Today I bought a used original Röwa 2-8-8-2 N&W Y6 mallet from a German dealer. It is a consignment, Röwa went bankrupt back in 1975. If I understood it correctly the model was sold in the U.S. by MRC and maybe others. It was later produced by Bemo for a short time, they probably took over the tools. The engine is still great in terms of detail and also runs well. There is only a part missing, in front of the cab, which might have been a whistle, or a bell. Does anyone have a picture of the model, so that I can find out what I can use for a replacement? And, 2nd question, what type of MTL coupler would be the best for the tender? I favor body-mounting, otherwise 1129 might be the candidate. Thank you for any help.
You can find a description and pictures in Mark's (Spookshow's) web site. http://www.visi.com/~spookshow/locos.html Mine was converted a long time ago with a Micro-Trains MT1048 conversion kit made specifically for the MRC 2-8-8-2. My cross-reference list shows the new stock number for that kit is 001 30 002. It was a tender and pilot conversion kit. If you cannot find the kit, you can probably body-mount a 1023/1025 with a few minor modifications. That is what I would do. Otherwise you could convert the tender truck coupler using the MTL 1128-1129-1130 depending on length needed. Mike K
The Bemo release (the version brought in by Charles Merzbach, the Arnold Rapido importer) was a separate set of tooling. I confirmed this in a conversation with Jim Conway (who bought the Rowa tooling and had it produced in Italy by Rivarossi). Apparently, the tooling shop that made the Y6b for Rowa/MRC duplicated it. As it was made from the same masters by the same people it is difficult to see any differences in the two. The Bemo was the only one with a frame modified for a Seuthe smoke unit, but not all came with the modified frame. It is not known what happened to the second set of tooling, or the molds for the Rowa passenger cars which were supposed to go to Rivarossi but never made it. Neither set of tooling has ever surfaced and may have been made into Volkswagens. Charlie Vlk
The MTL conversion chart says 1048 for the Rowa/Rivarossi Mallet, converts both the tender and the pilot. My Y6 has a bell, which is a separate piece, just in front of the cab.
Christoph, my apologies. I edited my post above as I had posted information about the Rowa/MRC 2-8-4 instead of the 2-8-8-2. I am sorry for my mistake and any confusion it caused. Mike
Mike, no need to apologize I saw that they discussed mostly the Berkshire but the overall information was real interesting. It was my understanding that Bemo was founded by ex-Röwa people after the end of Röwa, though the Röwa boss Willy Ade later founded another company offering high quality passenger cars in H0. What seems strange to me is that Röwa should have the toolmaking contracted to an outside company, because this was basically their core competence. Btw the Y6b looks good with the Bachman auxiliary tender, which is shown on several prototype photos. P.S.: this is my 500th post, unbelievable. How can people post so much ??
I bought another Röwa Y6 on ebay (shortly after I got that clunker I described in another post), and am back changing the couplers to MTL. The 1129 in the tender truck of the first engine worked not that well. Now I put some Plastruct strips under the tender and added a 1015, which works well. Here comes the question how the tender looked like from behind. Did it have a kind of pilot? Since I am working on it anyway this would be the right time to add something there. Another question is the front coupler. MTL did a conversion set which is no longer available. As I understood from some of their (MTL) documentation, this was basically 1025 couplers plus an adapter piece. Don't have more information. I assume that the adapter/filler was needed for the tender, though the 1025 seems a bit long for the available space and might collide with the truck. My 1015 seems to be O.K. there. But it would be interesting to see what was used for the front coupler. I don't want to mess with front of the engine until I know exactly what to do. So far I have only seen pictures of the Y6 from front, the most impressive ones by O.Winston Link. But none so far from behind.
A little help I have one of those original rowas, with a working smoker unit. Problem is the motor is blown. Anyone have just the motor they want to sell? I sent mine out to a guy in PA to repair, and I never saw it again ( Anyway, if I remember, its white with a black end, also, would the motor from one of their same time berks be the same? V trains4me2@optonline.net
Hi all ,and today i just pick up a new in box an original rowa SANTA FE STEAM ENGINE 2-8-8-2 LOCOMOTIVE .OLD BUT BRAND NEW , PERFECT SHAPE, TESTED RUNS PERFECT, SUPER DETAIL . I know these are VERY HARD TO FIND ITEM and made by ROWA MADE IN GERMANY . I has been looking for this engine for 3 year now and i found it today
Cristoph, I have several of these done by Rivarossi - let me know if you need any pix. I'm pretty sure I have the Kadee (MT) conversion somewhere as well. Mark
Thanks, Mark. I changed one tender to body mounted 1015 with a piece of styrene added under the tender floor. This seems to be the same as the Kadee/MTL coupler set, which I don't have, but someone sent me pictures of this set. I would like to improve (replace) the lettering of (at least) one engine with the Microscale N&W Steam set, but it is currently out of print.
Please email them that you'd like to see it produced again. At least they did not cancel it, so I assume they have it on the production schedule. Mark
I have 2 Rowa's,I custom painted them N&W.The guy I got them from years ago was switching to Lionel from N scale,gave me them to paint a few Lionel locos in Erie..I really like them..
