# In praise of a Rivarossi $9.97 EMD-E8



## rsv1ho (Oct 16, 2019)

Bought on a whim, ebay @ $9.97 I thought...why not. 

I have a lot of diesel locomotives, Athearn, Proto 2000, Atlas, etc. but this one is a surprise as I wasn't expecting much. 

Smooth and very quiet, without a doubt the most silent running of any of my locomotives steam or diesel. 

Seller even tossed in a coach. 

Runs well on 22 and 20 r curves, but anything less forget it. 

Real thing was built for passenger service and reliability.


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

Glad to hear it runs well. I have several Rivarossi E8s new in box that I have not run.
Only thing is they are only one truck drive. 2 would have been better. They have a
large DC motor. They are good lookers. Can't beat the price.


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## Eilif (Nov 6, 2017)

Nice score. I'm not surprised to hear it's a good quiet runner. Vintage Riv is good stuff. I've got an 0-8-0 that runs like butter.


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## rsv1ho (Oct 16, 2019)

Rivarossi made two versions of this, the first in 1968, the second in 1975. The big difference being the change to a "can" motor and mounting structure in the second edition.

I haven't opened up mine yet to determine which one it has.


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

Was the 68 version an open frame motor?


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

I have over two dozen Rivarossi 'short' passenger heavyweights -- coaches, RPO's, baggage, etc.
They're detailed nearly as well as premium cars, (roof accouterments, separate wire grabs, etc) while residing in a low price neighborhood... e.g., $18 to $25 or so.
Plus, they're very good rollers out-of-the-box.
Until a few years ago, (although I'd never seen or had any) I dismissed Rivarossi as a 'cheap' entry-level brand. But after examining a few passenger cars at the LHS, I quickly changed my mind.
Now, almost every passenger train I run, (including the legendary _"Camel"_ mail train) includes a substantial number of them.


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## rsv1ho (Oct 16, 2019)

mopac said:


> Was the 68 version an open frame motor?


Yes, I call it an "open armature" motor but it's all the same. I still have not opened it up yet to see which one it has. Got to soon as the curiosity is killin' me.


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## rsv1ho (Oct 16, 2019)

LateStarter said:


> I have over two dozen Rivarossi 'short' passenger heavyweights -- coaches, RPO's, baggage, etc.
> They're detailed nearly as well as premium cars, (roof accouterments, separate wire grabs, etc) while residing in a low price neighborhood... e.g., $18 to $25 or so.
> Plus, they're very good rollers out-of-the-box.
> Until a few years ago, (although I'd never seen or had any) I dismissed Rivarossi as a 'cheap' entry-level brand. But after examining a few passenger cars at the LHS, I quickly changed my mind.
> Now, almost every passenger train I run, (including the legendary _"Camel"_ mail train) includes a substantial number of them.


Agreed, although my experience with passenger cars is limited. Verified as I called the NYC Railway Post Office car (above) a coach.

Besides my Boston and Maine Rivarossi cars I only have Bev-Bell Athearn cars behind my B&M Proto 2000 BL-2.

Rivarossi/IHC sure offered a variety and they are nicely detailed.


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## Gramps (Feb 28, 2016)

I had an AHM set back in the 70's and I always wondered if they were part of Rivarossi because the rolling stock looked alike.:dunno:


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## prrfan (Dec 19, 2014)

rsv1ho said:


> Runs well on 22 and 20 r curves, but anything less forget it.


Do they actually not run on tighter curves or just not look right? 

I have two of these and they run fine on Kato 16 7/8” curves. They would definitely look better on larger curves but that is not possible for me due to space limitations.


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## prrfan (Dec 19, 2014)

Gramps said:


> I had an AHM set back in the 70's and I always wondered if they were part of Rivarossi because the rolling stock looked alike.


My E8s have “Rivarossi Made in Italy” stamped on the bottom but the boxes say AHM, no mention of Rivarossi. So I guess Rivarossi made them for AHM.


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## rsv1ho (Oct 16, 2019)

prrfan said:


> Do they actually not run on tighter curves or just not look right?
> 
> I have two of these and they run fine on Kato 16 7/8” curves. They would definitely look better on larger curves but that is not possible for me due to space limitations.


The E8 is still pretty new to me. The one time that I tried it on 18 r curves the rear truck would kick out. 36" Atlas flex track it might have just hit a rail joined new section. 

I try to avoid these splits when laying track in the middle of a curve, but it can't always be done.


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## rsv1ho (Oct 16, 2019)

prrfan said:


> My E8s have “Rivarossi Made in Italy” stamped on the bottom but the boxes say AHM, no mention of Rivarossi. So I guess Rivarossi made them for AHM.


AHM was the importer later becoming IHC. They handled/marketed many different hobby products.


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## rsv1ho (Oct 16, 2019)

I wonder if lightning can strike twice.

I just won this 1964 production Rivarossi FM for $5.00, a single bid on ebay. I wanted it partly because it has the second evolution foam packing in the box replacing the first type packing that crumbled and stuck to the engine. Later they went to the thin plastic insert. 

Hopefully it will be as smooth and quiet as the EMD E-8, but probably not as it and the MDT Plymouth switcher were their loss-leader entry models.


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## Eilif (Nov 6, 2017)

rsv1ho said:


> I wonder if lightning can strike twice.
> 
> I just won this 1964 production Rivarossi FM for $5.00, a single bid on ebay. I wanted it partly because it has the second evolution foam packing in the box replacing the first type packing that crumbled and stuck to the engine. Later they went to the thin plastic insert.
> 
> Hopefully it will be as smooth and quiet as the EMD E-8, but probably not as it and the MDT Plymouth switcher were their loss-leader entry models.


Great score. I agree that it will probably not be as quiet, but they can be great pullers. There's an interesting article about these here:
http://ho-scaletrains.com/ahm-f-m-c-liner/
Though it's had several updates, this might be one of the longest produced HO models.

I've got one of the early single truck versions and I'm presently working on one of the more recent 8wd versions -probably early 00's production) that I received without any weights. Here's a repost from another forum.

I glued the L shaped rear weight from the 4wd version upside down which leaves just enough room for the truck to rotate properly. Also added bullets throughout. 

I put 6 bullets in the back of the 4wd to add more weight. Might add more.









If this isn't enough weight, I could put a platform over the motor (the bullets are taller than the motor) and add even more weight. I'll hold off on this until I decide about remotoring.








E6000 Goop may be my new favorite glue for weights and such.


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## rsv1ho (Oct 16, 2019)

Thanks for that link. I read it all and quickly saved it to my favorite places. Interesting that the first models were made with Bakelite. 

I come from the model aviation world where weight is the enemy. Quite the opposite here. 

Interesting pictures, are those all lead bullets? I thought the centers were part of some sort of electronics, capacitors etc.


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## Eilif (Nov 6, 2017)

Quick update, just lost one of the springs for the motor so it's out and now it's full speed ahead with the swap! I'm going to Harbor freight tomorrow to get a pair of tough nippers I can use to shorten the shafts a bit.



rsv1ho said:


> Thanks for that link. I read it all and quickly saved it to my favorite places. Interesting that the first models were made with Bakelite.
> 
> I come from the model aviation world where weight is the enemy. Quite the opposite here.
> 
> Interesting pictures, are those all lead bullets? I thought the centers were part of some sort of electronics, capacitors etc.


You're very welcome!
They are indeed both bullets. I don't recall what kind. My wife's lab had them to use as weights in some no longer done process so she brought me a box nearly full of them. I use them for most of my weighting tasks now. 

Two other sites you might like:
This is the forerunner to the one I linked you to before:
http://tycotrain.tripod.com
A fair number of dead links, but ALOT of info that hasn't made it to the new site. Tons of info about low and mid-level trains.
You probably know all about this one...
https://hoseeker.net
...but just in case, it bears repeating for those who might not.


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## MichaelE (Mar 7, 2018)

That bullet type is called a 'semi-wadcutter' because of the perfect holes it creates when it penetrates a paper target. They are mostly used for target work.

Semi-wadcutter's holes are not as neat as a full wadcutter.


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## rsv1ho (Oct 16, 2019)

Thanks Eilf, I looked at all those sites. 

I liked - no trip was complete without a visit to Woolworth's department store. I made many of those trips, especially at Christmas time where they would have scads of AHM/Rivarossi products on sale. I gathered up my share.

And Mike, I tried to make those into wadcutters, but they looked too perfect, but your right wadcutters they are.

Went a little wild on ebay yesterday BIN. I bought these little critters all from the same seller and saved a bunch with combined shipping. I usually contact sellers first with an offer, but their prices were quite reasonable so I didn't bother.

Picked up another E8 just to see if the first one (above) was a fluke, and a couple of Penn passenger cars, all AHM Rivarossi.


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