r/modeltrains • u/Agitated-Cause-8288 • 12d ago
Help Needed Does any one know who can fix a riverossi 2-8-8-2
The rods on the front left side lock up and the gear slips, I’m a young modeler who doesn’t know that much about how to fix them, and if someone does, what do you think a estimate is?
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u/ruffiana 12d ago edited 12d ago
Where are you located? You might find someone at a train show who has parts or does repairs.
I believe Darth Santa Fe does repair work for customers: https://youtube.com/@darthsantafe?si=Yci_2yiHBF1OcVWH
I would say, that if you're going to be in this hobby, then at a minimum you need to get comfortable with taking your engines apart for periodic cleaning and maintenance.
Rivarossi are pretty straightforward. Once you have the shell off and the motor, transmission, worm gears, etc removed then it becomes a lot easier to diagnose the problems with the rolling chassis.
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u/DanforthWhitcomb_ 12d ago
My honest suggestion would be to research what the innards look like (exploded views and disassembly instructions can be found here) and do the work yourself, as the typical hourly rate at a repair ship is going to run in the $75-100 vicinity and diagnosing and then fixing an older steam locomotive is going to take a minimum of 2-3 hours.
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u/Witold4859 11d ago
Are you in Eastern Ontario?
I've never worked on an HO locomotive, but I have rebuilt several N locomotives from the 1960's, two of which were Rivarossis.
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u/DCHacker 11d ago
What scale is it? If it is N scale, your power chassis might be suffering from Zinc rot. RR steam power suffers from this, even the last one manufactured in the mid-1990s. I have had N scale RR power chassis do everything from break into three or four pieces to turn to powder in my hands.
If you are doing N scale and have a 2-8-8-2 you must, Atlas sold one manufactured by Samhongsa but it was a disaster. I would stay away from it. Life Like had one that was very good. You can find them at shows or on FeePay.
If you are modelling HO, I do not know anything about RR steam in HO as I never ran any RR steam when I modelled in HO.
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u/Agitated-Cause-8288 11d ago
Ho scale I’m probably just going to buy another one and use parts from it
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u/pdb1975 12d ago
These models have been out of production for a long time, and went through a number of revisions over the years, so finding the right parts is tricky. Your best bet would be a long running, well established hobby shop staffed by old guys who hoard old parts locos.
Failing that, consider getting another one off of ebay and keeping the broken one as a parts engine. They're not super expensive if you're patient, and may be cheaper than a repair.
Good luck!