# What is general opinion of rivarossi



## Old Bill (Nov 28, 2013)

Would like to know the general opinion of the challenger
and the Big Boy in HO. The good and the bad.


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## rrgrassi (May 3, 2012)

I have their Cab Forward and some GG1's. My Pere Marquette Berk is also a Riv.

I like them. IIRC, Shaygetz calles them Poor Man's Brass.

If you ever work on one, they are not that difficult and pretty straight forward. They are nicely engineered IMHO


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

Can't stand them...










...just awful...










...even worse in N scale...



















...spare me the horror...










...my eyes are burning...










...don't know what folks see in 'em...










...can't do a thing with 'em...



















...better to just stay away from them...



















...it leaves more for me...:cheeky4:


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## dannyrandomstate (Jan 1, 2012)

I have the same sentiment as Shay. Horrid horrid things.

I'd post pics of mine, but Shay pretty much covered it. Although I do like that GG1 of his.


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## daveh219 (Sep 16, 2012)

Guess that kinda sums up Shaygetz's opinion of Riv. Only have one and wouldn't part with it for anything

DaveH


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## rrgrassi (May 3, 2012)

Shay,

Where did you get those front marker lights for your cab forward?


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## dannyrandomstate (Jan 1, 2012)

These are on the bay....

http://www.ebay.com/itm/HO-SCALE-TOMAR-INDUSTRIES-807-LIGHTED-ADLAKE-MARKER-LIGHTS-/151166969478?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item233240e686


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## Old Bill (Nov 28, 2013)

Pretty much what I though. Better stay away from shaygetz's
layout. I see it is infected with them.


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## MacDaddy55 (Aug 19, 2008)

*Fantastic Locomotives!!*



rrgrassi said:


> I have their Cab Forward and some GG1's. My Pere Marquette Berk is also a Riv.
> 
> I like them. IIRC, Shaygetz calles them Poor Man's Brass.
> 
> If you ever work on one, they are not that difficult and pretty straight forward. They are nicely engineered IMHO


Same here I have quite a few Rivarossi Steamers and all of them are easy to work on and if kept in good running order..monster pullers. My UP Challenger is the pride of the Fleet with a bunch of Berkshires as my Old Reliables. Yeah Shay hit it...Poor Mans Brass!! a couple of years ago you could steal them off of Ebay but now you have to really work it to get one of these great locos!!:thumbsup:


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## morrjr (Dec 20, 2012)

My favorite Rivarossi loco is the Indiana Harbor Belt 0-8-0 with booster truck on the tender. I have one of the later production units that has been converted to DCC, and it runs like a champ. Installing sound is the next step. I would love to add a Rivarossi Allegheny to my small collection of C&O steam locomotives, but the prices they are asking are just too high for my budget.


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## rrgrassi (May 3, 2012)

Yeah, Fee Pay has some really crazy expensive auctions on these. I think I will wait until after Christmas...


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## Old Bill (Nov 28, 2013)

Im just glad I have my two along with my Bowser, now im planning to redo my
old layout.It had been put up in the rafters many years ago. The mice I think
got to it. It isn't worth repairing,better to start over. New ideas new scenery.
I will be needing a lot of help, hope you don't get tired of my Questions.


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

You can never go wrong with Rivarossi steam models...while not investments, they retain their value well.



Old Bill said:


> Pretty much what I though. Better stay away from shaygetz's
> layout. I see it is infected with them.


:smilie_daumenpos:



morrjr said:


> My favorite Rivarossi loco is the Indiana Harbor Belt 0-8-0 with booster truck on the tender.


Got one o' them too...


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## D&J Railroad (Oct 4, 2013)

I had a Challenger and never really did like how it ran. I did work on it a bit to try to smooth it out for slower speed running but it was just to jerky. High speed, i.e. scale 120 MPH, it would do fine. I guess that's why they build them with the pizza cutter wheels so they don't fly off the track on the curves.
I don't know what happened to mine now. I packed it away when I tore down the layout in 2005. Apparently it just didn't feel loved so it went away on its own.


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## mnp13 (Aug 22, 2013)

shaygetz said:


> ...spare me the horror...


If there ever was a sexy engine, this one is it... 

I need a :swoon: emoticon.


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## DT&I (Dec 6, 2013)

shaygetz said:


>


nice pic


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

rrgrassi said:


> Shay,
> 
> Where did you get those front marker lights for your cab forward?


They are standard equipment for that series...I don't believe the later ones came with them...



DT&I said:


> nice pic


Thanks...one of my pets...:thumbsup:



mnp13 said:


> If there ever was a sexy engine, this one is it...
> 
> I need a :swoon: emoticon.


Thanks...it is an NYC Dreyfus streamlined Hudson...









...the 5 car matching consist I have for it makes for an awesome sight.


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## morland (Sep 25, 2012)

One of my favorites is the Santa Fe "Blue Goose" streamlined Hudson:









I also have and like the NYC streamlined Hudson...but I'm a Santa Fe fan more than NYC.  I wish had the passenger cars to go with my Blue Goose though...

-Trever


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## rrgrassi (May 3, 2012)

shaygetz said:


> They are standard equipment for that series...I don't believe the later ones came with them...


My Cab Forward 4272 has the tiny molded on type. I found some prototype pictures, they had green and white ones pictured. I know white means extra, and the X-4272 would also mean that. Other letters and a number with the green lights was regular, IIRC.

I ordered some lit green ones for my 4272. 

The one in the California RR Museum has classification lights, and they will switch them from white to green. I did see pictures of that.


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

morland said:


> One of my favorites is the Santa Fe "Blue Goose" streamlined Hudson:
> 
> I also have and like the NYC streamlined Hudson...but I'm a Santa Fe fan more than NYC.  I wish had the passenger cars to go with my Blue Goose though...
> 
> -Trever


Sweet...hope to get one of those eventually....:thumbsup:


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