Workshop Report: Working with IHC / AHM and Rivarossi Passenger Cars

 Greetings All,

Workshop Report

Working with IHC / AHM / Rivarossi Passenger Cars

Welcome to another Workshop Report put together to help HO scale modelers with common rolling stock they may have in their respective fleets. 

Today's workshop will focus on working with(or fighting with!) the old Rivarossi / American Hobby Manufacturers (AHM) and International Hobby Corp (IHC) passenger cars. The goal here is to increase overall reliability and provide wobble free performance.

Coupler Height Adjustment

Our first subject cars are International Hobby Corp smooth side passenger cars that were purchased new from IHC about 20-25 years ago. This is their version of the NYC Mercury diner. It had been pulled out of its box and for whatever reason the replacement coupler, a McHenry #52 long shank knuckle coupler is now too low.

Over the years these cars have received weight (they had none), Proto 2000 metal wheels and the McHenry 52 replacement couplers. The truck is now screw mounted to the bolster for better control against wobbling.

To provide coupler height adjustment a hole is drilled into the truck from the bottom for a 1/8th" 2-56 screw. An Exacto #11 blade cleaned up any plastic left at the top of the truck where the coupler will rest.

The 2-56 screw is installed and the truck is held in place by a 6-32 x 1/2" screw.

Maybe a quarter turn or thereabouts and the coupler is spot on with the Kadee height gauge. Note the bottom of diaphragms have been cut down so the coupler does not snag on it.

Installing Intermountain 33" Metal Wheelsets. 

The stock 31" plastic wheelsets for the IHC cars are in one word, terrible. Replacing them with a good reliable wheelset should be a priority. In the past I used Proto-2000 33" and 36" metal wheelsets with mixed results. These wheelsets required drilling out the trucks to accept the longer axles and they didn't always roll that well. 

Recently I've found the Intermountain 33" wheelsets with their thinner metal axle ends could at times be a simple drop in replacement. Most of the time though a small diameter drill in a pin vise was used to remove a little material at a time from the truck to allow the wheels to turn freely. Go slow and clean out a little material at a time. You will be amazed how freerolling these IM wheelsets will be.

Kadee #508

This IHC SS Lehigh Valley Combination car received a Kadee #508 adapter set when this car was new about twenty years ago and operating terribly. A lot of shaving of the 508 adapter was needed as you can see. This car just received Intermountain 33" metal wheels and a push pin to hold the truck in place has been replaced with a 6-32 screw as part of a rebuild program for these LV cars.  

Raising Car Height for Coupler to Clear Diaphragms

I used to cut the lower part of the cars diaphragms off so the McHenry couplers would not snag on them on a curve and cause a derailment. I just found out by trial error that a #10 washer fits perfectly on top of the truck and provides enough clearance for the coupler so that no cutting is required. Now we know!!!

Adding Weight

This interior view shows I've added two additional ounces of weight using self stick wheel weights I sprayed flat black with a rattle can. This amount of extra weight seems to be working very well in preliminary testing.

Using a 6-32 Washer For Added Stability

The bottom view shows that I've used a 6-32 washer for additional stability. I'm not sure this was needed as the IM wheels roll very well after the trucks are tweaked as necessary.

Using Kadee #27s for Heavyweight

RPO and Baggage Car Couplers

I wish I discovered this easy to install Kadee #27 coupler set up twenty years ago! I used a Kadee #213 20 series coupler box that is mounted to the truck with a 3/8" 2-56 screw and gray Kadee fiber washer.

The screw protrudes slightly but is not an issue. Gold axle 33" wheels from either Bowser or Roundhouse replaced the original IHC wheels. During this project I was out of metal wheelsets and found these turned freely in the trucks and were fine for getting the coupler modifications done.

A #4 washer is placed over the bolster to give clearance between diaphragm and coupler. I'm using the push pins here for now while I test the coupler system with the #4 washer.

Perfecto!!!! Time to install the grab irons!

Using Kadee #5 Couplers on the HW Passenger Cars

The remaining six cars of this eight car heavyweight set were also in need of knuckle couplers. Not being a big fan of the McHenry Couplers that are purported to be drop in replacements I tinkered around and came up with a way to mount a Kadee #5 coupler using the original horn hook coupler shafts. 

The old coupler head has been cut off and I drilled a hole for a 2-56 screw to mount the Kadee #232 coupler box and #5 coupler. The #4 washer is in place for the necessary clearance.

Perfecto!!! Again!!! 

As you can see this was another trial and error project as I learned wheelsets that fit one truck did not fit the other. With two ounces of black spray painted wheel weights added these cars are now ready for final assembly and testing.

Long Island Railroad Heavyweights

Ready for Service

My eight car set of IHC LIRR HWs are finally ready for passenger service after a second visit to the workbench on February 21, 2022. This visit included adding the cars grab irons, ladders and other detail parts.

Also included was the installment of screws to replace the pushpins that hold the trucks in place and all cars receiving Intermountain 33" metal wheelsets.

Replacing Original Rivarossi Pizza Cutter Wheels

A few original Rivarossi passenger cars with pizza cutter metal wheels are in the combined fleets of my sons and I. For many many years the cars did not run after I used code 83 track for a part of the layout.

I really like these old cars and decided to try and swap the pizza cutter wheels for RP-25 wheels. To my surprise the Intermountain 33" wheelsets were basically drop in replacements. This Lackawanna diner with it's full interior is now in service.

HW Pullman "National View" received the IM 33" wheelsets and rolls smoothly and reliably. I should have did this 20 years ago!!!

Adding Passengers to the Lightweight Vista Domes 

With everything running smoothly and reliably and the cars opened up I turned my attention to the Lehigh Valley and Erie Lackawanna SS Vista Dome cars that were part of this large ongoing project. 

The vista dome seats from the factory were either black or a clear plastic. I painted them with rattle can red and added 1/100 scale seated figures using Aileen's tacky glue which will dry clear and not fog the "glass" like CA.

Passengers in the finished Lehigh Valley vista dome admire the New York Central cars across the platform at Empire City Station. Even  non prototypical cars deserve passengers and good views!

Erie Lackawanna passengers in vista dome Pocono View have a great view of the action at Empire City Station and will be ready to view the Poconos once they travel off layout.

Final Comments

This was a big project that took several weeks to complete and I am glad it is over. As of this writing all of the Rivarossi, AHM and IHC passenger cars in our combined fleets except one eight car IHC Daylight / Sunbeam set that I just remembered are now in service.

The biggest catalysts for this project were purchasing the self stick steel wheel weights and committing the funding necessary to purchase the Intermountain metal wheelsets. Without these two things these cars would have remained in their boxes.  

Now that these cars are running and ready for primetime we'll spotlight the Lehigh Valley and Erie Lackawanna trains in action around the layout being hauled by newly added locomotives just for these two trains. We'll also spotlight the Long Island Railroad heavyweights in action now that they are "in service"

Thanks for reading!!!

See you soon!!!