IHC & Rivarossi Passenger Cars

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Does anyone know if the IHC passenger cars being sold now are basically clones of the old AHM / Rivarossi cars? I’ve got some older cars that came in AHM boxes and the old Rivarossi boxes, a couple are missing trucks. I’m just using the cars for display and I’ve found IHC cars marked down so cheap that you can buy them for less money than a set of trucks would cost. If I was to buy the IHC cars are the trucks exactly the same as what was used on the Rivarossi stuff?
John

2

They are pretty much identical…

Mark

3

My experience, which is limited, is that the streamlined cars are actually rather different and follow – maybe approximate is the better word – different prototypes. And the construction, while essentially of a common type, different as well. By no means would I assume parts are interchangable for example. Nor do paint schemes for the same railroad necessarily look good together if you combine IHC and AHM/Rivarossi cars.

As part of a different thread on this Forum, Jim Bernier posted a link to this website that attempts to provide the prototypes for a wide variety of popular plastic passenger cars – one of the most interesting “labors of love” I have seen in a long time:

http://myweb.msoe.edu/~westr/hopass.htm

Dave Nelson

4

Dave,

Thanks ever so much for posting this link, I had posted here twice asking for information on the old Rivarossi cars and twice one of the moderators, didn’t give his name, deleted it with no explanation.

This link answers my questions and many more, again, thanks for this valuable information!!!

Mark

5

The old cars sold under the AHM or Rivarossi name were the same, even had the same ID no. molded inside. (The cars were both made by Rivarossi, but at one time were distributed in the US by AHM under the AHM banner.) The IHC cars (at least the heavyweights I’ve bought) are similar but definetely not the same cars.

IMHO the older cars were better. The IHC cars have/had separate (but oversize) grabirons you could add, but the AHM/Rivarossi cars rode much better. The IHC cars I’ve bought tend to ‘wobble’ quite a bit because the truck’s connection to the body is kinda loose.

6

Not to highjack, but does anyone recall the issue in MR some years back that contained a detailed article on modifying these cars with correctly sized wheelsets, coupliers, height, etc.?

I can’t seem to find any results in my searches.

Thanks,

Bruce

7

Bruce, I tried to find that copy in my MR collection but couldn’t come up with it. Maybe when they get the new index up and running we can find it there.

John

8

Thanks for checking John,

If I find it before you I will post it here.

Bruce

9

I have a few of those IHC heavyweights. I cured the duck walk problem by putting a flat washer between one truck and the body.

10

My Rivarossi streamliners were produced during the late 80s-early 90s time period. This is one of them just before I paint stripped it and then metalized it. IMHO, at $16 per car, they were a good buy.

I removed the brake shoes, cut off the skirting, added flat weights, installed 36" wheels, Kadee couplers a painted interior and lightly weathered the underbody. Fixed up they look nice!

Someone mentioned on this forum that the coaches and diners were loosely based on New York Central and Santa Fe prototypes.

The observation car is based on the prototype Reading units that ran on “The Crusader”. Here is one that I metalized.

Although I purchase Walthers passenger cars now, I like my Rivarossi Budds and have decided to keep them instead of selling them as I had originally planned.

11

Didn’t the early IHC/Rivarossi cars come with “pizza cutter” flanges?

12

Just as an FYI, the trucks under the Rivarossi/IHC coaches will accept 33" wheels with no modification at all to the trucks and while they may not be 100% correct a scale 3 inches is not a lot. Especially compared to the old 28" wheels they came with and the big flanges. When they’re sitting on the track the difference is not noticeable at all.

Back 40 years ago I used Con-Cor wheelsets but have since replaced them with Intermountain wheelsets for the lighting systems.

Just thought someone might find this info useful.

Mark

13

Thanks for all the info so far. I had found a good deal on some IHC cars that I was going to buy to use their trucks on my cars but I wasn’t sure they’d fit and after I found out they’d work I looked and the cars were sold. So now I need to find a few sets of trucks for my Rivarossi cars. Any idea where to look for them? I did a quick Google search and couldn’t find any listed but surely someone has got some sitting around someplace.

John

14

If you mean AHM/Rivarossi, they probably did since they started being imported in the 1960’s IIRC. By the 1980’s the Rivarossi cars had much better wheels. IHC didn’t start until later and AFAIK never had “pizza cutter” flanges.

15

John,

Try Train Station Products:

http://trainstationproducts.com/productlist.html

Scroll down the page and check out #414, 415, 427, 428. You may have to perform some research to see which style truck would be appropriate for your cars.

16

Thanks for the info on the Train Station Products trucks. They look like they might work but I can’t find any pictures of them that shows the tops. Do you know if the can mount off center like the RIvarossi trucks did or would I need to fabricate a new mounting positing on the car to get the trucks in the right position?
Thanks, John

17

According to “Southwest Chief” and “Arjay” there are three holes on the Train Station Products trucks for various bolster placement, and one is for AHM/Rivarossi/IHC.