Restoring a 1951 Rivarossi Hiawatha Steam Locomotive
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- Опубліковано 28 чер 2024
- Ever since this channel was founded in 2016 the goal has been to restore my grandmothers 1951 Rivarossi Hiawatha steam locomotive.
Over the past eight or so years this project has mostly been successful however I could never call it a complete restoration as a broken bearing cap prevented me from reinstalling the drivers.
I recently placed a large order to a part dealer in Italy to replace the wheel sets and many other spare parts to completely overhaul this model.
I also tried a new technique for replacing brushes on this model which I found on @DarthSantaFe 's channel. • Rivarossi Motor Brush ... - Розваги
Just a few important clarifications directly from the spare-parts supplier "Rivarestore": The worm screw blocks because a plate from another transmission has been used; for the one supplied you only need a plate shaped differently which leaves room for the larger diameter worm screw. Code SL 597 available in the catalogue. Furthermore, the rear carriage screw is not good, a specific screw is needed which, by blocking the carter, leaves the carriage itself free. Finally: oil is needed in the axle seats, which is fundamental, and the adjustment of the closing casing must be done with extreme precision. If the connecting rod bolts touch the bodywork laterally, the Bakelite of the bodywork must be filed slightly to leave the necessary space, exactly as Rivarossi did before final assembly. The tolerances on this machine are very tight and there are adjustments that need to be made with extreme precision. Don't forget that at the time they were numbered and unique pieces, all different and not standardized.
Greetings "Rivarestore"
Thanks for this information. It does appear that I didn't oil the axles however that part of the video was just cut out. You'll notice after 2:37 a bottle of Labelle 107 appears in the top left corner. I wasn't aware the rear screw was incorrect but that explains why it's never worked that well. Thanks for sharing your expertise on these rare models, did you work for Rivarossi or is it just a hobby? All the best, Harrison.
😊😊
This video made me a little watery🥲 my grandparents got me into model trains and I’ve been slowly restoring their old postwar Lionel’s, and just seeing their reactions to them run is enough to make the toughest of men cry. Great video Harrison - cole
That is just amazing.... Keep making them happy, Cole!
Great to see that finally restored to full running condition, and I'm glad my little brush experiment helped! The old Hiawatha is one I'd like to find eventually, but definitely not for the massively high prices that some want for them.
Thanks for the tips. I've heard stories of people finding them cheap so it's not impossible.
You have probably made your grandmother so proud
It's insane how you can restore such an old model which works again!
Man, I KNOW your grandmother is going to be excited! It looks great running around your layout! Well done!
Damn!!! 73 years old!!!!!!
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 2:58
Amazing job SMT! The drivers look shiny and make the locomotive look really good! Your Grandmother will be happy.
I do like Rivarossi and to know that reproduction parts may be available is a plus. I love the connection to your grandmother and you need to get her, (maybe the whole family), on a video complete with comments. Woo who! Don’t forget Nerf cat. I do think that the gearbox cover had or needs a gasket under the cover and that will hold down the bearings plus give the worm gear clearance and seal the gearbox, (serenity). Great video as usual.
I went to work fixing up a second Atlantic locomotive of hers and the reaction will be included :)
@@SMTMainline Excellent, I'm looking forward to it.
So great that you were able to restore your grandmother’s locomotive. Surely it’s a keepsake. I wish I still had the trains from my childhood.
Such a beautiful locomotive, I really love the craftsmanship of earlier rivarossi
Rivarossi's founders cared a great deal about quality, demanding their motors maintain a consistent RPM so multiple locomotives could be run together. When Hong Kong became the popular choice for model train makers to move production, they kept their factory in Como to continue making the highest quality motors.
What a beautiful engine she is! I’ve been watching you for years and I have never seen somebody be able to successfully finish a task every time! Amazing job once again, Harrison! Keep up the amazing work!
- Storm
Great to see a real old classic still running like a race horse 🐎
Wow...I know how satisfying getting that classic Riverossi locomotive of your Grandmothers operating so much better is. I'm glad you figured out the issues with the brushes, Harrison. This should run for many years to come! Really enjoying this restoration. Keep up the good work my friend!
Thank you!
What an awesome story. The history behind the Rivarossi Hiawatha. As we say in Texas, "Who would've thunk". From Texas
Great work Harrison. A wonderful tribute to your grandmother.
You have made Oma very happy. She is proud of you!
Great job, Harrison. It's wonderful to see you bring a part of your family history back to life....your gran would be thrilled 👍
Great job! I can appreciate how pleased you are to see that locomotive restored to near original condition.
Absolutely awesome work, SMT! So great to see you were able to get this all restored and with period accurate and high quality parts, it’s certainly an heirloom model for you that I’m sure will continue to be passed down in your family. Your grandmother will be proud!
For sure. If I ever have a kid, I hope I can get them interested in model trains and teach them how to maintain it. This locomotive has been part of three generations now.
Yes, DarthSantaFe is good! Well done with tuning up and restorations as you have done. Awesome job on the Hiawatha! Your grandma will/would be proud. John
I've been a fan of his channel for many years now, lots of good advice on there.
Really cool to see that unit back on the rails. While the Hiawatha locomotives have long left the rails, Amtrak still runs the Hiawatha Service from Chicago IL to Milwaukee WI. I take that train all the time between the cities.
I had heard that before so I figured it would be the most fitting set in my collection.
Harrison u found parts fer her!! AMAZING!!
a piece of family history, worth the effort.
What a beautiful engine she looks great hope she's got another 73 left
Incredible. I love that you found parts in Italy. That’s crazy. I love your party analogy. Trains are like a party, you have to give them time to work out the awkwardness and wait for the right song to come on before things get moving. And if one car starts to wobble, you take it off the tracks, call its parents, and lay it on the couch to sleep it off.
Exactly lol
Mark you need one
I think it’s so beautiful that you were able to restore this, it’s amazing how old it is and is a true oldie but Goldie.
I’m happy to see you finally fixing her up!
That's nice of you for fixing your grandmother's locomotive 0:28
I got emotional with the joy you had getting this running. Congratulations, dude!! I'm so happy you got it running. ❤❤❤
Nice! Loved the fix SMT, keep up the great work.
I remember when you first got this loco running years ago. Now its back to being better with new drivers and such. Good job. Back when you first got it running i remember how your grandmother was totally blown away that it ran now its at its former self when it was new.
From the first video, to now. The Hiawatha has been here. Now it’s getting repaired!
It's been a long time since I've seen the Hiawatha run, it's a pretty big achievement to see it run on the rails again like in its glory days, of course it doesn't run perfectly but it's still fascinating.
Nice to see vintage still holds up!
Rivarossi was always inexpensive but never cheap
I agree.
Wonderful video. Thanks so much for sharing this awesome story
Rich
Great job! It's very inspiring to see old models come back to life, let alone a very important Rivarossi model!
Awesome!! Have a great weekend! 👍👍
Thank you!
hello SMT Mainline & it's is Randy and i like yours video is cool & Thanks SMT Mainline & Friends Randy & IS Super Cool To See Restoring a 1951 Rivarossi Hiawatha Steam Locomotive & Gradmothers With Happy Thanks SMT Mainline & Friends Randy
Great job on restoring the Hiawatha, it looks great back on the mainline and working again!
Thanks!
Good job. Love you videos. It is our responsibility as model train enthusiasts to restore as many basket cases as we can before they are to far gone.
For sure. In terms of finding reproduction parts I don't see it getting any easier with the exception of 3D printing.
Very nice! Your grandmother will be thrilled. I, too, got my first model train in 1951 or 1952, a Lionel diesel freight set. That was a good time for kids and trains.
I wish I could have visited a train store at that time. It seems like there was a lot of good stuff on the market.
That's pretty cool to be working on your grandmother's engine. I was born in 1951, so that makes the engine 73 years old. Did not know that brush material made that much of a difference. Serenity, we have a runner. Cheers from eastern TN
I wasn't aware ether. Gotta thank Darth Santa fe for his extensive experimenting on these models.
love to see the Hiawatha looking amazing and running again, great job Harrison!
I do actually have a O-scale model train from 1923, and the company shut down around the 30’s, and it still runs!
Lucky. Do you know what brand it is?
I model German HO ( Marklin) who’s non digital locomotives have motors in them with field coils with reversers like Lionel and Marx , they usually have flat commutators like your RivaRossi locomotive. They too use a carbon brush and a copper brush.
It's funny hearing the pitter patter of feet running around🤣🤣🤣👍
Wow, I think the only thing that could POSSIBLY top this is doing a full repaint but I don't think it needs it, I can only imagine what it must have sounded like brand new before the motor had so many miles put on it, still stuff like this makes me very happy to see
I wouldn't want to repaint it anyway. Sure, it's not perfect but it has history and tells some of the story of this locomotive.
At last! Congrats! Really good job there! Your grandma will be proud! :)
the legend lives
even after 100k subs🎉
3.APR.2024
Awsome Job Harrison👍👍👍👍 Serenity!!!!!
Hi Harrison, found your channel yesterday enjoyed watching the rebuild of this loco I was born in 1954 so great to see these old timers still running!
I'm glad you enjoyed. Welcome to the channel.
Wow, SMT, I did not expect this. I saw that with my gift of AM track passenger car was wonderful.
For sure. They roll very well and handle the curves nicely. Thanks again for such a great gift.
I brought a H0 steam loco from the early 60's (maybe late 50's) very cheap, a few years ago (was a nonrunner and turned out that only the bulb was shorted, and I even had a similar one in my parts box so...), and I was very surprised to see ball bearings in that scale, all brass gears, a very unusual, and complex, huge motor (the core looked like a P&W "Wasp major" radial engine made out off coils), that double acted as a flywheel. After some cleaning and oiling, i gave it a go on my test track and I was shocked that the loco started moving from only 2 volts and its current draw never went above 120mA (unloaded); most of my new locos can't do that!
My father-in-law gave me his dad's HO train and it has some stuff like this in there, maybe even older. Haven't even scratched the surface of all his stuff yet. Hope I get it running as good as you have.
Some persistence went a long way
Good to see it back on the rails.
That was really cool boss
Eccezionale👍 Vintage Italian chapter of the SMT Manual.🚂🇨🇦🇮🇹
Man, somehow that video had me smiling from start to finish, thanks.
Glad to hear it
Great video I happy for you. Thanks Harrison.
Great job on that awesome and very special Hiawatha so glad for you and your grandmother 👍
Your presentation is quite professional. Over the years your skills have constantly grown. This project, without a doubt, is a great success. Thanks for an enjoyable video.
Thanks, I've been trying to improve the video quality and quality of work so I appreciate hearing that.
Great video thanks for sharing this with us and allowing us to join you on your journey
You are the reason why I like ho-scale trains😁😁😁😁
It's good to see that you were able to bring your grandmother's old steam locomotive back to life. I know this has been a long-time project, and now, it will no longer be a shelf queen. Also, you will have a reason to bring it out during any live stream.
I think it will still be an occasional model since I don't wanna add risk damaging it but it will be nice every once in a while.
well i guess we are back with this vid good job as always
gotta love the art deco steam engines
Great restoration. Family heirlooms are so special. I was hoping you would pack the worm gear bearings with some of that nice grease. 😉
I did off camera. I also added some oil to the motor - I don't miss those steps when it comes to metal parts.
Took a while but in the end came back to life
Nice old locomotive, thanks for sharing 👍🏻
Glad you enjoyed it
Another great video! Thanks for creating.
awesome job Harrison !!!
Now you’re going to have to get the proper Hiawatha coaches to pull. 😅
Great job again Harrisson
hey smt mainline i really enjoy your vids and my friend is a railfan and we both like this kind of stuff so keep it up
Rivarossi is great. Good work...
Excellent job! Glad to see it back in its restored and upgraded condition
Thank you very much!
Great job with on restoring the old rivarossi looks great!
Thank you! Cheers!
Fast forward 71 years bet there will not be any Broadway limited locomotives that work.
Decoders and other PCBs usually don't last more than 20 years so I think you're right. I'll be curious to see how modern drivetrains hold up in the long run if you bypass the decoder.
Newer stuff is built like trash. I have a 2018 Lionel lionchief F unit and it’s already broken. On the other hand, I have a ~50s Lionel 2026 that got a rebuild back in I want to say 2021~2022 by an older gentleman. 2026 runs like a beast!! I love it.
What I’m trying to say is if you keep up with maintenance (lube, fixing parts, etc) these old things will still run.
Great restoration and in a wild coincidence you had a short clip of the intro of the Italian Job, which I just finished watching for the first time in years no more that 5 minutes ago! What are the odds!
That's a crazy coincidence. I find the movie shows its age pretty quickly but I still enjoy it a lot. That intro is golden.
Love that railroad it has a lot of history in montana
Great job restoring this loco i hope you can restore many more
Nicely done.
Ah...so this was your Grandmother's Hiawatha! Nice that you did the repairs/upgrades on it!
Yes indeed!
3:39 considering that my Rivarossi mikado is out preforming newer models speaks volumes of how good Rivarossi is. That not including my red boxes.
By modern standards they aren't the smoothest or best looking but those motors put up a long fight before they give up the ghost.
@@SMTMainline 80s models, yeah. However it a different story for the Red boxes from the 90s
Im happy for you that you got it running again
Beautiful job of restoring the steam locomotive! Great job 💯💯💯😊😊👍👍😍😍🤩🤩! Keep up the great work in restoring these diesels and steam locomotives ❤❤!
Thank you!
Excellent project!
I never knew that Rivarossi made that model. I’ve never seen one at a train collector’s meet. Surprised you could get parts for it. Good job getting an oldie but goodie working again.
It's the only brand I'm aware of that still has parts being made 70 years later.
Great video, Harrison, I really enjoyed it. I only have one problem, being that we didn't see your grandma's reaction like last time you worked on it. It was wholesome seeing her reaction.
That's because there is a second Atlantic of hers getting restored. It's a much bigger project and will include her reaction to both locomotives.
@@SMTMainlineAwesome. I'm waiting to see that video
Yep definitely AWESOME,, love these type ,❤
This is wholesome, Keep up the good work
Great Job Harrison, I have a old Riverossi that belonged to my father in-law, great old locomotives
They were a great brand.
Great work. I bet if you did a black and white recording of that downlow trackside shot of the locomotive and cars going by it would look like an old movie shot.
That's a great idea
Great job and excellent content!
Thanks for watching
SMT - You could always use the old drive wheel assembly as a detail for your roundhouse! I couldn't see if you did this or not, but it might be a good idea to add some lube to the crossheads at the end of the drive rods where they slide on those posts above the pony truck.
I like that idea. Actual parts of days gone by on display
Its been awhile since i have last spoken to you Harrison, But i am proud of you. I remember you telling us of this locomotive so long ago, i believed it would never be complete. But to see it in it's prime is a sight to behold. I do so wish my 1955 Rivarossi SP 4-4-2 A-6 was functional, perhaps i will venture on Rivarestore and import some reproduction drivers to make my model fully functional again, my late-grandfather would be proud to see that one running again. Maybe I'll enhance mine to run NMRA Spec? Amazing work SMT, see you on the Seashore Lines
-KJP
Sounds worth it to me. What does the NMRA spec sheet exactly call for?
@@SMTMainline For me, it's just adding body mounted couplers from Kadee. This is because I've done away with horn hook and I'm slowly converting all my cars and engines from HH to kadees. It's more arduous than i thought. I would recommend doing that to your roster if applicable. Gives you more options to run during streams too :)
Way back when, in the 1940s, these were roaming the Milwaukee roads Iowa division in the small 500-person towns within a 40 minute drive from my house. The hiawatha was not just the twin cities, but many other high speed lines from Chicago. The Midwestern hiawatha was the one that ran near my hometown. @Amtrakguy365 has a good video about it.
Not sure what Hiawatha service it was but there was one that ran from Chicago to Omaha and Sioux Falls , splitting at Manilla Iowa.
@@TheSharkKing45 that's the one. Midwestern hiawatha, iirc it was also known as "the spirit of Manilla (Iowa)"
Good show !😀
Really good job on the diesel service😊😊