Old Rivarossi UP FEF upgraded
#1
Hello Folks!

A long while ago i got a basket case of an Rivarossi UP 4-8-4, not complete and some parts like the tender shell and pilot truck were missing. As i am not an UP man or an enthusiast of big big steam, this basket case remained resting in pieces until a few days ago. A friend of mine, who also owns an loco of exact the same type and manufacturer, have had the idea to make out of these 1 and 3/4 engines one engine which runs.
With old Rivarossi stock you have a couple of problems:
- deep flanges of traditional toy train style
- traction tires, unfortunately all of them were mounted onto the wheels of the left side
- old motors drawing a lot of amperes an with a nasty running culture
- high speed gears, this also a typical toy train feature

What's to do?
1) turn down the flanges in accordance to NMRA to a height of 0.6mm
2) remove all wheel with traction tires and replace them with thoses without rubbers
3) replace the gears to create a higher gear ratio
4) substitute the motor with a modern can type with less draft an more output
5) make new cardan shaft between motor and gear
6) make an 8-pin DCC socket according to NMRA

[Image: dsc07023kvsj7.jpg]
Here a new axle gear was mounted. The Rivarossi axle was turned down at the center portion to enable the mounting of the gear with a bore of 2.6mm to press fit it.
Otherwise after the mounting of the gear a thin bushing was mounted onto one axle stub to correct the axle diameter to 3.0mm as it was before turning.


[Image: dsc0702440sie.jpg]
The other part of the gear. A new worm mounted onto the old shaft. A pair of shims under the bearings will adjust the correct mesh between worm and axle gear.

Before, factory mounted: gear ratio was 1:16 with a module of 0.6
After conversion: gear ratio is now 1:29 with a module of 0.4
The new gears are from Roco and made out of technical plastics.


[Image: dsc07026a1sei.jpg]
Here the new can motor is glued into place. Lateron there will be an additional screwed bracket to fix the motor.
A new cardan shaft was made with parts out of the grab box.
It is now ready for fitting the electric stuff.

Lutz
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#2
Lutz - this is probably a silly question but I always thought a cardan shaft needed slots in each end to be at 90° to each other to allow rotating flex between the two ends? - You probably know a whole lot more about it than me though 35
Best
Jack
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#3
Jack!

This cardan shafts are out of my grab box. They are made by Liliput (Austria) and were siuted for their H0 models of German Standard Electrics (E10, E40) .
And yes, you are right, the slots shold be set in angle of 90° to each other. But alas Liliput made it so in this manner because it is easier (and cheaper) to build the mould for it.


[Image: dsc070374ddhn.jpg]
An other photo when the electrics were done. The Liliput cardan shaft meshes into two horned balls each on motor and gearbox shafts. These horned balls are from Roco. This are reinforced replacement parts because the original Roco and Liliputhorned balls were prone for cracking.
The motor is now fixed with an bracket made out of an strip of brass sheet.
Simply glued onto the motor is an 8-pin NMRA socket. The wire colours are according to NMRA and the only "luxury" is an lighted front light. All current pick up is from the loco only and because of it's size and number of wheels it is enough to guarantee troublefree operating.

[Image: dsc07038kviwm.jpg]
Now a decoder is simply plugged in. In this case a ESU Lopi Basic.
There was also additional ballast added in form of lead sheets.

[Image: dsc07041p6rw4.jpg]
Test running the loco and programming the decoder on my small layout.

[Image: dsc0704257otx.jpg]
Light check, photo without flash. A 3mm warm white flathead LED paired with an 1kohm resistor replaced the bulb.

[Image: dsc07043ctqlb.jpg]
The whole beast. Too big for my layout. You need much of space to present her in an adequate environment. Imagine her running at speed over the Prairie pulling a 15 car consist of City Of San Francisco or else.
No doubt the old Rivarossi steamer is now capable to to so if - sigh... - you have the room and space there for.

[Image: dsc07044gtqhd.jpg]
A closer look onto the drivers with their now fine flanges.

Enjoy

Lutz
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#4
Now that is a labor of love.
Mike Kieran
Port Able Lines

" If the world were perfect, it wouldn't be " - Yogi Berra.
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#5
Lutz, well done!
And where gets the model its new home? I do not hope the show case only!
Cheers, Bernd

Please visit also my website www.us-modelsof1900.de.
You can read some more about my model projects and interests in my chronicle of facebook.
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#6
Nice work!
Mike

Sent from my pocket calculator using two tin cans and a string
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#7
I certainly wasn't aware of this thread when it was first posted, but I agree with Mike - very nicely-done work! Applause Applause Applause 

Wayne
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#8
(06-30-2020, 07:15 AM)doctorwayne Wrote: I certainly wasn't aware of this thread when it was first posted, but I agree with Mike - very nicely-done work! Applause Applause Applause 

Wayne

You can thank a spammer for bumping this thread. He's gone and so is his post. I'm glad he did though, it's always nice to see some great work pop back up. Applause
Don (ezdays) Day
Board administrator and
founder of the CANYON STATE RAILROAD
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