Rivarossi Heavyweights

[thomasjmdavis]

It may be for the best if the tooling is gone.  The new CNW shortie cars coming from Atlas look remarkably better than the old ones from Bachmann.  And given that those old Rivarossi cars probably sold more copies than anything since, maybe someone will take it into their heads to do some accurate ATSF heavyweights someday soon.

But now that 12-1 in the foobie pinstripes is a collector's item....

[towl1996]

Doesn't anyone have AC roofs for RR Pullmans on Shapeways?  That would be the way to go.

Trouble is Shapeways search function is awful. I scrolled thru 25 pages and saw nothing. So who knows?
@Lemosteam is the only one I could think of who could pull this off. I'll have to ask.

[thomasjmdavis]

While it would require a bit of cut and paste for length, and some body putty and sanding to contour the end (most MT being pedimented), it would seem in the realm of possibility to adapt a MT roof- I dropped one on to take a look, and width seems ok, and the "clips" provide some tension to hold it in place.  Not an ideal solution, but would get some AC for the patrons of the Rivarossi sleepers.

[Lemosteam]

Trouble is Shapeways search function is awful. I scrolled thru 25 pages and saw nothing. So who knows?
@Lemosteam is the only one I could think of who could pull this off. I'll have to ask.

Forgive me but I can only assume you are referring to the roofs with the filled-in clerestory areas on each side.  Yes I am planning on doing a version of these now that I have both a clerestory and balloon roof available.

the cad just simply becomes a hybrid of the two with special transition areas from the balloon to the clerestory.

Some other projects in the queue first.

@towl1996 , I thought you might be referring to the vent on the clerestory- I already have those available.

[Doug G.]

All I know is, in 1968 when I saw the Atlas Santa Fe "St. Croix" Pullman in the hobby shop, I thought it was about the neatest thing I had ever seen in model railroading and bought it on the spot.

Of course,since then I have collected all of the A1G passenger cars but that one is still a standout.

Doug

[Mark5]

The Rivarossi heavyweights were outstanding for their time, and still can be made to look good with contemporary tooling (as shown in previous posts).

It is sad that the tooling is gone (similar to the old Rowa tooling), but time marches on and Microtrains is going a long way to bring it forward with respect to heavyweights.

Mark

[jmlaboda]

...and Microtrains is going a long way to bring it forward with respect to heavyweights.

They are in deed!!!  Thanks MT!!!

[towl1996]

Forgive me but I can only assume you are referring to the roofs with the filled-in clerestory areas on each side.  Yes I am planning on doing a version of these now that I have both a clerestory and balloon roof available.

the cad just simply becomes a hybrid of the two with special transition areas from the balloon to the clerestory.

Some other projects in the queue first.

@towl1996 , I thought you might be referring to the vent on the clerestory- I already have those available.

@Lemosteam  No, I was referring to the roof on the Rivarrosi Pullman model Doug posted. And yes I will be interested in the filled in clerestory version when available. Thanks

[brokemoto]

It is truly amazing how much the appearance of these things is improved by doing as little as adding Gold Medal steps and body mounting the couplers (the truck mounted couplers will cause derailments if you add the steps). 

The same goes for the Lima Penn cars, although you really should repaint and re-letter them, as the font for the Penn is incorrect on them.  It is also incorrect for those lettered for New York Central.  The colors are incorrect, as well for NYC.  The color is allright for those lettered for the Reading.  I never paid much attention to those lettered for AMTRAK, as AMTRAK is far out of my era.  The Limas are, of course, foobalicious for NYC and Reading, as they are Penn cars. 

[Loren Perry]

It may be for the best if the tooling is gone.  The new CNW shortie cars coming from Atlas look remarkably better than the old ones from Bachmann.  And given that those old Rivarossi cars probably sold more copies than anything since, maybe someone will take it into their heads to do some accurate ATSF heavyweights someday soon.

But now that 12-1 in the foobie pinstripes is a collector's item....

I believe that most of the Rivarossi/ConCor heavyweights (IIRC four of the six body types) really are fairly accurate copies of Santa Fe prototypes. I have a copy of Santa Fe's old plans book for model builders and they include detailed drawings of these very same cars. I think the exceptions were the Pullman sleeper and possibly the coach. The rest matched the drawings perfectly.

And yes, that Pullman 12-1 in the pinstripes was the very car that first drew my attention to N-scale way back in the 1970's when I spotted one in a hobby shop in Orlando, Florida. I couldn't believe how gorgeous it was (and still is!) I have several trains worth of these classic cars now, most fitted out with GMM etched brass steps and stirrups, observation car handrails, rubber Oriental Limited diaphragms, and body mounted MT couplers and trucks plus full interior detailing including passengers and window shades. They've been supplemented with new Micro-Trains heavyweights and some Pecos River Brass chair cars and other types. I love those classic heavyweight cars.

[Cajonpassfan]

I believe that most of the Rivarossi/ConCor heavyweights (IIRC four of the six body types) really are fairly accurate copies of Santa Fe prototypes. I have a copy of Santa Fe's old plans book for model builders and they include detailed drawings of these very same cars. I think the exceptions were the Pullman sleeper and possibly the coach. The rest matched the drawings perfectly.

Yes, Loren is quite correct: those four body styles are indeed based on ATSF prototypes; they can be distinguished from other heavyweights by the characteristic sill along the lower edge of the carbody. (Unfortunately, the models have the sill almost flush with the car sides, instead of being inset like the prototypes).

The baggage and "combines" have an interesting history, as they were rebuilt from the original 1926 heavyweight "Chief" Library/Buffet cars. When the "Chief" became a lightweight streamline train some ten years later, these became surplus and all but one were converted to Rider Combines for use on the tail end of the Fast Mail Express to accommodate a handful of passengers. That is the model, and on the ATSF, it's a signature car (and should not be placed at the head end of a passenger train as is often done with the Rivarossi sets).

The one car that escaped conversion to a Rider, 1348, was rebuilt as a one-of-a-kind Baggage Express car 1849, and that's the model Rivarossi chose to produce. So we have a reasonably good model of a unique car. Not the best choice for an ATSF Baggage, but I suspect the similarities in tooling and its full length contributed to the decision.

I don't know the prototype for the double window coaches (definitely NOT ATSF), but I use them as stand-ins for Union Pacific heavyweights, some with Harriman style roofs.

As was already noted by others, considering the age of these models, with a bit of work, they can be quite respectable even today. Shame that the tooling is lost...

Otto K.

[jmlaboda]

I don't know the prototype for the double window coaches (definitely NOT ATSF),...

Same as MT's... B&O.

[thomasjmdavis]

Loren and Otto,

I certainly have not thrown any of my Rivarossi cars away.  I made several baggage cars by cutting and splicing, plus a couple in original condition and renumbered to represent some other rebuilds done at the same time, and plated the transom windows on the rider combine.  Upgraded a diner with AC ducts and plated transoms (there is now a diner roof on Shapeways, I will order one someday when the layout trackage is paid for).  The coach cars were repainted for Wabash, and I made a not especially successful attempt to convert some into Erie modernized cars.

And an 1100 series chair car made from parts of 2 diners and the vestibules of 2 combines that were chopped up to make a baggage car.
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[Ed Kapuscinski]

Oh man, I remember when (10+ years ago) we got a bunch of those Rivarossi cars in at Kleins. We sold them as "the end of an era".

https://web.archive.org/web/20050206164505/http://www.modeltrainstuff.com:80/manufacturer/arnoldN.html?scale=N

[Doug G.]

Related, I only found out recently that the space beneath the floor in heavyweight cars was filled with poured concrete for the weight. I saw pictures of workers leveling and smoothing the concrete just like when sidewalks and driveways are poured.

Fascinating.

Doug