Give me advice on AHM/Rivarossi 4-4-0 Reno


J

JimT

Member
As some of you know I'm back to the hobby after a long time away, some 25 years. I was lucky though, I found 22 boxes of "stuff" generally not much track, loco's or rolling stock but a little. Among those things was a brand new, made in the 1960's in the box AHM/Rivarossi 4-4-0 Reno (Cab ahead was $39.99 on the box). The box was marked DOA in red marker which is why I still had it.

I've been pretty under the weather the last 10 days but not complete, changing meds, so I've been "tinkering". Tonight I tinkered with that Reno. It is brand new, festooned with brass fittings, with wheel flanges that I could use to cut fudge in the pan... no biggie. What was wrong was a missing drive shaft with "hex" sockets in the loco and a motor and hex socket in the tender. I didn't have anything like it. Back in the day I didn't have much from that era either so I don't know where this Reno thing and ten or so AHM 25-30 foot freight cars came from. Anyway... I say down with a program on Maya civilizations on Netflix and started whittling on a piece of dowel stock. When finished I lubed the motor and the Loco wheels and "stuff" I fitted the wood shaft, put everything together and it worked... for about 3 minutes. Not bad but it broke the wood, more torque than I had calculated.

Should I get a shaft off eBay for $15.00 shipped and see what it's like? It's a bit interesting and painted (the red, black, gold and brass is garish) is it worth it (effort wise) I can kind imagine it pulling a couple of short passenger cars occasionally... Tell me some experiances with these little things. Money is tight and I'll spend that money somewhere regardless, I have lots to buy.:p

Thanks folks, you will come to the rescue again I'm sure. Jim
 
I made one out of a brass bolt. If I recall it was a 1/4" head and a nut. got it to the right length and soldered it, then rounded the heads on the grinder. worked well.
 
The AHM Reno was my first very own locomotive that I got new for Christmas when I was in 4th grade. Always loved all the real brass on it. I also redid one for my daughter's Youth In Model Railroading locomotive drag race (imagine hot pink cab & driver wheels instead of red, and a 40,000 rpm slot car motor in the tender).

mantua mike said:
I made one out of a brass bolt. If I recall it was a 1/4" head and a nut. got it to the right length and soldered it, then rounded the heads on the grinder. worked well.
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This is what I was going to recommend. I think it was a 6-32 x 1.5" with hex nut soldered on the end.
 
Hmmm... my Mantua 2-6-2 quit working today... seemed OK then stopped. Commutator was dirty, lots of sparking. I'm working on it. Dealing with this "vintage" stuff is time consuming, both the AHM and the Mantua have been in my hands, or packed in my boxes for 25-30 years, why should they work?
 
Carbon brushes rot with humidity, springs weaken, lubricating grease hardens, some plastic and rubber connectors just rot with age, brass and copper corrode. And of course there is always "dirty" and "oxidized" track, are you certain it is the loco?
 
It's my test track, I've admonished every section repeatedly "don't get dirty" and it hasn't. I've got it fixed I think. Commutator is just yucky, needs a real cleaning, I need some new style q-tips (little sponge ends) to do it right. I ran it 15 minutes each direction after a lube and semi clean, its coming along. I also ordered an original universal shaft for the 4-4-0 on Monday. Should be on the test track itself soon. Ressurection inexpensive and satisfying.
 
JimT, instead of using a Q-tip like sponge, I've found that extra rough pipe cleaners do clean better. Instead of the smoothness of a sponge surface, these pipe cleaners have tougher "bristles" than regular pipe cleaners and actually remove the dirt better. These bristles are so rough that you almost feel like they could puncture the skin. Another advantage is as a section of the cleaner gets dirty, you can cut that end off and keep going, getting full usage out of one cleaner.
 
Pipe cleaners. We have a couple of tobacco shops in town, I'll check it out tomorrow as I have an 8am for blood tests in the morning. Thanks!
 
I received the driveshaft today and in mail and after considerable clean up (filing and scraping flash) I fitted it and turned on the power... wow wee! Now I have a $12.00 4-4-0, actually it runs great on my test oval, couldn't wait had to put a coupler on it. Another question, the loco itself (not the tender motor drive) isn't very heavy, the thing will pull about five 40 foot cars on the level (metal wheels / weighted) if I put a caboose with lighting wipers on it, it's a no go. Four cars and a caboose without wipers is OK I guess. I probably won't use it for a switcher. Is this thing in the ball park? I'm pretty happy with it.
 
That engine would typically pull 5 or 6 36 foot wooden cars and a small caboose, or 3 or 4 50 foot passenger cars. Back in the day, AHM sold both of these types of cars to use with it.
 
Great bnsf, that's about what I'd hoped. BTW, I am crunchy, but tough and grizzled there are many younger creatures for you to consume.
 
JimT said:
Another question, the loco itself (not the tender motor drive) isn't very heavy, the thing will pull about five 40 foot cars on the level (metal wheels / weighted) if I put a caboose with lighting wipers on it, it's a no go. Four cars and a caboose without wipers is OK I guess. I probably won't use it for a switcher. Is this thing in the ball park?
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There should be a weight in the boiler and it should have traction tires. But I think they look fine pulling 5 cars. I think prototype was about 8 max.
 
One of my goals is to repaint and retruck (or at least rewheel) my dozen or so AHM and Mantua 30' cars under the theroy that those cars stay on the property and don't do any interchange. I'll bet you the old Reno pulls them just fine. Ditto a couple of 50 foot Harriman cars.
 
I would also get, Jim, a solvent type cleaner for the commutators, to go along with the pipe cleaners. I would recommend oderless mineral spirits. Evaporates quickly enough not to stay on the commutator very long. Just get a pint or quart as I don't think they sell it in smaller amounts. It will probably last forever.

Also since you're changing out the truck axles for better ones, get you a "Truck Tuner" from companies like Micro Mark. This will cost about $12, give or take a dollar. I would search for this from other places besides MM, as IIRC, their shipping costs may be high.
 
Cjcresceht

If you would, please tell me more about the "truck tuner" I've never heard of one before and I'm very interested.
 
It is a device that cleans up and trues the inside journals of a nylon, or plastic truck. If used on a metal truck, the cutting edge can be ruined, (ask me how I know!) It's small, about the length of an axle. One end has a cutting edge, and the other is just a point. There is a band of thick rubber or similar material in the center, to make turning it easier.

Micro-Mark sells them, as well as several other on-line shops. This link will take you right to it. http://www.micromark.com/SearchResult.aspx?deptIdFilter=0&searchPhrase=Truck+Tuner Cost, depending on where you get it is between $12-15. It has become a must have for the tool box!
 
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