So I belong to my local club and todday i was talking to the club president who gave me Rivarossi 4-8-8-4 UP 4001 with sound that has electrical pick up problems. The first 4-8 part only picks uo power from one side of the tracks while the other -8-4 picks ip fom the other side. I want to add pick ups nut the onlu place to do it is the tender. So I was wondering if any one had any suggestions? Thanks
The electrical pickup issues with the Rivarossi / AHM Big Boy have been the subject of comment more than once on these formums. See for example the discussion (and some suggestions) here:
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/170609.aspx
and here
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/202827.aspx
It would take a considerable effort to add pickup shoes to the engine, but as the second item above says, it can be done
I think your first line of attack it seems to me would be to make sure you are getting the most out of the admittedly flawed contact that is built into the engine.
Dave Nelson
If the tender is not already part of the power pickup circuitry for this vintage loco, I assume the axles are insulated so that the metal tires and axles don’t create shorts across the rails. If so, then you can make wipers and run their wires forward to the motor, but you’ll have to create a harness and run it to the cab. People have used the copper springs sometimes used in the Kaydee coupler boxes. You can solder a thin wire about seven inches long to the wipers you fashion and fix in such a way that they actually wipe the backs of the tender wheels and run the other end through the back of the cab or firebox and up to the motor.
You will have to add some weight, perhaps, to the tender. Some of them are light in the hobby, not sure about this one, and they’ll be helped to get good pickup with a bit of weight added to them.
Crandell
I have one and added phosphor bronze pick ups to the other side and it works great.
Richard
Don’t know if this is a related issue, but I’ve had one of my Rivarossi Y6b 2-8-8-2’s stop dead in the middle of a Bachmann E-Z track switch. This engine runs very well otherwise and it was very frustrating to find something that it couldn’t handle. I just have to wonder, from reading the above post, that there is a problem with electrical pickup with the Rivarossi articulateds. I may have to consider upgrades on the Y6b’s, if this is considered necessary. And this is the new (last run 2174) Y6b that this happened to, with the powerful five-pole motor.
lois
IOIS,
I wouldn’t be so quick,to blame the locomotive,your turnout probably has pick-up problems,like loose rail joiners and the like,not getting constant power…Bachmann E-Z track turnouts,are definitely not the most reliable…
Cheers,
Frank
I didn’t want to blame the locomotive, as it had run so well beforehand. But it stopping in the middle of the switch was of concern. I will take a closer look at the E-Z track turnouts, however.
lois
Later generation Rivarossi ran much better than the old stuff, but they skimped on electrical pickup in their last years as a cost saving move. I don’t know if they eliminated any of the pickups on the Big Boy lead and trailing trucks, but if they did then the loco has to rely on the sprung pin pickups on just a few drivers. Adding missing pickup to those trucks shouldn’t be too hard.
The centipede tender has 4 rigid wheelsets, with the center pair given more lateral play. You could cut some phosphor bronze strips and screw them to the tender’s underside so that they ride atop the flanges. A number of manufacturers use this arrangement successfully.
As for the Y6b, if I’m not mistaken it only picks up power through sprung pickups on 2 drivers on each set, which definitely leaves it wanting. The EZ-Track turnout probably has issues too – they can be pretty wonky – but a 2-8-8-2 should be able to bridge the gap. Tender pickups couldn’t hurt.
I will certainly look into tender pickup shoes. Better turnouts will definitely be on order, as we just have the E-Z track on a temporary basis.
lois