I made my first articulated steam locomotive purchase a few days ago. Like the rest of my collection, i choose Rivarossi, a Challenger 4-6-6-4 #3979, stock #1592 used but in the orignal box from E-Bay. This a 1995 year model. It was not in the condition the seller said and he is refunding my money without a problem. That info has nothing to do with my question, just a background on this model. The real question is... I was not happy with the quality of this model. I own six other Rivarossi Steam Locomotives all of which are older models. Is it me being too picky or are the newer ones just not well made? Example: the spur gears in the drive are plastic(mine are brass). I know its a long body(boiler cover) but it flexes, sloppy like. The detail is there, just wasn't happy. Now it could be the disappointment of seeing a front step, the bell, & the front boss to hold the boiler cover in place all broken plus rusty railings & two that are bend & one missing. (I looked again at the pica from the auction, they are clear but not close-up.) Excuse the long post, i guess i'm asking since this is my first articulated model and the longest i own, are they all flexy because of the weight & length? Would an older version of the Challenger from Rivarossi be better? Does any one know when they started using plastic vs brass gears? Thanks for any help or opinions!!
I am not sure when the plastic gears started, but they will not last as long as the good brass ones. I have several Rivarossi articulated engines. Most bought back in the 1970's and still running like champs. The only 'new' 1990's one had plastic gears that almost stripped out, and I was able to trade it for another older long flange model, so now all my engines have brass gears except for a couple of Bachmanns. The 'sloppy' part you mention may be the way all manufacturers make model articulated engines so they will run on the non scale toy track curves put out for HO. The 18" radius curved track is included in the 'Train Sets' momma's buy for the kiddies at Christmas, and have been around since HO started in Europe. Real articulated engines were made so only the front driver set would swivel and the rear set were fastened firmly to the boiler. Challengers and Big Boys would actually go around a curve as tight as 20° !!! That would be a 54" radius in HO scale! Only a few people would have room for a loop 108" across to make a 180° return at one end of the layout. So the manufacturers made both the front and rear drivers to swivel enough to go around the 'standard' 18" radius curved track and #4 turnouts. None of the manufacturers made 'details' to suit everyone. Most are simply molded in place to 'represent' the detail enough so the average person can identify it, and your imagination has to do the rest like when we were kids and didn't know any better. If its black, runs well, and looks more like a steam engine that a diesel, then you may have to 'play-like' it is a steam engine, and just enjoy 'playing trains' unless you want to count the rivets. Keep in mind that those rivets on your engine are molded to be about 3 to 6" in diameter, and I never saw a 3" diameter rivet on all the steam boilers I worked on, and the rivet counters go crazy over that!
Thanks for the info, i was wondering about the rear set of drivers swiveling. Looking at the model, i saw the front set has a swivel connection for steam but the rear set didn't have one & i was wondered how the real loco got it's steam to rear drivers. It's a shame on my part, i'm from & still live in Scranton, PA where we have Steamtown & #4012 Big Boy i saw it brought in about 1986 and although it is parked 5 minutes & 1.5 miles from me, i have not visited since. Hmm.. what i'm i doing tomarrow.
