Hu There, I have four Rivarossi 65' Heavyweight passenger cars with talgo trucks. I have nothing but problems with these cars derailing at switch points. At the same time, I have no problem with my freight cars which are all have body mounted couplers. My radius is 21" so I think it's big enough for by pax cars. Would I be better off converting the talgo couplers (6 wheel) to body mounts" If so, does anyone know which coupler size and mount I should use on the car frame? Any thoughts will be appreciated! Thanx, Joe Wanna Bea RR founder
I think I can answer your question - the Rivarossi is pretty close to the IHC heavyweights. These cars are severely underweight by NMRA standards, so add weight to them. Mine don't have interiors so it was quite easy - if you have interiors it's more of a challenge. Also - depending on how many axles your trucks have, Kadee makes a great coupler conversion - 505 for 6-axle and 508 for the 4-axle. I'm guessing since you have the heavyweights you would need the Kadee 505. Also, if the Rivarossi wheels are anything like the IHC, you need to replace them. Kadee 522 or 523 (both 36" wheelsets). These changes will do a world of good for them. I would not go with body mounts for a 21" radius - use the truck mounted couplers.
I changed the couplers on my Rivarossi heavyweights to Kadee 505s and it was a breeze, though I left the couplers truck-mounted. It's best for negotiating tighter curves (these foot-longs will go around 18" curves without problems, though they look ridiculous doing so).
Thanks guys, I'm going ti try the 505 route. As for my slight bump at my turnout frog, maybe it will resolve the problem. As I said, my freight cars have no pproblem. I'll let you know. Joe
Joe - the wheels could be the problem on your turnouts. My heavyweights came with the old-style plastic wheels with the oversized flanges, which caused the cars to bump over the turnouts. The Kadee 521 metal wheelsets solved that - they have the correct RP-25 flanges, plus they rolled better too. Worth every penny. (Sorry I referenced Kadee 523 in an earlier post regarding the wheelsets - I'll blame that on the weekend). The 521 and 522 are both 36" passenger wheelsets, 521 being ribbed back and 522 being smooth. Good luck - and don't forget the weight issue too.
My wheelsets are of the metal type. It seems that the problem stems from one car only, but i'm going to continue testing various combinations of cars to be sure. I'll do the weights first, then the couplers. If both fail I'll go the wheelset route. Where can I find the proper weight for the 65' heavyweight? The NMRA website? Thanks for the info. Joe
Yep - the NMRA website ... look under "standards" I believe... they have a formula for determining optimal car weight based on the length. I had it memorized a couple months ago but it escapes me now :tb-confused: I think I had to add about 2 oz. to my IHC heavyweights, they are pretty lightweight in actuality! Anyway, lots of good stuff there. Just a thought - have you checked the gauge of your wheelsets? Sometimes if those are off it will give you trouble at turnouts too.
Hooray! It's 1 oz + 1/2oz for each inch of length Had to add 1 1/2 oz to each car and you know what? No more derailments (for now) and they seem to run a lot smoother. I'm now going to check the rest of my fleet before finalizing of trackwork before scenery. Once again, thanks for the help. I'll be back soon, hopefully with some advice to give in return. Joe Wanna Bea RR Founder
