I have a Rivarossi locomotive that is in need of repair, I am looking for a service/repair technican. Does anyone know of a source? Thanks for any info! [;)] Ironhorse
Golf Manor Hobbies in Cincinnatti is the only one I know of. But, I’ve done the repairs myself lately. One of the Bowser companies makes some repair parts.
Richard
Golf Manor Hobbies went out of business a couple of years ago. Rivarossi went into bankruptcy and was bought by Hornby of England. The new Rivarossi products are made in China.
Unless you can find someone who has leftover Rivarossi parts or a similar model that can be cannibalized for parts, repairs of the older Rivarossi products are becoming difficult.
Do you know what the problem with your Rivarossi is? What type of locomotive is it? I have quite a bit of experience with old Rivarossi products, so maybe I could help guide you through fixing it. They’re usually pretty easy to get into.
Hi Darth
I have a Rivarossi 2-6-6-6 Allegheny. I lost the rivet which connects the eccentric to the bar. I believe it is a .029 gauge rivet. I tried to get one from Hornby with no luck. The smallest I could get from Bowser was .032 Any suggestions?
Thanks
Tom Lindsay
A possibility may lie with your local mechanical watch repair guy. It may not be a rivet, but perhaps a tiny machine screw?
Crandell
I agree with Crandell - I was also thinking local jeweler (who actually creates and repairs, not just sells).
Since we are only talking .003, you could open the hole up that much & probably not weaken anything. OR, take a file & turn down a piece of .032 brass rod in a hand drill. OR turn down a piece of .062 brass rod, leave a thin pc. of the .062 diameter to form a head. put it back in the hand drill & dress the “head” to look like a rivet head. jerry
My wife is a metalsmith and enamelist and she makes her own rivets from brass or copper rod and wire stock, including some very small ones. She is NOT in the market for this kind of work but for that missing rivet on the 2-6-6-6 you may want to seek out a jeweler who does fine work.
As to the orginal poster, if you have the parts diagram from your engine, or can find it on the HO Seeker website, (perhaps the old AHM parts catalog) — that is a good start – with the proviso that some Rivarossi engines went through considerable redesign over the years and you need to know just which version you have (modest example is the IHB 0-8-0, one of their most popular engines – when i started in the hobby it was a tender drive engine but not long after that they redesigned the drive train to put the motor in the cab.
The parts catalog has helpful exploded drawings. if you have the right small wrenches and such dis assembly is not all that difficult (now getting it back together – there is the skill!).
Sometimes you can luck out and find someone actually dealing in Rivarossi/AHM parts. But my own experience is that there are so many Rivarossi/AHM junkers and estate sales at swap meets that getting your parts that way is the best bet. Even back when AHM was in full business it was often cheaper to buy a junker for the needed part compared to the prices they would charge in their parts catalog.
Dave Nelson
You could use small screws, but the backside will likely hit the wheel. Rivets are normally used where there isn’t much clearance for the head. If that’s the case, you could grind the head a little thinner and have the nut on the outside, also ground down for siderod clearance( or vica versa, whichever works best for clearance). Make sure it’s tight so that the tension holds things together and the threads don’t wear against the arm’s ID.
Using another rivet and enlarged hole is probably the best approach. For .003 you only need to use a round file and carefully enlarge a little at a time. Buy some extra rivets as if you’ve not set them before, it might take a couple of times to get the head formed just right. Bowser used to and may still make a riveting tool, btw. I built a Bowser Challenger kit several years ago and learned a lot in the process.
Richard