My first norfolk & western car set in HO was Bachmann spectrum…average cars I guess, certainly not the best, mine tended to wobble. But the real problem was they are heavyweights, not streamlined. They didn’t look right with the BLI class J.
I’m really trying to find the Rivarossi observation car from their powhatan arrow arrow set, I feel it fits best with the BLI class J. Most stores don’t carry it, does anybody have one of these or know where I can buy one? Or is ebay probably my best bet…
Also, do Rivarossi cars need to be modified like IHC? Meaning, do they wobble when running out of the box?
I don`t know anywhere other than e-bay .It took me forever , but i finally got the two that i have from e-bay. The only other place i would know to try would be one of the train shows. RON
The Rivarossi cars have wheels with pizza cutter flanges, so it’s a good idea to replace them with metal RP25 wheelsets. With that and a little extra weight they run fine.
In addition to eBay, you could try putting a request out on HO Yard Sale group and see if anyone has it.
To answer your first question the best thing I can say is start doing internet searches, thats what I do usually when there is somethign I want, mainly to find the best price.
As far as Modifying Rivarossi cars I would say yes most definitely The first set of Pennsey Heavy weights I purchased were IHC’s at a train show Had to install light kits which turned out to be nothing but trouble, interior kits which out of the box never did fit the observation car and weight them as per NMRA standards and got I would say 90% plus of the shake out. I also have a complete set of Rivarossi Pennsey Heavy weighs That had most of that done when I purchased them from a guy in our local NMRA chapter meeting but they had some shake to them as well. All of my cars get metal wheels and body mounted couplers and diaphragms, no matter what so that was an added expense.
I found the best was a set of Bachmann’s that you don’t particularly care for, they all came with interiors and articulated knuckle couplers unlike the talgo trucks on the Rivarossi and IHC cars To me IHC and Rivarossi are one in the same.
I have to say all this lead me to a spur of the moment purchase of a full set of Rapido passenger cars. Took them out of the box, placed em on the track, backed up the K4 and never touched them again. I will say that the Ripoff’s cost significantly more then the others I have but by the time you add up all the extras needed IE: interiors, metal wheels, light kits and the time to modify all of them I feel the Rapido’s were a much better deal not to mention the obvious over all much better detail.
You may be able to find that car at TrainWorld.com they seem to have a lot of IHC & RR stuff.
Later production runs of Rivarossi cars might have come with metal wheels, I’m not sure?? I know it’s pretty easy to replace the plastic ones with metal ones. I’ve had no problems with Rivarossi cars wobbling out of the box, the IHC ones always seem to want to lean to one side and need to be worked.
Just so you know, that car is incorrect for the Powhattan Arrow. The N&W cars had round ends not the flat ends of this car which is the prototype of the observation car that ran on the PRR’s Broadway limited.
What I would do is find an Eastern Car Works round end observation and paint and decal it for the N&W Powhattan Arrow, which is what I am going to do.
I don’t know where you got your information, but it is incorrect. The only observations sold to Saudi Arabia were the 581 & 582 which were the round end observations purchased for the Powhattan Arrow and put in service in 1949.
The N&W did not own an observation before the 581 & 582, they did convert 3 Pm coaches into PM tavern-lounges, but they were not observations.
If you check all the information the Rivarossi 1930 Observation is based on the PRR Tower View observation car.
This information is from the N&W Handbook by Wallace and Wiley.
The prototype for the model car in the photo is the two cars used on Pennsy’s “Broadway Limited” The cars were the only two of their kind. They were named “Mountain View” and “Tower View” and were AFAIK used only on the “Broadway Limited”
I’m not sure where the cars are now or if they even still exist.
That’s a photo of a blunt end observation car. Almost the same exact one that I did the recent metalizing project on. Mine is the older AHM version. With these cars, fixing up is not difficult. Fill the pockets in with BB Pellets or Birdshot and smother with glue then add long flat metal weights to bring the car up to NMRA’s weight recommendation. You can add the one piece interior kit from IHC or go the Palace Car route. Body mount the couplers.The guys here suggested that I go with TSP trucks. Metal wheels are a must.
If you don’t mind stripping down and repainting an AHM version, I know where you “still might” be able to get one in a different paint scheme.
Yes and no. I believe there were at least three variations of the Rivarossi cars through the years. The difference being mostly in the wheels. There were plastic large flanged wheels, there were large flanged metal wheels, and some of the later ones with standard RP25 flanges. The problem with all of them is that they are all 33" wheels rather than the 36" they should be. One can change the wheels sets to the larger size, but then the brake shoes have to be modified or they rub. The easiest fix is just to replace the whole truck with the IHC.
The cars can use some more weight, but be careful just filling all the cavities with lead. There is more space available on one side of the car than there is on the other. Just filling them all indiscriminately could result in a car listing to one side. I generally put weight on the floor under the vestibule window on the one side.
Then there is the coupler situation. Out of the box they are truck mounted. Don’t know what your modifications of the IHC are in that area, but they will be similar for the Rivarossi.
Having had several Rivarossi cars in the past, I can say that I never had a problem with them.
The one I have left, I’ve added knuckle couplers to it as well as Proto metal wheels. It rolls really nice.
The two IHC cars I have, I will admit were junk out of the box. I ended up having to add IHC’s metal trucks to it as well as adding some automotive stick on weights to bring them up to the proper weight. They roll really nice now.
Guys, guess what? I just won another one of these cars on ebay. Total price was $10.39, shipping included! The seller stated that there is a small chip on the roof end over the molded on diaphram. From his description and the photo I saw, it’s nothing that a tiny piece of scrap .010 styrene and putty can’t take care of.
I had not planned on buying another one, but when I saw this one listed for several days with zero bids, I went for it. It’s in the Union Pacific Armour Yellow scheme. But of course a 91% alcohol bath will render that null and void. [;)]
Lately a number of AHM and Rivorossi blunt end observation cars have been popping up on ebay with, imho, pretty decent prices for winning bidders.
As I stated before Jake, if you want this particular style of car it’s been available lately. Although not in your road name these are easy to paint strip, airbrush, and decal into your desired railroad scheme.
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