" radius curve, so you don't have to go with teeny tiny cars. You also don't have to have a steam locomotive to haul heavyweight cars! An excursion train of an F7 and several heavyweight cars would look fine. The Athearn heavyweights are good cars, but don't come with interiors. I'd maybe look at picking up a couple of old (not the 60' ones discussed earlier) Rivarossi coaches, which you can sometimes find with a plastic one-piece interior with seats and dividers. Why would you stay away from the 60 ft Rivarossi? They have new tooling, knuckle couplers, complete interiors and metal wheels for $20 + shipping. Seems to be a great buy and I have read several posters describing excellent performance with these cars...
wjstix The 60' Rivarossi cars have been made/sold under the Walthers name and one other (perhaps Hornby after they took over Rivarossi). The coach and combine are based on real C&NW "utility" cars which were 60' long. The baggage and RPO 60' cars are also I believe based on C&NW cars, but many railroads had similar 60' head-end cars. (Interestingly, Walthers made craftsman kit versions of these cars at least as far back as the 1960's, maybe much earlier?) The old MDC (now Athearn) 50' Pullman cars are cars from the 1870's-1880's. To be accurate for a historical recreation you'd want a 19th century steam locomotive like a 4-4-0 I would think. Keep in mind Walthers full-size passenger cars are supposed to be able to take a 24" radius curve, so you don't have to go with teeny tiny cars. You also don't have to have a steam locomotive to haul heavyweight cars! An excursion train of an F7 and several heavyweight cars would look fine. The Athearn heavyweights are good cars, but don't come with interiors. I'd maybe look at picking up a couple of old (not the 60' ones discussed earlier) Rivarossi coaches, which you can sometimes find with a plastic one-piece interior with seats and dividers.
The 60' Rivarossi cars have been made/sold under the Walthers name and one other (perhaps Hornby after they took over Rivarossi). The coach and combine are based on real C&NW "utility" cars which were 60' long. The baggage and RPO 60' cars are also I believe based on C&NW cars, but many railroads had similar 60' head-end cars. (Interestingly, Walthers made craftsman kit versions of these cars at least as far back as the 1960's, maybe much earlier?)
The old MDC (now Athearn) 50' Pullman cars are cars from the 1870's-1880's. To be accurate for a historical recreation you'd want a 19th century steam locomotive like a 4-4-0 I would think.
Keep in mind Walthers full-size passenger cars are supposed to be able to take a 24" radius curve, so you don't have to go with teeny tiny cars. You also don't have to have a steam locomotive to haul heavyweight cars! An excursion train of an F7 and several heavyweight cars would look fine.
The Athearn heavyweights are good cars, but don't come with interiors. I'd maybe look at picking up a couple of old (not the 60' ones discussed earlier) Rivarossi coaches, which you can sometimes find with a plastic one-piece interior with seats and dividers.
Why would you stay away from the 60 ft Rivarossi? They have new tooling, knuckle couplers, complete interiors and metal wheels for $20 + shipping. Seems to be a great buy and I have read several posters describing excellent performance with these cars...
I wouldn't / didn't say that. I have several and they're nice cars. One should be aware that they do have body mounted couplers so may not go around as tight a curve as the Athearn or 'old' (AHM) Rivarossi cars with talgo trucks, despite being shorter cars. Plus the coach and combine are kinda specific to C&NW, whereas 70' was pretty much the norm for heavyweight coaches.
Yup, 2-6-0 with DCC and sound. Keep in mind that this is a small loco with limited pulling abilities. But excursion trains can be quite short, something like 2 or 3 cars. I am recommending it because I know it is available new, and the price is right in my opinion. A 4-6-0 is also a nice model, but more $$$ if you want sound. The 4-4-0 is also a nice little engine (the Richmond model, with new tooling), but it can also be hard to find new. The 4-6-2s are also quite nice, but they are more pricey. I actually double-head my 2-6-0 with a 4-6-0 that I already had, and the effect is quite nice... Long live steam!
I guess I'll stick with my Digitrax.
So this Blue Rail only worked with the Bachmann EZ App.?
I'm not part of the smart phone crowd, as I still use a flip phone. But I only use it for phone calls.
It is interesting to see all the new stuff come along. I guess JMRI is about all I have that allows you to use anything other than a regular throttle, and hardly use the JMRI. It's not even connected to my layout, it's up in my office, on a lap top, along with a section of programing track.
I find it just as easy to program with my throttle. Although I do have a future Mars-type light project in the works, in which I may use JMRI to program the lights, much like programing different ditch light effects.
In the above post, I mentioned a 2-6-0 that comes with the EZ-app. Sounded like an interesting idea but appears to be dead technology. The Bachmann EZ app board is dead and the Blue Rail webpage basically says they are collaborating on new technology but won't say what it is or when it will be delivered. Okay, clunk (tossing idea into a circular file).
Mike, yes they are heavyweight cars. Search for Rivarossi 60ft 3370 car.
Simon, thanks for posting! I was intrigued by the 2-6-0 model when searching around on the internet last night. Which version did you buy: dcc ready, EZ app equipped, or DCC+sound? The EZ app sounds like a cool feature as I do not have DCC and plan to purchase Rail Pro in the future. Rail Pro does not send commands via the rail. I think the EZ app and Rail Pro would work together so would not need to buy a decoder for the steam loco. Do you have the EZ app version and do you like it?
Oops, oldheimer disease, you said you have sound so you must have purchased the DCC+sound version...
I recently bought a Bachmann 2-6-0 (with the new tooling and sound) and for the price, it is a sweet little engine. I use it to pull MDC 60 ft passengers, which is pretty much prototypical.
So, these must be the heavyweight type cars? or maybe the Harriman style "round roof" cars?
IDRick richhotrain I am surprised that no one has mentioned Rivarossi passenger cars. Rivarossi made a whole line of 60' passenger cars in several road names, and these passenger cars are readily available on eBay. On one of my prior layouts with tight curves, I ran lots of Rivarossi passenger cars. They performed quite well and looked great for the price. Rich Thanks for the tip! I like the looks of the 60 ft Rivarossi cars. They come complete with updated tooling, knuckle couplers, metal wheels and complete interiors for 20 bucks + shipping. The Ebay description confirms that they will run on 18" radius curves and my minimum will be 6 inches wider radius.
richhotrain I am surprised that no one has mentioned Rivarossi passenger cars. Rivarossi made a whole line of 60' passenger cars in several road names, and these passenger cars are readily available on eBay. On one of my prior layouts with tight curves, I ran lots of Rivarossi passenger cars. They performed quite well and looked great for the price. Rich
I am surprised that no one has mentioned Rivarossi passenger cars. Rivarossi made a whole line of 60' passenger cars in several road names, and these passenger cars are readily available on eBay.
On one of my prior layouts with tight curves, I ran lots of Rivarossi passenger cars. They performed quite well and looked great for the price.
Rich
Alton Junction