A few weeks ago I posed a question re the current Rivarossi Heisler in HO scale. I was wondering if it was much different from the older one. Well I got my new one today from Trainworld, and there are many differences. In some instances it almost looks like an entirely new model, but in others it is still the same.
The cast on piping on the sides of the boiler in the original is now separate. The bell is different, somewhat larger. The pop off valves and whistle on the steam dome are new. My model came with a wood burning type smoke stack, but the parts package has a straight stack. The package also includes an oil bunker cover to replace the coal bunker in the tender area, and older type lights to replace the modern front and rear ones, as well as some handrails.
The ends of the cylinders in the new one are flat, while the older ones had rivet details and were depressed in the center. The cab side windows in the new one are closed, with many panes of glass; the old one is half opened. The new Heisler has a different, smaller sandbox at the back of the tender, complete with piping going under the rear pilot. The new engine has a larger air pump, and includes piping to the air tank and to the cab.
I haven’t taken the new one apart, but the motor looks like a flat can model, the old one is round. The bottom plates on the trucks are different on the two models. The original model had a rather large builder’s plate cast onto a flat area above the front truck. The new one has the plates printed in brass color ink on the frame near the front pilot. The parts bag includes etched brass plates to be installed if desired.
The new one comes with Kadee coupler clones. I recall having to add Kadee coupler boxes on an area of built up styrene to the original one when I first got it, as there was no way to mount them.
There are probably more differences and improvements that I have yet to notice. The new model came in a rather large box w
BOB,I have an older Rivarossi Heisler with a burned out headlamp. Can’t find any replacement. May have to use a grain of wheat type of bulb. Did you ever changed it on your Heisler?
Chris
Interesting review / observations. Sounds to me like perhaps 80% forward / 20% back? Or maybe 85 / 15? Even as my budget has allowed me to move beyond Rivarossi, I retain a warm feeling for the company. As a young teen in the early 60s, I was about to give up on the whole hobby due to my frustrations with the running quality of my locos. Knowing this, my father gave me a Rivarossi steamer for Christmas. It was an uncharacteristically (I know now) innacurate heavy 2-8-0 but it ran beautifully and could pull almost anything. I immediatley starting saving up for the Casey Jones ten-wheeler - $25 at a time when the minimum wage was $1.40 / hour. I still have it and it still runs very well considering the state of the art of the time, and the untold hours on the mechanism.
But something I have never understood, especially as a result of my business career, is the bewildering number of versions that many of the Rivarossi models went through. A number of these version changes had no substantive improvements yet the tooling changes must have been expensive.
Are there ANY other Riv. models with Kadee-type couplers installed? As you comment, Rivarossi for me was always the absolute most difficult company for fitting Kadees.
I hope Hornby revives the brand but am very doubtful.
I got the Rivarossi Heisler as well. And although I cannot give the comprehensive breakdown that Mr Fundy did, I can tell you that on my 3% grade, my MDC could not pull 5 cars up. The Heisler did it with no problem.
Did you actually run your Heisler yet? I’ve always thought the Rivarossi’s “looked” nice; it’s the “running” aspect that I haven’t been so thriilled over. How does it perform?
How slow can you go on that power pack? I barely crack the tech 4 260 and off it goes. SLLLLOOOOWWWWLLLYY. If it was physically possible to create a sub 1 mph range on that throttle the engine probably would be able to use it.
Mine has been in the box so I dont know pulling capacity. I guess it’s time we found it. I’ll get back to you on that.
I don’t have a layout, I do my modeling on two pairs of modules. I do have a test track above my workbench, and had the Heiseler running back and forth, seems to work fine. I MU’d it with my Bachmann Climax and their speeds seemed to be about the same. The lights reverse when the direction is changed.
I forgot to mention in my first post that the Heisler is DCC ready. The instruction sheet shows a dummy plug in the tender area, all ready to insert a proper decoder. I don’t do DCC myself. The wheels also seem to have a smaller profile than the original model, probably to the NMRA RP25 contour.
While the Trainworld price is great, they show the list price as being $299.95. This in the age of Bachmann models with list prices of $250.00, selling for around $150.00. So I imagine if Rivarossi had not folded this engine would be offered for around $150.00 or more. The $89.95 price is much better!
This is a long shot, but I need one of the hex head ‘screws’ that fastens one of the side rods to a driving wheel for my 20 yr old Rivarossi Heisler. (perhaps the ‘new’ Heisler part is a direct replacement?) I’ll be glad to pay for the screw and postage if someone has one (or knows where I can get the part since Rivarossi is in a state of flux w/ the Hornby takeover). Thanks.
BILL
Bob;
The original heisler came in two versions. There was the one sold in the US with RP-25 flanges. It was the first Riv engine so equipped, and came with X2f (horn hook) couplers. Then there was the “European” market engine and it had the NEM flanges, and some were even equipped with European style couplers. The hobby shop I worked in part time had ordered twelve and got ten “US” versions and two “European” versions. They all sold within a month.
I thought that this engine was real sharp (had two), and it raised the bar for Riv. I liked mine so much I even converted one to On3 using a conversion kit from a company out west. (Sorry can’t remember the name)
A few weeks ago I posed a question re the current Rivarossi Heisler in HO scale. I was wondering if it was much different from the older one. Well I got my new one today from Trainworld, and there are many differences. In some instances it almost looks like an entirely new model, but in others it is still the same.
The cast on piping on the sides of the boiler in the original is now separate. The bell is different, somewhat larger. The pop off valves and whistle on the steam dome are new. My model came with a wood burning type smoke stack, but the parts package has a straight stack. The package also includes an oil bunker cover to replace the coal bunker in the tender area, and older type lights to replace the modern front and rear ones, as well as some handrails.
The ends of the cylinders in the new one are flat, while the older ones had rivet details and were depressed in the center. The cab side windows in the new one are closed, with many panes of glass; the old one is half opened. The new Heisler has a different, smaller sandbox at the back of the tender, complete with piping going under the rear pilot. The new engine has a larger air pump, and includes piping to the air tank and to the cab.
I haven’t taken the new one apart, but the motor looks like a flat can model, the old one is round. The bottom plates on the trucks are different on the two models. The original model had a rather large builder’s plate cast onto a flat area above the front truck. The new one has the plates printed in brass color ink on the frame near the front pilot. The parts bag includes etched brass plates to be installed if desired.
The new one comes with Kadee coupler clones. I recall having to add Kadee coupler boxes on an area of built up styrene to the original one when I first got it, as there was no way to mount them.
There are probably more differences and improvements th
Bob, I’m still getting the hang of all this new technology, apologies for blank posts. Last year I acquired an ‘old’ Rivarossi Heisler at a swap meet. It has the round can motor visible through the cab windows. I have not been able to figure out how to disassemble to install a decoder. Do you have old Heisler instruction sheet(s)?
Robert Braid
Edmonton, ALBERTA
[quote]
QUOTE: Originally posted by FundyNorthern
A few weeks ago I posed a question re the current Rivarossi Heisler in HO scale. I was wondering if it was much different from the older one. Well I got my new one today from Trainworld, and there are many differences. In some instances it almost looks like an entirely new model, but in others it is still the same.
The cast on piping on the sides of the boiler in the original is now separate. The bell is different, somewhat larger. The pop off valves and whistle on the steam dome are new. My model came with a wood burning type smoke stack, but the parts package has a straight stack. The package also includes an oil bunker cover to replace the coal bunker in the tender area, and older type lights to replace the modern front and rear ones, as well as some handrails.
The ends of the cylinders in the new one are flat, while the older ones had rivet details and were depressed in the center. The cab side windows in the new one are closed, with many panes of glass; the old one is half opened. The new Heisler has a different, smaller sandbox at the back of the tender, complete with piping going under the rear pilot. The new engine has a larger air pump, and includes piping to the air tank and to the cab.
I haven’t taken the new one apart, but the motor looks like a flat can model, the old one is round. The bottom plates on the trucks are different on the two models. The original model had a rather large builder’s plate cast onto a flat area above the front truck. The new one has the plates printed in brass color
A friendly word of caution – check the screws that hold the side rods onto Rivarossi models before you run them. A member of our club brought in a new Heisler that only ran about 5 feet before a side rod fell off. The screw is so tiny that we never did find it.
He contacted a company on the East coast that specializes in Rivarossi parts but they kept sending him screws that were the wrong size. Rivarossi has apparently changed the size of the screws several times over the years.