# Rivarossi 5238 Pacific



## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

TJ may have elves clean up his tinplate but I have Yardsale Pixies. Well a co worker, turned in a box from last weekend. Lo and behold a Rivarossi needing my attention.























I researched HOseeker. I am not sure if it is a Pacific or Heavy Pacific. The number on the tender belongs to a Mallet. It has no pickups the wheels may have been changed out.
The only part missing is the boiler front. Sound familiar?hwell:

With time constraints it has not been cleaned or tested.. More dirty pictures to follow. They are in my photo bucketaccount if you must see.

One to end the day.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

It seems like it's missing more than pickups, unless that big hole in the front is the jet intake!


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

I should rob a wooden train and get a Thomas Face.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

T-Man said:


> The only part missing is the boiler front. Sound familiar?hwell:


...



tjcruiser said:


> Yup ... me and T-man ... cruisin' the seedy back alleys at night, looking for a little boiler front action.


:thumbsup:


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

The motor tested and works fine.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

*Dirt*


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

*Recovery*


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

*The wire "How it is"*

The wire path for this beast will help understand it. It is rather creative. It starts with a metal isolated frame. It recieves power from the right rail through the forward and aft drives wheels. This is done with a spring loaded wiper touching the outer metal part of the wheel. From there it goes to a motor brush. 

The green side is picked up through the left side of the tender. The forward and rear axles of each truck are used and connected by a spring metal band wiper This is normally screwed to a metal base plate in the tender. From there it goes to the post and the engine draw bar At that point, there is an isolated rivet and a wire goes to the other motor brush. A pin sticks into the rivet to feed the forward bulb that is grounded to the frame.

That is the basic electical setup.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

*2197 tender*

I found out the tender is not made for pickup. The post for the drawbar is stuck in the plastic shell and it has no metal frame bar to connect everthing,

Anyway, I got it apart, the big secret is to pull the post and the bottom drops out.




















The bottom frame had some weights.

I am using photobucket and here is the link for this engine if you want to see more.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

T-Man,

What is the cylinder shown in Post 7 ??? Is that a weight? Motor ???

TJ


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## gc53dfgc (Apr 13, 2010)

tjcruiser said:


> T-Man,
> 
> What is the cylinder shown in Post 7 ??? Is that a weight? Motor ???
> 
> TJ


Looks kind of like an older style steam generator. 

T-man you there have a Heavy Pacific. The only difference between a heavy and non that I can find and dig up is that the Heavys have a larger three axled per truck tender and the Non-Heavys have a smaller two axle per truck tender. More specifically your engine looks similar to a K4 but could also be a G series engine.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

K-4 or G Series. That helps. 
The cylinder is a weight above the two forward drive wheels. The worm gear drives the rear from the motor.

I looked at my Marquette Tender. It shows wires and a clip to hold the drawbar post plus brackets tha support the trucks. Other than that it looks like the 2197 frame.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

*Light Up*

Here I soldered the wire to the base. It sits in front of the weight.












Below you see two screws holding the weight, then a plastic pin holding the contact for the wire that touches the bottom of the light. Then the silver screw that holds the support for holding the light in on the bottom.










To get at the light I had to remove the top half of the shell. That was done by removing 6 pins that hold the railing.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Looking a lot cleaner with that "bird's nest" of dirt all gone.

What holds the railing pins? Are they simply friction fit, or do they spread apart like a cotter pin?

Cheers,

TJ


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

Just a tight fit. The pieces are very small.

I am comparing tenders. So far I have two different size pins. Th Pacific has a smallhole and it needs to have the wheels reversed from the other tenders I do have. Go figure.hwell:


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

*Straighten the wire.*

After more research on the wiring set up, I have discovered the pickup is correctly on the right side. The mystery was in the tenders. Rivarossi uses a metal washer to complete the connection to the outer wheel from the axle.










The center axle is out of the loop and the pickup is on the left side.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

With the tender issue solved,time to clean and lube the chassis.
Notice the pressure pins on the chassis for the outer wheel connection.











A little weight in front.
Using the Blue Goose Tender Test Run! :thumbsup:



















Rocky Road test is good.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Looks like the Rivarossi is passing inspection OK from the roadside crew.

I've been working on Lionel O too long ... it's strange for me to see an HO motor running like that with such a low profile, and the cowcatcher along for the motor ride.

Looks great!

TJ


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

The engine runs fine now.
All I need is another boiler front.
Thanks for viewing.
If you are bored and want to view the complete album , this is the link


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Could be a neat trick finding the boiler front, maybe you'll have to hand craft one.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

Maybe, How about a turbine from a plastic model kit?

I see plenty of boilers on Ebay with weights but no boiler fronts.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

I could go with a clown nose!










If it was smaller it would work.
I'll keep trying.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Oh, NO, Mr. Bob ... DON'T DO IT !!!  :laugh:


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

*First Attempt*

Using the bottle cap I cut the rim off and will use the inner rim to fit it in.










Cut one tooth paste cap










EPoxy Time ! Ed!










Black acrylic. .










Nose Job complete.










Yep still looks ike a jet intake.
After some thought I may reverse the tooth paste cap, smooth it out, and cut the length just a little.

Not bad for a first try.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

You need a headlight.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

Like This!


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## Artieiii (Apr 25, 2011)

If you squeeze it too tight then toothpaste might squirt out 
-Art


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

T ... what's the approximate diameter of the full boiler front? Just curious about putting the proportions in perspective.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

Some where around 7/8ths. The insde lip of the water bottle is tight enough to fit snug. I had to trim some interferences. It was just a quick experiment. The hole is not a standard size probably metric. It is the same size as the Rivarossi 0-8-0 I need that front too.

I used my trusty plastic mic. Just over 7/8th and under 15/16ths so 29/32nd. and at 23.5mm. The cap is from a 16 oz water bottle. You should know about toothpaste caps, 
I hope. :lol_hitting:


 Switcher link.










I have to brush my teeth to get another cap.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Thanks, T-Man ... that puts it in perspective ... tiny stuff.

Cheers,

TJ


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## norgale (Apr 4, 2011)

Looks like that engine had some tiny inhabitants at one time. However a little brushing and some paint should put her back in good shape. Nice job Tman. Pete


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## Artieiii (Apr 25, 2011)

Hey t-man looks like this engine could use some toothpaste added to it's front LOL


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

That must be one of the paper mill engines TJ talked about. Allagash is Down East, Maine.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

T-Man,

I think that's the same. Often referred to as the "Lacroix Locomotives", in the Allagash woods. I heard the story years ago, but didn't know the details. Happily, B&M filled me in with all of the info, per his response and excellent info links, here:

http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?p=28135&postcount=5

Very interesting history. Unfortunately (or fortunately, perhaps ... depending upon one's perspective), it really is a major undertaking and trek to get to the trains ... WAY up north in Maine ... deep, DEEP in the woods.

Someday for me, I hope ...

(Sorry for the sidebar.)

TJ


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## Artieiii (Apr 25, 2011)

Hey T-man would this help?
http://cgi.ebay.com/Lionel-261-stea...979742?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item2564fb48de
-Art


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

Fraid not, it's not HO and it has a latch on top like a Lionel 249e not the the screw needed for the Pink Lady. The engine is a Rivarossi HO.


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## trainguru (Jun 28, 2011)

Rivarossi, love it, hate it, live with it. Anybody have any advice on how to fix an old 0-8-0 from the AHM days, I got one for $6.00 USD, and now it's been a year. I have done all I can, and I need some advice/help. Please, somebody help?


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

It would help if you started with what's wrong with it.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

Simple, you buy more for parts and changed a motor out if you have too.

So what is the problem?

One year is nothing, I had some for 20 before I figured out what was wrong, they were Lionel.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

tjcruiser said:


> T-Man,
> 
> I think that's the same. Often referred to as the "Lacroix Locomotives", in the Allagash woods. I heard the story years ago, but didn't know the details. Happily, B&M filled me in with all of the info, per his response and excellent info links, here:
> 
> ...



B&M?????
Who is that?

TJ ,I think the easiest way to get into there is by a float plane. Just drop down on Eagle Lake,then it is a real short hike to the site. Used to be a tram there too.

Cool did you see the picture of all the old rolling stock sitting there?
I wonder who snatched the headlights?
There are some wheels sitting around grab a couple for you front yard.

B&M??


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Artieiii said:


> Hey t-man looks like this engine could use some toothpaste added to it's front LOL


I think that nose had just a plate bolted on.
edit,
No I guess not, the picture I was looking at had the plate on as a protective cover to keep out the elements and animals. I thought it looked strange.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Great stuff TJ. :thumbsup:

Look at this beast. Hauled over the frozen lakes over 90 ton! Now that is one heavy duty snow mobile!

from the link, 
http://www.eastcoastrover.com/Trains2000.html

Those guys did that in the winter, you think they would have done it in the summer.











Steam powered Lombard log haulers performed the impossible.These massive steam powered snowmobiles brought in all the materials over the ice for the railroad, including the switching engines and two steam locomotives weighing over 90 tons each.
The 2 locomotives were purchased used from other points in New England. One was from the Rutland Railroad and the other from the New York Central Railroad. The steam engines were converted to oil and once the railroad was finished they were put into full time operation.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Ed,

You're right ... the locos are close to the lake. But in the ventures to reach them that I've read about, guys have driven cross-country in ATV's for a day, hiked for a day, then canoed for a day (or something like that) to reach the locos.

It's the journey, more than the destination itself, that intrigues me ...

TJ


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