Hello all,
I have a Rivarossi 4-6-0 that my father had given me along with a Mantua 4-6-2. Both of these engines are 20+ years old. The Mantua runs great, I cleaned, greased and oiled it up. It runs dc and I would like to know if anyone has converted this locomotive to dcc? Was it worth it?
The Rivarossi doesn’t run, one of the wheels on the most rear driver is slipping on the axle. This causes the wheels to get out of sync and they fight each other to run. I am wondering if there is anyway of getting parts for this locomotive or does someone have a broken one that they aren’t needing anymore?
By the way here are some pics, no layout yet, but hopefully in the next couple months I will start on something.
Best regards,
Jeff
You can convert any loco to DCC, but some engines take a lot more effort than others. The older engines often have inferior power pickup, i dont know what the situation is on your mantua but you may end up adding more pickups. Also old motors tend to draw more current and you have to make sure that your decoder can handle the load. So whether it is “worth it” or not is up to the individual and it depends how much time and effort you are willing to put in to make the loco run well.
On the Mantua 4-6-2 I would suggest getting a Helix Humper motor for it. It will reduce the amps required to run and it will isolate the motor from the frame. This will make it pretty simple to install a decoder in it. For the 4-6-0, I had the same problem with 3 of them. You might be able to use CA to fix it or Loc-tite. That is what I used.
Hope this helps
Knewsom,
Thank you for the suggestions, I will look into the motor you suggested. I will probably disamble the engine and send it to the paint shop for a fresh coat of paint. At that time the maintenance crew can work on putting a new moter and dcc in it.
As far as the 4-6-0 I have tried the CA trick and that didn’t work. I will try and rough it up and then maybe some gap filling CA will do the trick. If that doesn’t work I will have this one in the machine shop on the future layout for a long time.
I have converted several diesel locomotives to dcc and one MDC/Roundhouse 2-4-0 that required removing the plug and had wiring it. The decoders that I have been using is MRC synchro sound decoders. So far they have been working well.
JPM335,
Thank you for your input, what I am really trying to find out is if anyone has actually upgraded this locomotive to DCC and what did they have to do or change in order to make it work.
Thanks again,
Jeff
Idaho Trains,
If you can not find the Helix Humper to fit it, I may have an extra one. I will have to check, but I remember buying one to fit a Mantua 2-8-2 (it was supposed to be the same one), but it did not fit due to the shell. You had to file out a bit of the metal. Then my wife gave me a BLI 2-8-2 Heavy so I decided that I did not need to perform the work on the Mantua.
Kevin