Hi all, I’m still a newbie here and purchasing my first trains since I was a kid. Recently I purchased a used set of 4 Rivarossi Amtrak cars (#6596 A). I didnt realize it until I put them on the tracks but something funky is going on with the wheels/axles. Basically the plastic truck frames are hitting the rails in most cases. Almost like the wheels are sunken. At first I thought I purchased something for the wrong guage.
Is there something I need to be doing with the wheel sets to make the wheels high enough to the truck frames dont drag on the rails?
I recall the days when 90% of my passenger fleet was made up of Rivarossi cars. I would replace the wheels with #520, 33" Kadee wheelsets. You could use the 36" but in that case the brake shoes would have to be trimmed or removed.
Perhaps someone previously replaced the wheel/axle sets and used ones where the axle is too short, so it sits too low between the bearing points, or the wheel too small so the truck sideframe sits too low?
Thanks Ed, this is very helpful. So is this a common theme with Rivarossi? Its just like you said, the wheel sits too low between the points.
So looking at Kadee’s site those wheelsets are $9.75 each. Is that literally for one axle and two wheels? Or do you get two sets of those for one truck? Either way thats gonna run me $20-$40 per car. Yikes.
Rivarossi had two axle lengths. 0.9635”/2.448mm and 1.022”/2.595mm. Someone might have swapped wheel sets. Only the latest release Rivarossis (late 90s) had RP-25 wheels, if your cars have RP-25 flanges they most likely have the wrong axle length.
Ok learning more here. I think this might be bigger than the axles. using a magnifying glass I removed the axles and inspected the “place” where the axles seat on the truck. I noticed that not all wheels where having this problem. Some seemed to not sink while others did. Anyway upon closer inspection it looks like the small “box” that holds the axle pin has been worn away or busted out of the bottom on the bad wheels. I tested this by swapping out wheels.
I’m having a hard posting pictures from my phone here so hope this comes through (notice the bottom of the black square on one side is broken)
are the bearings where the pins of the axle rest? If so looks like it. Aside from replacing the entire trucks is there a fix for something like this? I did get these on the cheap so I guess I can’t be too surprised.
If that bearing on the right is slotted towards the top of the truck then the truck frame needs to be replaced.
The notch on the bottom is normal, helps when inserting and removing the wheels.
The early Rivarossi truck frames were not made out of Delrin so I would try a epoxy repair before I bought new trucks. I would fill the slot above the bearing with JB-Kwik Epoxy file the Epoxy flat then use a truck tuner to cut in a new bearing. Only redo the bearings that are obviously bad.
EDIT:
After redoing the bearing I would use a bit of Lithium grease in the bearing to prevent bearing wear in the future.
Some guys add depleted uranium or lead sheets or five-dollars in small change to them. Did the cars you buy have added weight? I never added any weight to mine and I used to run eighteen-car trains.
Send me a PM if you can’t find the Rivarossi parts department. I gave away or scrapped almost all my Rivarossi cars but I have a few lightweights still around.
I don’t use Rivarossi passenger cars anymore either but I put many hours of running time on them over a 20 or so year period and never had a problem with the trucks. I have always added weight to all my rolling stock, I don’t remember what the Rivarossi cars weighed but I’m pretty sure I added 4 ounces to every car and no problems of any kind, 2 ounces over each truck is my norm.
I changed over to Athearn for the shorter 72’ cars, there was too much overhang with the Rivarossi cars and they looked bad on my 24” radius curve. They looked OK on my 32” curves and tracked well even in my 18” radius curves in my yard.
If that bearing on the right is slotted towards the top of the truck then the truck frame needs to be replaced.
The notch on the bottom is normal, helps when inserting and removing the wheels.
The early Rivarossi truck frames were not made out of Delrin so I would try a epoxy repair before I bought new trucks. I would fill the slot above the bearing with JB-Kwik Epoxy file the Epoxy flat then use a truck tuner to cut in a new bearing. Only redo the bearings that are obviously bad.
EDIT:
After redoing the bearing I would use a bit of Lithium grease in the bearing to prevent bearing wear in the future.
Hi Ed, from what I can tell my cars do not have any added weight. they dont feel heavy. But will have to check to be sure. Yea, I can only imagine how these were run - maybe it was a continuous display layout that was left running all day.
If I can’t fix it with some epoxy I’ll try Rivarossi and let you know if I can’t get them.
Well, a lot of companies make passenger car trucks. The Walthers catalogue / website usually has several pages of them. Keep in mind Rivarossi cars aren’t all that sought after nowadays, for what you’d pay for a pair of new trucks you could probably pick up an old AHM / Rivarossi car on ebay or at a RR flea market and just use those trucks on your car.
