Rivarossi 2-8-4

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Hello all.

I was able to buy a hardly used Rivarossi 2-8-4 PM 1222 at a show yesterday. The seller was a stand up guy from a local club in the area. (Thanks Gerry)

I brought the unit home and cleaned the wheels (I cleaned my track up also because I had spent the past two weeks painting ties and rails).

It ran great, even when very slow. The details are very nice and the engine is very quite. I am very happy with the purchase.

My question to all of you is. What performance can I expect from this unit? Is there some regular maintenence that is needed to keep it running great. Is there anything I should be warned about?

Thanks in advance for your expert advice.

2

i don’t think but just don’t run at full speed.

3

Why not? I usually don’t, but my Son (4) likes to go full blast when he gets control of the trains.

4

Depending on how often you run it, use a plastic compatible oil on all the valve gear pivot points, gear lube on the gears (plastic compatible again) about once a year. If it’s the newer RP25 flanged loco with the can motor and the traction tires are in good shape it should be good for about 20-25 cars (plastic wheeled Athearns, Round House and Tyco) compared to a Life Like Proto 2000 Berkshire (10-15 of the same type of cars). I run mine at full speed when I’m in the mood (fully loaded) with no problems so I’m curious as to why not also. PS: I like both brands of Berkshires before anyone gets the wrong idea both are performing within their respective limits very nicely.

5

Dave,

Just be thankful you got yourself a good Rivarossi. They are hit and miss as far as consistency is concerned.

Tom

6

Depends if this was a first or second generation model. The motor brushes on the first generation are poor quality, which leads to a degradation of performance on short notice.

Fergie

7

Fergie,
I am not sure how I can tell what generation it is. The previous owner said he had it for around 10 years.

Berk-fan - How can I tell if it is the RP25 flanged loco? The traction tires are nice and plyable. A good portion of the instructions are in another language.

8

Rivarossi Berks are decent engines. Back before P2K came out with their version and I switched, I owned twelve of them. They’ll last for years, IF you follow a few guidelines:

  1. Don’t overload them. They’ve got traction tires, which means that they CAN pull 75 Athearn twin hoppers up a 2% grade. But…the motor’s not designed for that sort of load, and will heat up on you, so muchso that the plastic on the boiler shell above the motor will be too hot to touch in less than an hour, and after two hours, the engine will become a pile of scrap (I’m speaking from experience!). Limit the load on the Riv Berk to no more than 30 free rolling cars on zero grade, and 20 cars on any grade.

  2. lubricate the engine often. If it’s under any sort of load, it heats up fast, degrading the lube. I lubed my Riv engines after every fifth operating session (about ten hours of runtime per engine). Of course, with that much lubricating, you’ll have to clean the excess and residue off the engine regularly. I went through a lot of rubbing alcohol and Q-tips with my Riv fleet!

9

Thanks for the tips, I’ll be printing this and keeping it with my papers.
I currently do not have a large layout and no grades, but I could see things changing sometime in the next decade and without these tips, I could ruin a decent engine.