Hello everyone, I have a Rivarossi E8 that I bought used a few years ago at Battlefield Hobby in Springfield. The unit was originally 2008 Messenger and was painted and decaled in the 1950 gold stripe with white trim scheme, but the pilot broke off during the move from Steelville to Union three years ago, so I put it in a drawer until recently. The locomotive used to run decent enough, but now seems to short-out and surge along on sections of track where none of my other locomotives have any trouble. The track is clean and connected well, so I don't know why it's doing this. Karl Brand was kind enough to provide me with a custom painted body shell that, despite what he says, I think looks great as it is. Now I'd like to get the locomotive in good running condition. Should I buy a new motor, such as one from Proto West, or is there a simpler solution? BTW, thanks, Karl, for the shell and the extremely reasonable IHC passenger cars. I replaced the original Talgo horn-hook couplers with McHenry knuckle couplers, added some extra weight, and presto, they run great, even on the two sections of 18" curves that I have. Thanks, Pat Moreland, Union Mo.
Man, the first thing I would do is clean every wheel until they are spotless. If it utilizes wipers I would clean the contact surfaces and check all wires for breaks or broken solder joints. Remove the motor and apply power directly to it to see if it runs well by itself. If it does then it's a connection problem. Run it in the dark and look for sparks. That's a good indicator of dirt buildup. Also make sure there's no wire shorting against any other metal part. I hope these tips work. Good luck.
Check the wheels and also the connection between the end of the axles and the pick-ups on the trucks. If my memory is correct, the motor is a black, oblate can motor with 5 pole skewed armature. That should be a good running setup if you can reliably get power from the rails to the motor.
Glad to help..... Here's an exploded drawing from the AHM 1968 parts catalog that might help track down some of the wiring. In my experience, the motor brushes (part 22) caused problems, too. We would remove them, clean them with tuner cleaner, and re-install them; it seemed to help.
Thanks for the information, guys. I'll definitely clean the wheels and make sure everything is connected. I've used rubbing alcohol and cotton swabs in the past to clean locomotive wheels, and although it's tedious and time consuming, it seems to work pretty well. The motor in my locomotive doesn't look like the one in the exploded drawing, so I'm not sure now if this is even a Rivarossi. Mine could be a little newer, or maybe a different make. I seem to recall IHC making a Frisco E8 back in the mid-80's, so I'm wondering if that's what it might be. Keith Robinson accurately described the can motor that's in my locomotive. The unit has a single flywheel and power is transferred to each truck through driveshafts. Thanks again for the help, Pat
Hmmm.....I'll try to post a photo of it tomorrow. I don't have a lot of knowledge about these older units, but I'm sure some of you will know exactly what it is. Pat
Pat - Is one of the ways the body is secured to the chassis a small screw on the body roof just behind the crew cab? If so - Model Power. They made both HO E7's and E8's in the late 1970's-early 1980's. They were really pretty nice. I had two E8's (were Santa Fe but they got the Racehorse treatment), plus an E7. Sold the two E8's when the Proto 2000 E8's came out - still have the E7. Some day the E7 maybe will be an original Meteor unit - SLSF 2001, 2002, 2004 or 2005 - if I ever get to it. Sigh It needs some work. Ken
Hey, Ken, if you do get around to creating an E7, you will need a good quality blue herald which, as far as I have not been able to find. I emailed Tom Stolte at Oddballs and asked him if he would consider doing one, and he said, "maybe someday, who knows?" I don't know how he decides what his next decal will be, but I wonder if requests might help influence his decision. If the gang here would also request this important part of the Frisco logo, it might help. Just a thought. Terry
Terry - My thought would be to use the old Walthers blue & bar coonskin decals - if they are still good. My sets are about 20+ years old, though they have been stored well. Tom Stolte can be convinced to do a new set of decals, but sometimes, understandably, it is a tough sell. He has been disappointed from the sales of his current Frisco coonskin sets (various sizes and types, mainly for water towers as I recall). One thing that helps him make a "go" decision quickly is if somebody does the artwork. Anybody good at that? Ken
Terry .. I have three blue ones that I doubt I'll ever use. They have the full name SLSF under the "Frisco" herald that has smaller "Lines" under it. They are all different sizes. 0.465 width 0.280 high 0.550 width 0.330 high 0.640 width 0.365 high I do not know the make - Maybe Champ (pretty old) Are they O Scale or HO? If you want - send me PM and $1.00, or SSAE.
Here are a few photos of the motor and chassis. I gave the body shell to a friend in Kirkwood a couple of months ago hoping that he repair the broken pilot. I can't remember how it fastens to the chassis. Pat Moreland, Union Mo.
Pat, I believe that you have a Model Power chassis. It's a great puller, but it sounds like a broken coffee grinder.
Pat - Positive confirmation, that's a Model Power chassis. Definite! The body shell fits onto a lug at the rear of the chassis and then is secured by a screw through the body roof located just aft of the crew cab. You can see the screw in the chassis in your second picture. You can quiet it down significantly by replacing the coupling between the motor and the flywheel with a short section (5/8 inch) of model airplane clear plastic flexible fuel line tubing. I did that to my E7 (suggested by TinkerTown years ago) and it still runs well with the Proto 2000 E8's and it makes no more noise than the P2K's. It's also a very good puller. The Model Power drive is much better than the Rivarossi, and I always thought the body looked better as well. Ken
Thanks fellows. Karl, your comparison to a coffee grinder is right on. When this unit was running well, that's exactly what it sounded like. And thanks, Ken, for the positive identification. I just read an internet blog where someone had repowered one of these with a can motor of nearly identical proportions that he bought at Radio Shack. He also said that he replaced the drive-train with some sort of model airplane tubing, and claims that it now runs as well as P2K. Thanks again, Pat
Pat - See my post of last night for reference to the airplane fuel line tubing trick for the Model Power drive. A short section of this clear plastic tubing, 5/8", replaces the coupling between the motor shaft and the flywheel shaft, which is a major source of the drive noise in the Model Power E's. I pulled out my Model Power E7 chassis last night, and ran it around with P2K SLSF 2022. The MP runs well with the P2K (really a bit smoother) and makes no more noise than the 2022 with that coupling replaced. It will also easily outpull the P2K (because it is heavier). The MP U-joints to the trucks are also a bit sloppy, and hence noisy, plus the gear train in the trucks makes some noise as well, but no more than the 2022 does. To be fair to P2K - my SLSF 2022 makes the most noise on any of my P2K E's. For some reason its drive is a bit rough. It must be that long Racehorse name causing it! Ken
Now instead of plastic fuel tubing, silicone tubing is used and would only render an even better result.
Sorry, Ken. I skimmed over your post while I was on break and should've read it a little more thoroughly. I was just glad that you and Karl were able to identify it. I thought for sure that it was a Rivarossi, but after Karl posted the exploded parts drawing, I had some doubts. No matter, I've been able to use the Rivarossi shell that Karl gave me, and with some really slight modifications, it fits right on the chassis. The silicone tubing: Can you purchase that at a hobby store that sells R/C vehicles? Getting anxious to get the racehorse on the track! Pat
