Vintage Rivarossi

[Il Grifone]

For those interested there is this useful site. http://www.rivarossi-memory.it/

 

A knowledge of Italian is useful (like the NEM site, the English version is incomplete), but please ask if you need any help.

[bertiedog]

For those interested there is this useful site. http://www.rivarossi-memory.it/

 

A knowledge of Italian is useful (like the NEM site, the English version is incomplete), but please ask if you need any help.

 

There's a bit about Rossi in the article about Polks and the efforts to get Rossi to change from toy making to scale locos especially for the US hobby market, which influence also brought about the move to HO European models after 1950.

 

Early course scale Rivarossi branded items are very rare in the UK, the early US HO items are far more common. No imports were allowed from Italy till 1951 anyway, same as Germany, due to the war, but often items like these were available to US troops serving in the UK, and got sold on.

 

 

 

Early Japanese models also turned up here via US servicemen, at a time when nobody would touch Japanese goods on principle, let alone an import ban. The first Japanese made items in the UK in the 1950's were cheap cameras and even cheaper tin plate toys, which hardly gave an inkling of what was to come from the Far East........

 

Stephen.

[bertiedog]

For those interested there is this useful site. http://www.rivarossi-memory.it/

 

A knowledge of Italian is useful (like the NEM site, the English version is incomplete), but please ask if you need any help.

 

For non Italian readers, (mine is slow and unsure!), if you have the Google browser, Chrome, it automatically offers a very good translation of the Italian text, press the button offered at the top and it instantly displays the whole thing in English, occasionally fails on technical terms , but tries very hard!!!

 

It detects foreign languages automatically, except on some pages where a mix exists, and it only detects fully foreign pages. Works well on You tube pages as well.

Some security software tries to stop the translation button appearing, I have no trouble , but others report this.

Stephen.

[Il Grifone]

I've not tried the Italian translator (not needing to), but the German fails miserably with technical terms.

 

Very early Rivarossi is not very common even in Italy, probably because 1. it was/is expensive. (Most Italians had other things to spend money on at the time.) and 2. it suffers badly from mazak disease. The plastic items are bakelite which chips easily.

 

I find Rivarossi wheels run well on Dublo track but need a small washer (the Peco ones are ideal) to increase the back to back so that they don't drop into Dublo points (at the blades where the gauge widens to about 18mm!).

[bertiedog]

The German to English Google translations are often thrown by German grammar, reversal of descriptions, but the Google seems fine with Italian to English, more logical grammar!

 

But it can be thrown with German to English translations of Youtube titles, not aided by the love of nonsense titles on 1920/30's German dance band and jazz music......Such as "Aunt Paula sits in bed eating tomatoes"....yes..... that's the correct title to a 1929 hit recording !!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CB59pJ13x0

 

Google has a good stab at the translation, but Hans Albers comedy hit record "Mein Gorilla hat 'ne Villa im Zoo" stumps it.. the lyrics should be ( don't ask why!!!) approx as below!!!!(enter "Hans Albers" on Youtube to hear the famous recording!!) or click on link below.

 

My Gorilla

Has a villa in the zoo

My Gorilla

Satisfied and happy lives

He knows no politics

And it is his greatest happiness

The itch to wife

And each of bothers him

For the very indignant Villa

Full spitting contempt

 

My Gorilla

Has a villa in the zoo

My Gorilla

Well, the boy is so

Mrs. gorilla still holds the

If he wants to kiss her views

Yes if he wants then Villa

 

My Gorilla

Has a villa in the zoo

 

 

Mrs. gorilla still holds the

When he wants to kiss her views

If he wants then Villa

 

My Gorilla

Has a villa in the zoo

[Craig Watson]

Thanks for the link!

 

I have one of the locos in the 1999 catalogue, http://www.rivarossi...035_RR_1999.jpg

On page 33, top loco no 5431, Indiana Harbour belt 0-8-0 102 with booster tender.

 

Have had it for a good few years, it still runs well too, will try and get a pic over the next few days, I picked it up second hand from my local shop for a good price, but wasn't sure when it had been originally sold.

 

I've always been meaning to convert it to kadee couplings but it's another job I haven't get round to yet!

 

Cheers

 

Craig

[Il Grifone]

Thanks for the link!

 

I have one of the locos in the 1999 catalogue, http://www.rivarossi...035_RR_1999.jpg

On page 33, top loco no 5431, Indiana Harbour belt 0-8-0 102 with booster tender.

 

Have had it for a good few years, it still runs well too, will try and get a pic over the next few days, I picked it up second hand from my local shop for a good price, but wasn't sure when it had been originally sold.

 

I've always been meaning to convert it to kadee couplings but it's another job I haven't get round to yet!

 

Cheers

 

Craig

 

Kadee do couplers for most Rivarossi (AHM in the states - see the Nat Polk interview), so it should be relatively painless. This model appears in the 1972 catalogue I have. I believe it dates back to the sixties

 

Seeking info on German locos, led me to try the (Google IIRC) German translator. (My knowledge of German makes reading it rather tiring.) I ended up making a few suggestions of better translations!

[Guest FNM600]

I've not tried the Italian translator (not needing to), but the German fails miserably with technical terms.

 

Very early Rivarossi is not very common even in Italy, probably because 1. it was/is expensive. (Most Italians had other things to spend money on at the time.) and 2. it suffers badly from mazak disease. The plastic items are bakelite which chips easily.

 

I find Rivarossi wheels run well on Dublo track but need a small washer (the Peco ones are ideal) to increase the back to back so that they don't drop into Dublo points (at the blades where the gauge widens to about 18mm!).

 I am a newcomer to rmweb and exploring.  That is why I am replying to some older threads too.

We have all become HornbyTriang customers and owners by takeover and no longer other makes such as RR ! 

One of the problems of this is the stocks of spare parts and work in progress has been ditched.  Only the latest tooling (some) and name carried over. But Art. HRxxxx are no longer made in Italy nor in EU.

 - A lot of the original spares are available from purchases for the future by private collectors at the time of takeover (see e-Bay)

-  This gentleman purchased cratefuls of parts at the bankrupcy and cataloguing them to seelling them at shows, mail order, personal callers (I am lucky enough personally) until sold out.    http://www.casadelmodellismo.it/html/start.htm

 

 But then it comes to the point one needs new supplies espescially for critical parts such as zama parts:

- http://www.rivarestore.com/rivarestore.php?lang=eng&Tipologia_eng=Supporting%20frames

- http://www.rivarossi-memory.it/Bacheca/CATALOGO%20PEZZI%20DI%20RICAMBIO%20RIVAROSSI%20RIPRODOTTI%20marzo2012.pdf

 for example such the rubber bellows for the articulated Bo-Bo-Bos, etc.

 

 It seems to be like for real Meccano Hornby-Dublo from Liverpool not Margate.

 

 Whilst RR track is now ex-Triang series 6 albeit of quality to make both Mr. Hornby and Rossi turn in their grave is a welcome development for a pan-European SetTrack (luckily one can get alternative supplies from Devon and not only China), sadly the massive Hornby range is not going to be uniform in scale and availability. Globalization and localization for the big boys but not you and me. But we can change such as with these posts.

I didn't realize that unlike 1:80 ex-RR 1:76 still a big controversy.

 

OK in old days.

 

Hoping it helps.

[andyman7]

  Whilst RR track is now ex-Triang series 6 albeit of quality to make both Mr. Hornby and Rossi turn in their grave is a welcome development for a pan-European SetTrack (luckily one can get alternative supplies from Devon and not only China), sadly the massive Hornby range is not going to be uniform in scale and availability. Globalization and localization for the big boys but not you and me. But we can change such as with these posts.

 

The track that Hornby market across all their global brands is descended from System 6 and uses the same geometry but, apart from the tool used for the Isolating Section, there are no original System 6 components left in the range. The original System 6 track was quite fragile but had a very neat half-sleeper join that to my mind is neater than the later Hornby track, as well as Peco. It was made in Margate, but in the mid 70s most track production was outsourced to Roco in Austria. The new track was compatible with the old but did away with the half-sleeper join. Ironically, when production moved to China, the Roco tools went there but then Hornby had a new set of tools made up whilst the ex-Austrian tools were acquired by Bachmann who now make their track for the UK market in China using tools originally made by Roco in Austria.

[WisTramwayMan]

I was never intending (particularly) to get involved with foreign locos and then whilst looking on Ebay for Mallets I can across the Rivarossi GT2 4/4 - fascinating German tank loco with the first batch built immediately prior to WW1 with an 0-8-8-0 T wheel arrangement (with a further batch in the early 20s) for use on heavily graded branch lines. I must confess, I couldn't resist, and now have a couple of them..