# Rivarossi DCC



## mopac

Has anybody done an install on rivarossi steam? Most of my rivarossi are from the Model Expo era. I have heard they do fine with dcc and then I have heard
sell them and replace with factory installs. I have some nice ones and would like to install dcc but if they don't do well with dcc I need to plan a different coarse. Whats your opinion?


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## NIMT

Rivarossi's are really good to convert and they run really well too!
They take time to do, put the tender adapter plug on it for a clean install.
And they are even better with Tsunami sound!


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## shaygetz

Yup...what he said...mine worked well, I only removed them when I had to leave the club I was in at the time...



















...you can see they're the pizza flanged three pole 70s lokeys, I changed nothing except to instal LED lights. The plugs are jumpered should I ever get a DCC system in the future.


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## mopac

Glad to hear that they do well with dcc. Your guys opinion works
for me. Tsunami decoder from Sean will be the plan. Sean, I will assume
I can get the tender plug from you also. Is that a 4 or 6 wire plug?


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## sawgunner

Beautiful locos Shay!!! i need to go change my pants now


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## mopac

Yes they are both beautiful beasts. Great pics. I have one of those old AHM #4005
big boys. Motor gets a little warm on mine. Not sure what that is. I also have a newer
big boy #4003. No cab forward. I have a challenger #3985 and a FEF #844. Plus 4 or 5 
other rivarossis. They are all like new. Hardly any run time on them. Maybe none on some. I hear the tenders are hard to get apart.


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## shaygetz

Thanks guys...they're my babies. The Cab forward had a warped frame, the Big Boy had a good tussle with the postal service


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## flyboy2610

Shay,
I'm guessing you run that cab forward on code 100 rail? I have one like that with the deep flange wheels, #4257. I run code 83 (or will when the layout gets built) and wonder how it will do on the turnouts.
It's a brand new engine, paid $100 for it on clearance at the train store.


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## shaygetz

I always put down C100 because I run antiques along with the new stuff...:thumbsup:


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## lears2005

Hey shay I might have a bachman dcc controler for sell if you are interested. If you dont mind if I ask why you left the club.


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## shaygetz

Relayed to me from a friend in on the conversation going on behind my back during a ops session at the club...

_"That guy needs to get a real job so that he can buy real trains instead of running that toy junk."_

I didn't say anything and just quietly turned in my notice later that week. It comforts me to know that I have more fun with $10 in this hobby than they will ever know. I still stop by and say 'Hi' when they show up at shows...there's no bitterness, just a sense of pity that the only joy in the hobby those guys will ever know comes from a BLI or MTH catalog and not from their own talent.

I appreciate the offer but I've long since sold my chips. I can still go back if I want to but that's really unlikely.


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## lears2005

Ok just thought I would offer. Thats what I really like about the club am with it dont have to be some high dollar locomotive to run on the layout. you can you what every you like and know one will say a thing.


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## Guest

Shay, I still ahve all the decoders and the decoder testor you sent me, and they are alive and well.
I put decoders in some 70's era steam locos I had, a big boy, chalenger, even a berkshire. I put the decoders in the cab and wired them to the original open frame motors, and they worked fine.


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## lears2005

Sound like they just can not aprecate you work. Which I think is top of the line.


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## New Berlin RR

mopac said:


> Yes they are both beautiful beasts. Great pics. I have one of those old AHM #4005
> big boys. Motor gets a little warm on mine. Not sure what that is. I also have a newer
> big boy #4003. No cab forward. I have a challenger #3985 and a FEF #844. Plus 4 or 5
> other rivarossis. They are all like new. Hardly any run time on them. Maybe none on some. I hear the tenders are hard to get apart.


I have a cabforward my self, and no the tender on mine just pulls off, all it has is the "draw bar" that holds it to the train.






shaygetz said:


> Relayed to me from a friend in on the conversation going on behind my back during a ops session at the club...
> 
> _"That guy needs to get a real job so that he can buy real trains instead of running that toy junk."_
> 
> I didn't say anything and just quietly turned in my notice later that week. It comforts me to know that I have more fun with $10 in this hobby than they will ever know. I still stop by and say 'Hi' when they show up at shows...there's no bitterness, just a sense of pity that the only joy in the hobby those guys will ever know comes from a BLI or MTH catalog and not from their own talent.
> 
> I appreciate the offer but I've long since sold my chips. I can still go back if I want to but that's really unlikely.


Shay I hope they wern't talking about the Cabforward....the one I have is also my pride and joy and once I build my layout the way I want I am sure it will be running almost every moment I can run it!!! only problem I have had so far with it was a bent wheel but that was a simple fix!! and yea I haven't run it much but when I run ANY of my trains including the "El Cheapo" (the berkshire, or my F7 Amtrak #106) I get tons of enjoyment out of them...


some of my train cars I only spent $5 on but they look just as great as the $100 cars...


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## shaygetz

thoroughbreed said:


> Shay, I still ahve all the decoders and the decoder testor you sent me, and they are alive and well.


Glad to hear it...I was actually wondering recently how that tester was holding up---it was my first electronics project in over 25 years...:thumbsup:


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## shaygetz

New Berlin RR said:


> Shay I hope they wern't talking about the Cabforward...


That was the one, I ran it the most there...I used to do drawbar tests to see how much I could get that old three pole Rivarossi motor to take. 25 cars up a 1.75% grade was a pretty regular run for it.


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## shaygetz

lears2005 said:


> Sound like they just can not aprecate you work. Which I think is top of the line.


Thanks for the kind words...


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## NIMT

shaygetz, If you could bottle some of your talent and sell it you would be rich!!! and boy would you be helping a lot of people out!
Oh and put me down for a 12 pack if you ever do sell!


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## D1566

Have just fitted a DCC decoder to one of the older 'Big Boys' - the job was simple, about 10 minutes work with a soldering iron - fitted a plug to allow chip change later if needed.


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## mopac

Thats encouraging D1566, thanks.


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## Cab1

I converted my Rivarossi NYC 4-6-4 Streamlined Dreyfuss Hudson to DCC awhile back. The tender is nice and big. It had enough room for the decoder and two 32 ohm speakers in parallel. I swapped out the headlight for an LED. It didn't have a reverse light, just an impression of one cast in the plastic. So I poked a hole in the fake lens, Put a clear lens and LED behind it - bingo, I have a reverse light. One thing to keep in mind is everything is grounded to the frame. I don't know if all Rivarossi loco's are made this way. At first blush, it seems impossible to isolate everything (had me scratching my head for awhile) but all you have to do is cut the negative tab on the motor and use that wire to power the decoder. Then wire everything up as normal. Runs great.


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## mopac

Thanks Cab1. I don't know why I was hearing rivarossi didn't do well with dcc.
Lots were saying forget dcc with them and just buy newer engines ready to go.
Maybe the newer engines with newer drive lines are smoother but my rivarossi
runs smooth enough for me on dc. Looking forward to converting them. I got 
one of the NYC streamlined steam also.


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## Guest

The dcc conversion is easy and works well, just need to run them on code 100 rail because of the cookie-cutter flanges.


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## Cab1

No, tyco is the beastly one. I picked up a GG-1 electric on ebay and converted it to DCC. I re-motored it with a DVD motor, put in LED's, sound, did the whole nine yards and its still a crappy loco. It can't hold a candle to a Rivarossi. I'll never buy another tyco.


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## NIMT

Yes avoid any loco that only has one truck power pickups!
If it doesn't run well on DC its not going to run well on DCC.


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## shaygetz

mopac said:


> I don't know why I was hearing rivarossi didn't do well with dcc.
> Lots were saying forget dcc with them and just buy newer engines ready to go.


You find there are some in our hobby who run trains without getting into or understanding how they work, what makes them tick and how to work on them. There's nothing wrong with that, it just limits the enjoyment to the products offered rather than the machines available. Many run their trains like they drive their cars...they know how to get from A to B and back again, but have no idea how it works or what's going on under the hood. 

I did my Rivarossis especially because so many said it couldn't be done, making the final installs all the more enjoyable--at the time, there were no DCC Big Boys or Cab-forwards, which also made me the big kid on the block:thumbsup: Once Marklin delivered theirs, soon followed by Trix and Athearn, DCC Big Boys were everywhere, and the novelty to the masses wore off.

I was blessed to enter the hobby at a time when mechanical ability and imagination were much more necessary to enjoy the hobby. That doesn't make me better than any other modelers, it just gives me more options when I go to a swap meet or train show---not to mention making me look like Yoda among the next generation of Jedi railheads...

_"Ahhhh...model railroader ready you think you are, hmmmmm?"_


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## mopac

I have always took my trains apart to see how they worked. I think I did that so I could fix them if they broke or quit running. After what all you guys have said about rivarossi steamers I feel confident about converting them. Now rivarossi diesels might be a different story. Mine are 1 truck pickups. I don't know how hard that would be to change. They probably won't make it through a #8 turnout with that long frog. Although
I have thought about energizing my metal frogs when I build the new layout.


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## D1566

Fit more power pick-ups; paxolin sheet and phoz-bronze strip ...


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## Southern

shaygetz said:


> cars...they know how to get from A to B and back again, but have no idea how it works or what's going on under the hood.


That's me 

i love my Rivarrossis. i have a new to me one that I have to ask about soon. I will be converting them over to DCC.


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## flyboy2610

There are some Rivarossi write ups here:
http://www.wiringfordcc.com/write_ups.htm


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## Cab1

One thing about Rivarossi steamers (at least the NYC 4-6-4 Streamlined Dreyfuss Hudson anyway) is the complex drive linkage. Take a picture of it before taking the boiler apart. It took awhile for me to figure out how to put it back together after the DCC install. As far as the Tyco GG-1, or any Tyco with one truck power pickups, it can be a challenge getting it powered. Also, the Tyco GG-1 isn't prototypical - not by a long shot. It has a diesel fuel tank in place of the missing six wheels it suppose to have. I have so much invested in this loco I'm thinking of taking the tank out and replacing it with two three wheel powered trucks. That would take care of both problems. Then again I would be better off buying a Rivarossi GG-1 and selling the Tyco.


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