Rivarossi Big Boy

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I always wanted one and recently purchased a Rivarossi Big Boy engine in HO. After I found out they have electric pick up problems with the little pins that run on the inside of only 2 wheels.

Question; Can anyone direct me or tell me how in detail to solve this problem by adding more pick ups. Is their a kit that can be purched to do this.

Thanks

2

You are on your own on this one.

If there is space underneath, you can add a piece of pcb, and solder phosphor bronze wire wipers to the pcb that rub against the back of the tires.

Good luck.

3

I have an old Riv. 2-8-8-2 that I added pick-ups on both tender trucks (one to each rail - and a BUNCH of weight) and it has been working reliably for 25 years at last check.

4

Those plunger pickups are somewhat reinforced by pickup from the lead and trailing trucks, though Tony’s Train Exchange claims this was eliminated in later production runs. I have both versions of it, and the truck pickups are present. I’ve never had any problems with the plunger style pickups, but they say they give out under DCC. In that case tender pickups are the way to go, as mentioned above.