Rivarossi Heavyweights

[Cajonpassfan]

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

I know, right? But that's why they rode smooth and solid like, well, Pullmans
Otto K.

[ncbqguy]

Apologies in advance to Otto and any other SSFFs (Slobbering Santa Fe Fans).....
Back in the sixties many models were selected and "researched" by the availability of a Model Railroader or Cyclopedia  published drawing.
In some cases models were made from a single photo (the Rivarossi smoothside RPO Baggage Combine is actually a Monon Hospital car rebuild that has a vestibule added that shouldn't be there from a car coupled to it and only the roof vents on the side visible in the one published photo that was used to cut the tooling!)
The ATSF Rider Combine, Diner, and Cafe Observation exist because of a Santa Fe plan book done for the railroad by MR magazine.  The Baggage was tooled by RR for ConCor as was the coach which is likely based on a B&O paired window car.   
Cars need to be selected on the basis of as widespread use as possible or generic appearance (no Road-specific features such as girder underframes!) because they need to be issued in a range of Road names and paint schemes to be commercially viable. 
There are a number of heavyweight cars that still need to be done that meet the criteria....an updated version of the RR Pullman which is a very basic car that is an older, shorter version without the piedmonted ends of the MT car, a Coach Combine, Solarium, and 8, 14 and 16 Section Pullmans.  A better Diner than the distinctive PRR MT car would also be nice.
Not to say that somebody won't tool ATSF, PRR, UP, or SP heavyweight trains or cars.  Even though I don't Model PRR I would like to see a PRR B60 Baggage because it showed up across the US and even Canada in magazine and catalog mail and REA service.  Everybody should own one or two even if they don't know it!
On a somewhat related theme maybe someone would like to start a thread on where they think the market is on price point / features on passenger and freight cars...... Atlas Trainman basic vs. higher end Trainworx / Fox Valley / WOT / etc. ???
I imagine the old Roco Atlas / Aurora Trix / MRC / AHM freight car tooling still exists but is there any market for 1970 technology/price $2.50 freight cars that would sell for $20-25 today?
Charlie Vlk

[Cajonpassfan]

Charlie, thanks for the memories! Reminiscing makes me remember just how good we have it now...
But, as a point of clarification, us Santa Fe guys do not slobber. While we are just as passionate about our prototype, we leave that to our (almost) east coast friends...
Otto K.

[arbomambo]

Charlie, thanks for the memories! Reminiscing makes me remember just how good we have it now...
But, as a point of clarification, us Santa Fe guys do not slobber. While we are just as passionate about our prototype, we leave that to our (almost) east coast friends...
Otto K.

well said, Otto!!!

My very first N scale train set featured these cars, along with an ATSF E8 unit...(Atlas-1969?)
...and they've been instrumental in helping build a fleet of head end (and tail end!) cars for the Fast Mail and other ATSF name trains...from the original one-off 85' baggage car, to the common 70' baggage, to the ATSF horse express, and the rider cars...( I still have a couple of diners to bash to '57 era diners)
I'm more than happy that MT has provided 'better' fodder for my kit bashes but am so grateful for these beautiful cars and the service they've provided to N scalers all these years!
~Bruce

[thomasjmdavis]

Bruce,
Thanks for that recent post. I think that pretty well sums up my feelings as well.  I think my first N scale passenger run (about 1977 or 78) was several Rivarossi cars behind a Rivarossi Pacific. It is probably fair to say that if those cars, and MT boxcars, had not been available, I might well have stuck to HO. In a "modeling" of history, that Pacific was "traded in" on eBay 12 or 15 years ago and the funds raised went to buy Kato F units.  And over the years, I collected quite a few of the cars, some of which were "modernized" and others chopped up to create other floorplans or they were converted, literally, into baggage cars (courtesy of M&R), just as was done with the real ones in the 1930s-50s.

Maybe I will install a train museum on the layout, and an original Rivarossi consist as the museum train running on a loop of Atlas snap track.

[CBQ Fan]

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

$10 per car in the 6 car set!  That is highway robbery!!  LOL!!!  Those were the days!

[Albert in N]

   Back around 1973 I owned 4 of those heavyweights and missed them 5 minutes after I traded them off some ten years later.  However, I found this ConCor version set of six at a train show back around 2010.  I paid $25 cash for the set and they are MINE.  They show "made in Italy" on the bottom of the cars, but the box says "printed in Hong Kong", with ConCor's Bensenville IL address.  Yes, even the old rapido couplers give close coupling, so I just used Micro-Trains on the first car to hook up to my choice of power.  If you find some at a train show, get 'em if you want 'em since they aren't making any more!

[Cajonpassfan]

My wife and I stopped at OERM swap meet in Perris (California) today, and all of these cars could be had for $10 apiece. I didn't buy any, already have more than I will ever need. But, the museum just happens to own the Santa Fe Fast Mail Rider car (2602) after which the Rivarossi combine is patterned, and so I took some photos of it, see below. Note the prominent "Santa Fe" style sill beam.
Otto K. [ Guests cannot view attachments ]

[Loren Perry]

Here are some of my Santa Fe heavyweights including Rivarossi/Con-Cor, Micro-Trains, and Pecos River Brass. Most have GMM etched brass steps, stirrups, and other details added. The diaphragms are black rubber moldings made by Oriental Limited which I bought in bulk back in the 1990's.

The first photo shows the head end with engine 3751 in charge, pulling the Grand Canyon Limited with an an icing dock visible in the background.





Next is a Rivarosi baggage car. I lightly airbrushed Floquil's Grime and Mud onto the train's lower sides and ends to represent long travels through the desert.




These two cars are made by Pecos River Brass (left) and Rivarossi. The differences are considerable. Santa Fe had coaches and club cars that featured wide windows and very different roof equipment. The trucks were also of a unique design. All the cars on this train have weathering added as well as window "glass" and Micro-Scale decals for the PRB cars plus window shades and full interior detailing for all the cars.

[Loren Perry]

Here are more cars I've built over the years.


This one is the Rivarossi combine, an actual ATSF prototype, shown facing backwards on the train. I re-oriented it properly after the photo shoot.




Pecos River Brass made this beautiful Coach Club car. PRB's cars are built in such a way that the end vestibules are sealed and inaccessible which is why no "glass" is visible in these areas.




This is the very car that kindled my interest in N-scale. I was so impressed when I first saw one in the 1970's at an Orlando, FL hobby shop that I knew N-scale railroading would be in my future. I have two of them now, this one re-named Centacre using Micro-Scale decals. I didn't have the heart to weather these little gems.




This is the other one, bearing the stock Rivarossi name St. Croix.

[Loren Perry]

A few more cars in my beloved heavyweight collection.




Here we see one of the magnificent Micro-Trains Pullmans, the Red Oak. These models truly capture the look of those classic passenger cars. My interest in these older designs stems from when I was a teenager reading Model Railroader back in the 1950's and seeing those beautiful ads for the Walthers craftsmen kits for models like this one.




Rivarossi's diner model is a near perfect replica of the Santa Fe prototype. I added full interior detailing including patrons, wait staff, and flower vases on the tables.




Pecos River Brass did a wonderful job on this Parlor Club car. I've had to apply light oil to the wheel bearings to allow these relatively heavy cars to roll easily.

[Loren Perry]

This will be the last of my heavyweight car photos for now.

Micro-Trains' beautiful Pullman "Moose Lake" displays the faired-in air conditioning duct on the roof that gives these cars their distinctive look. The only Rivarossi car that featured such a duct was their observation car.




Here's Rivarossi's open platform observation car with GMM etched brass stirrups, rear steps, and platform railing. I used my computer and printer to make the venetian blinds. This model was built back in the mid-1990's before my GMM etched brass parts were available. The GMM etched brass blinds also work well and offer a see-through effect.




Finally, this close-up shot shows the etched brass railing and the lighted tail sign made by Tomar products that displays the train's name when on: Grand Canyon Limited.



Now that I've learned to post photos on this site, I'm becoming almost dangerous. I hope you'll forgive me if I've gotten a little too carried away. And I apologize to anyone who's getting a gray circle with a dash in the center instead of a photo, I have no clue what causes that. I only know that they all appear on the Rail Wire site when I open it. But my deepest appreciation and sincerest Thank You to all you wonderful guys out there that took the time to "hold my hand" and teach me the intricacies of posting photos here. Maybe I'll soon learn how to re-size photos so they're not so huge!

[peteski]

Loren, your photos are not visible - at least to me. 

[Loren Perry]

Hi, Pete -

Max e-mailed me that my 4-8-4 pilot truck photos also failed to show up at his end. This is getting to be really discouraging. I followed everyone's instructions to the letter and all the photos showed up perfectly at my end. I can open the Rail Wire website right this second, go to my latest posting, click on it, and there they all are, perfectly reproduced.

I spent all day working on this, shooting all the photos yesterday and today especially for this site. I'm ready to just crawl back into my hole and go dark for a long while.

[Cajonpassfan]

Here are some of my Santa Fe heavyweights including Rivarossi/Con-Cor, Micro-Trains, and Pecos River Brass. Most have GMM etched brass steps, stirrups, and other details added. The diaphragms are black rubber moldings made by Oriental Limited which I bought in bulk back in the 1990's.

The first photo shows the head end with engine 3751 in charge, pulling the Grand Canyon Limited with an an icing dock visible in the background.





Next is a Rivarosi baggage car. I lightly airbrushed Floquil's Grime and Mud onto the train's lower sides and ends to represent long travels through the desert.




These two cars are made by Pecos River Brass (left) and Rivarossi. The differences are considerable. Santa Fe had coaches and club cars that featured wide windows and very different roof equipment. The trucks were also of a unique design. All the cars on this train have weathering added as well as window "glass" and Micro-Scale decals for the PRB cars plus window shades and full interior detailing for all the cars.

Nice work Loren. Unfortunately, I'm only getting some of your pics, but not all, even in one post. This one, all I get is a blank for the 3751, then three come through, and the last one doesn't. Sorry
Otto