Model Railroading > Can someone save my rivarossi

My HO cab forward is getting worse and worse, The electrical pick up is so mikey mouse Im amazed it ran at all.I know the answer to this problem is to add more electrical wipers to it,right? Ive tooled around with the diesel units and thats no problem,however the steamer is a whole other story.I know I will never get those side rods back on right,and end up junking it,what im hoping is that theres someone out there who is familar and already done this with success,Id like to be contacted by you and would like to mail you this engine and pay what ever cost and your labor is involved.This is the new improved Rivarossi HO scale cab forward.It realy is a nice looking and pulling unit when it runs good,If you think you can help with this please contact me via T O E-mail or leave a post here and ill get back with you.Well Ill keep my fingers crossed and try to keep the scraper away for now.Thanks lug

I thought the newer ones had better electrical pickup than the early versions, have you cleaned the wheels? Sometimes they may apear clean but are actually not. I like to use goo gone.

You better look at adding some Tomar Rail shoes to the model for electrical pickup. This will save you from tearing the drive train apart.

http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/81-804

Ted Curphey
funnelfan@icehouse.net

Hi Lug,

No way would I mess with the side rods. The electrical doesn't look that complicated though. The old cab forwards with the large flanges on the wheels used the tender for one side of the pick up and there could be intermittents between the engine and tender. With the new ones it is all in the engine. Set the tender aside out of the way. On the top of the boiler is a square dome that butts up to the rear of the cab. Pop it off. At the rear of the boiler, smoke box end, is another smaller one. Pop it off also. See the two phillips head screws? Remove them and you can lift the whole shell off and look at all (I think) of the electrical connections. Be gentle with the ladders on the cab as you lift the shell off. I don't know why there are wipers on the front truck because the model picks up electricity from the left rail with one engine and the right rail with the other engine. With the shell off you will be able to see tiny solder connections on the top of each engine and they go direct to the motor. I had one of those let go on mine.

jb

Hey Lugnut, what're doin'?! Those people in your town are already clearing a display space for that loco in "Railrod Park" They figured you were finished with it and that it would make a fine monument to the "big steam" days; now you're planning on operating it?! Well, you'd better smooth this over (just like I'm going to do in O.C. today!)

J

p.s. Happy Birthday to little "H"

If it's getting worse and worse, then that's an indication that
something is broken, not that it has a design defect. Look over
the engine and see if you can isolate one part of the electrical
pickup. If you can, see if that's working. If one engine picks
up left and the other right, then try to figure out if it's the
left or the right that's flaky.

One easy way to see how flaky it is is to put an earphone in
place of the motor. The more crackling you hear, the flakier the
contact.

Don't do any modifications without knowing what you're correcting.

Too many good locos have been ruined by good intentions. First rule: "Work with what you can reach before removing any parts". Rivarossi locos are fine runners but are sensitive to dirt accumulation. Set your loco, upside down, in a foam work stand (make it yourself or buy one form your hobby store). Get the major gunk off all the wheels first(use a PLASTIC screwdriver or other such device). Now use an industrial plastic compatable contact cleaner (Tech Spray "Instant FD" Zero Residue Cleaner, #1638-24s) available at electronics stores or Radio Shack. GOO GONE or other citrus cleaners are OK but can attack paint and glue joints so be careful. Use a Q-Tip to clean all the wheels and all the axles so the cleaner will act on the contact wipers as well. Now inspect the drawbar between the engine and the tender. If there is a wiper on it, make sure it is making contact with the hitch pin on the tender when it is coupled up. Good Luck. I'm working on a friend's Big Boy that has been drenched in oil. A real mess.