Rivarossi Berkshire Ressurection

[nickelplate759]

If you want to go the Sagami route, I've got some of the long ones lying around - 12 x 25 with double shaft. If that would be useful, send me a PM. You might have to grind out the inside of the frame deeper to get a 25mm motor in there, but that would take 5mm of your shaft length requirement. And the 12mm Sagamis were pretty darn good.

Thanks for the offer Max,  but the 14x20 Sagami appears to work perfectly and is less work to fit in.

[nickelplate759]

Next challenge - need to get the drivers & valve gear off of the chassis so I can continue this project.
I can remove the gear cover and pull the cylinders no problem, but I'm puzzled by how to remove the mounting bar for the crosshead guide.

I'm trying to keep all the rods & valve gear attached to the drivers, but the that means somehow detaching them from the crosshead guide, and then I need to get that mounting bar out of the chassis.  It seems to be loose, but I can't figure out how to get it out.   I'm hoping somone has done this and can advise me - I want to avoid destructive testing!

[mmagliaro]

Can you take some close pictures?   I have a Rowa one, but I'm not sure they are identical.

If it's like other Rivarossi engines, I think the crosshead guide support is held in place by screws inside the boiler.
Do you have the boiler off?

[peteski]

Next challenge - need to get the drivers & valve gear off of the chassis so I can continue this project.
I can remove the gear cover and pull the cylinders no problem, but I'm puzzled by how to remove the mounting bar for the crosshead guide.

I'm trying to keep all the rods & valve gear attached to the drivers, but the that means somehow detaching them from the crosshead guide, and then I need to get that mounting bar out of the chassis.  It seems to be loose, but I can't figure out how to get it out.   I'm hoping somone has done this and can advise me - I want to avoid destructive testing!

I've done it,  but it was years ago and I don't recall the details. At least I think I fully took it apart.

But trying to keep all the siderods in place is a bit of a fruitless exercise.  All the drivers are geared and you will have to get the entire gear-train in sync with the siderods.  I would at least pull the main crank lin out. Then you won't even have to remove the cylinder and cross head. 

[peteski]

Now you made me go and take one of mine apart! 

You have to rotate the assembly around 90 degrees then slide out through the front of the chassis.  I didn't remove the drivers (because I didn't feel like realigning the gears - major pain), and as you can see I can't rotate it far enough to remove it.  If you took the drivers out of the chassis then you can likely rotate it far enough to remove. But putting it all back together while things are still all attached will require 5 hands!  You will be better off unscrewing the main crankpin and taking off the the main rod and the eccentric rod (whatever it is called). That will make things much easier on you.

[Doug G.]

I believe the original MRC (Rowa) release has flanges that work on code 55 but I'm not 100% sure. They do look smaller than the Rivarossi version, however.

Not that this information is of any use here but, there you have it.



Dug

[nickelplate759]

Now you made me go and take one of mine apart! 

Mine looks just like this - and Pete's photo shows exactly how far I got.  I realized this morning that I'll probably have to pull the main crankpin as he recommends.

I have the Rowa version too.  The rods and valve gear are plastic and flex when it runs. I could never get it to run as smoothly as the Rivarossi version.

[nkalanaga]

Yes, the original MRC runs fine on ME code 55 track.  It may work on ME code 40, but I haven't tried it.  I very seldom run steam, and then only on the mainline, as a fan trip.

The original Con-Cor and MRC equipment, from the late 60s, by Kato, works nicely on code 40.

[nickelplate759]

I can confirm that Pete's recollection of how to take apart the drivers etc. is correct.  I pulled the crankpins (well, really unscrewed them), and everything was easily disassembled after that.

[peteski]

I can confirm that Pete's recollection of how to take apart the drivers etc. is correct.  I pulled the crankpins (well, really unscrewed them), and everything was easily disassembled after that.

Nice.
And all the siderods are segmented and only long enough to connect between the adjacent drivers, and one end is an open fork, so they all come apart separately.  Just make sure to sketch how they are stacked and where the washers go.  Like I said, if you take the drivers out of the chassis, reassembly is very tedious.

[nickelplate759]

Nice.
And all the siderods are segmented and only long enough to connect between the adjacent drivers, and one end is an open fork, so they all come apart separately.  Just make sure to sketch how they are stacked and where the washers go.  Like I said, if you take the drivers out of the chassis, reassembly is very tedious.

Yep, sure is!  Doing that now....

[nickelplate759]

Yes, the original MRC runs fine on ME code 55 track.  It may work on ME code 40, but I haven't tried it.  I very seldom run steam, and then only on the mainline, as a fan trip.

The original Con-Cor and MRC equipment, from the late 60s, by Kato, works nicely on code 40.

I pulled out my original MRC Berkshire as well.  Alas, it does NOT run fine on Atlas code 55.   Since I have a mix Atlas and ME track it may get the flange-reducing treatment as well.

[nickelplate759]

So earlier I mentioned that I had a 14x20 Sagami motor (it's closer to 14.5mm in diameter) to put in this engine.  I do, but in test fitting I realized that the motor casing comes very close to the body shell - like almost touching.   Do I need to worry about heat distorting the shell?  I note that the original Rivarossi motor was about the same diameter, so maybe I don't need to worry.

Anyone have experience with how hot the Sagami motors get?

[mmagliaro]

So earlier I mentioned that I had a 14x20 Sagami motor (it's closer to 14.5mm in diameter) to put in this engine.  I do, but in test fitting I realized that the motor casing comes very close to the body shell - like almost touching.   Do I need to worry about heat distorting the shell?  I note that the original Rivarossi motor was about the same diameter, so maybe I don't need to worry.

Anyone have experience with how hot the Sagami motors get?

I used them a lot back in the day (in the 1990s), and I never recall them even getting warm.  The 10x13 was an exception, but it usually ran hot because it was a very small motor and was overburdened.  But I used the larger 10x20 and the very common 1220 can motors and they were always cool to the touch even after running a long time.

[nickelplate759]

Thanks!   Slowly I'm progressing.  My plan is to get the drive train working on DC first, then add the valve gear, then do the DCC conversion.