I wonder if there is someone out there who is on top of the various Rivarossi HO part # systems that have been used since 1960.??
I am aware of the checkered ownership/distribution history, [Rivarossi/AHM/IHC/Hornby etc], but don’t yet have a handle on the various parts codings they have used.
I have an IHC parts catalog that covers 1960’s through the late 70’s. It uses the ‘split’ coding system, eg: 160-001
I am struggling to find a parts catalog that uses coding such as: 22003 or R26568.
Can someone identify what era the above system was used?, & who put out a parts catalog that would have them in & when??
Good luck finding parts for those vintage Rivarossi’s with the part numbers or not. As I have been told by several authorities at train shows and by Hornby USA that parts for those locomotives have not been manufactured for years. There are only a few places in the United States that have them other then the stray guy at a train show. If you go to any of the Greenberg shows there are tow guys who represent IHC as independent contractors Ray & Joe they have a pretty good stock of old RR stuff but they will tell you honestly it’s hit or miss on weather some of it will fit or not. We tried using the part numbers from HO seeker a great source of information BTW but the parts themselves didn’t have any numbers on them so we had to go by the illustrations.
The other source I reluctantly name is Golf Manor Hobbies in Cincinnati, Ohio. I know this because he bought the entire stock of Rivarossi parts from a friend of mine who has a LHS in Little Silver NJ. The old guy who runs GMH is way past senile and should be home sitting in a rocking chair.He did a service on a Cab forward for me and as soon as I opened the box and attempted to put it on the tracks the rear tender truck fell off and the drivers were out of time.resulting it instant derailment.
I attempted to buy a pair of tender trucks for a Mallet and he sends me passenger car heavy weight trucks ok I’ll give him one for an honest mistake. He then proceeds to charge my credit card 7 times for the same trucks. I had to cancel the card and get a new one issued. Even after the credit card company sent him a registered letter telling him to stop as the charges were being disputed he continued to charge away. So if you want to deal with him be for warned
if your into running old Rivarossi stuff as I used to be it will be in your best interest to accumulate as much of the old stuff you can find at train shows and the like just for spare parts. I donated my 18 boxes of stuff to the old timers in the club who refuse to run
At this point in time, your best bet would probably be to start frequenting swap meets, flea markets, and yard sales in the hope of finding a similar model that you can use to cannibalize parts.
That part looks like a power truck assembly. There is also an e-mail address listed for the person doing the auction. Possibly if you send him you question he can shed some light on the subject.
However, as you said, they only list part numbers–maybe a rough description and a photo—so poorly taken that it is almost impossible to make an accurate visual identification of the part. Basically, they are not hobbyists, but an auction house that bought out a huge inventory of Rivarossi parts for pennies on the dollars from some authorized repair hobby shop that went under. They know nothing more than what is written on the box or the container that the parts are in.
There are a couple of catalog sources also pop up on EBay from time to time. One right now is offering a CD that has catalog info in a PDF, but looking at the model numbers he lists and the fact that he only list AHM/Rivarossi/Pocher and does not include IHC, I’m guessing that this is pre 1990’s catalog info.
There is a second guy who has a 1990 Rivarossi parts/scratch builder’s catalog for sale. It is in English, but the seller is out of Italy and he wants $40 for the catalog plus $17 shipping. Not knowing if this catalog has the new part number system makes its purchase kind of an expensive gamble.
Just do an EBay search for “Rivarossi parts catalogs” and both will come up. Then you could send each an inquiry–asking if the part number series you are interested in is included.
Doing a Google search for the same I found this listing for a 1996/7 Rivarossi catalog for only $10 plus $2 shipping at another on-line auction site. This is a much smaller site than EBay, s
I was aware of that ebay seller as they have been the biggest volume lister for Rivarossi of late.
I had a look at the Model Expo catalog & its rather intriguing as the cover is showing parts, but I have a gut feeling it may be a Locos/Carriages stock catalog, rather than parts.
Perhaps someone on the forum will recognize it & can advise whether it has parts & part #'s, or not.
Ideally, if it does & a Rivarossi fan that uses HOSeeker buys it, putting the data on HO Seeker would be a public service, I think.
I have never bought anything at Ioffer nor the other EBay clone (EBid.com) although I did bid on something at the latter site once but the price went higher than I was willing to pay.
Being smaller sites they don’t charge as much commission as EBay does, so they are a bit better for the seller. However, they get less traffic, which in turm limits the variety and volume of items offered.
One of the issues with Rivarossi parts over the years is that models that were carried through all their various import partners for a long time went through minor design evolutions. What this means is that parts that fit a particular engine imported 1985 might not fit the same model imported in 1995.
That’s probably the reason for the changes in the part numbering system. Their authorized repair centers probably had a cross reference system, but with the demise of most of those product lines, it’s anybody’s guess where one would find such information.