¿ªÔÆÌåÓý

ctrl + shift + ? for shortcuts
© 2025 Groups.io
  1. YardbirdTrains
  2. Topics

Teardown Instructions - Rivarossi Milwaukee F-7 4-6-4

 

Hello, there,


Last night, I went to start the teardown on a Rivarossi MILW F-7 4-6-4, and was stymied fairly early by the previous owner apparently gluing some of the chassis to the cab. I'm trying to find disassembly/part lists so I can figure out better where it will "come apart" before I start trying to "gently persuade things" with an X-Acto blade. :-)


I was looking on HO Seeker, and while they have various instructions for the streamlined and "ordinary" J-3a Hudsons, I don't see any for the MILW F-7. Are they similar? Am I simply on the wrong page?




This is one of my favorite candidates for an upcoming clinic on tuning/re-motoring/conversion to DCC, but if instructions aren't available, I've got other candidates.


Thanks,


Brian Pickering
 

Nevermind. A little more stubbornness, or persistence, paid off. The body needs to be squeezed slightly wider to allow the motor to be extracted; the glue I thought was holding the chassis to the back of the cab, turned out to all be body-to-cab.



Now this I can work with. At the very least, need to install some pickups, both on the drivers (one side only) and in the tender (again, one side only). Plenty of room in the tender for decoder and a big speaker, drill some small holes all over the coal load to let the sound out, plus maybe some in the base of the tender. Clean the whole thing off, then ever-so-slightly "dirty" it up with a little weathering.

I've got my next two months of spare time laid out. :-)

Brian Pickering
Nathan Rich
 

This thing looks good, I need one for my collection.

I would try to turn down those flanges on those wheels especially if you don't want to be stuck on code 100 track. I have had luck with a dremel on various AHM/Rivvy 0-4-0's but just spinning them while they were clamped to something upside down but I have found that the more axles there are the harder it gets.

On that note, if anyone has seen one of these or wants to thing their collection give me a shout.
Nathan Rich

On Mon, Jan 8, 2018 at 8:49 PM, bpickeri@... [yardbirdtrains] <yardbirdtrains@...> wrote:


Nevermind. A little more stubbornness, or persistence, paid off. The body needs to be squeezed slightly wider to allow the motor to be extracted; the glue I thought was holding the chassis to the back of the cab, turned out to all be body-to-cab.



Now this I can work with. At the very least, need to install some pickups, both on the drivers (one side only) and in the tender (again, one side only). Plenty of room in the tender for decoder and a big speaker, drill some small holes all over the coal load to let the sound out, plus maybe some in the base of the tender. Clean the whole thing off, then ever-so-slightly "dirty" it up with a little weathering.

I've got my next two months of spare time laid out. :-)

Brian Pickering


 

Brian,

I can see I'm a little late, but here are the F-7 instructions for your reference. I hope these attachments upload properly.

Nelson
 

Apparently attachments don't work anymore, and the photos section resizes them. Here are the links from Imgur.


https://i.imgur.com/FJFIyrE.jpg

?

https://i.imgur.com/ZpD78VL.jpg

?

https://i.imgur.com/04a2mpP.jpg

?

https://i.imgur.com/4pmlNqf.jpg

?

https://i.imgur.com/WcfMYVx.jpg

?
 

¿ªÔÆÌåÓý

More likely your photo viewer resizes them.

Opening the ones in your first post using Photoshop and clicking ¡°Page Set-up¡± on the files menu shows the photo to be letter size.

Saving the FJFIyrE.jpg file from your second post also open in Photoshop a letter size.

I only mention this the whole model train world seems to blame Yahoo Groups for everything nowadays.

Meanwhile I am having very, very few of the problems mentioned.

That said, thanks for posting. Are these available on Hoseeker.net?

John Hagen

From: yardbirdtrains@... [mailto:yardbirdtrains@...]
Sent: Tuesday, January 09, 2018 8:16 AM
To: yardbirdtrains@...
Subject: [yardbirdtrains] Re: Teardown Instructions - Rivarossi Milwaukee F-7 4-6-4

?

?

 

I'm not quite sure what you're referring to, since the attachments don't show in my first post or the attachments section. That used to work. As for the album, I deleted it after it resized the larger images like the exploded view. I downloaded it first to be sure, and it was much smaller. I've been skeptical of complaints about Yahoo groups, but coming back to it it's obvious that the functionality is not what it was.

The Imgur links are the original resolution. They are not on HOSeeker.

Nelson
 

I've considered that, but since our modular club's standard for the mainline track and staging is all Code-100, it's not as much of a concern as otherwise.

Brian Pickering
 

Thanks very much for the effort!

I'll still need to decide if it's worth re-motoring this for even-better performance, or leave as-is for simplicity. I'll probably try to run the mechanism this weekend to decide.

Brian Pickering
 

Quick test this evening.

I don't think I'll bother re-motoring. Sounds pretty good, even at full-speed, 12V:



Brian Pickering
 

Be advised that the OEM Riv motor throws EMI [ white noise ] ?? Lots o' filtering . Henry H .

--------------------------------------------

On Wed, 1/10/18, bpickeri@... [yardbirdtrains] <yardbirdtrains@...> wrote:

Subject: [yardbirdtrains] Re: Teardown Instructions - Rivarossi Milwaukee F-7 4-6-4
To: yardbirdtrains@...
Date: Wednesday, January 10, 2018, 8:41 PM


?









Quick test this evening.

I don't think I'll bother re-motoring.
Sounds pretty good, even at full-speed, 12V:



Brian Pickering









#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556 --
#yiv7670387556ygrp-mkp {
border:1px solid #d8d8d8;font-family:Arial;margin:10px
0;padding:0 10px;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-mkp hr {
border:1px solid #d8d8d8;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-mkp #yiv7670387556hd {
color:#628c2a;font-size:85%;font-weight:700;line-height:122%;margin:10px
0;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-mkp #yiv7670387556ads {
margin-bottom:10px;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-mkp .yiv7670387556ad {
padding:0 0;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-mkp .yiv7670387556ad p {
margin:0;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-mkp .yiv7670387556ad a {
color:#0000ff;text-decoration:none;}
#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-sponsor
#yiv7670387556ygrp-lc {
font-family:Arial;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-sponsor
#yiv7670387556ygrp-lc #yiv7670387556hd {
margin:10px
0px;font-weight:700;font-size:78%;line-height:122%;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-sponsor
#yiv7670387556ygrp-lc .yiv7670387556ad {
margin-bottom:10px;padding:0 0;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556actions {
font-family:Verdana;font-size:11px;padding:10px 0;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556activity {
background-color:#e0ecee;float:left;font-family:Verdana;font-size:10px;padding:10px;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556activity span {
font-weight:700;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556activity span:first-child {
text-transform:uppercase;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556activity span a {
color:#5085b6;text-decoration:none;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556activity span span {
color:#ff7900;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556activity span
.yiv7670387556underline {
text-decoration:underline;}

#yiv7670387556 .yiv7670387556attach {
clear:both;display:table;font-family:Arial;font-size:12px;padding:10px
0;width:400px;}

#yiv7670387556 .yiv7670387556attach div a {
text-decoration:none;}

#yiv7670387556 .yiv7670387556attach img {
border:none;padding-right:5px;}

#yiv7670387556 .yiv7670387556attach label {
display:block;margin-bottom:5px;}

#yiv7670387556 .yiv7670387556attach label a {
text-decoration:none;}

#yiv7670387556 blockquote {
margin:0 0 0 4px;}

#yiv7670387556 .yiv7670387556bold {
font-family:Arial;font-size:13px;font-weight:700;}

#yiv7670387556 .yiv7670387556bold a {
text-decoration:none;}

#yiv7670387556 dd.yiv7670387556last p a {
font-family:Verdana;font-weight:700;}

#yiv7670387556 dd.yiv7670387556last p span {
margin-right:10px;font-family:Verdana;font-weight:700;}

#yiv7670387556 dd.yiv7670387556last p
span.yiv7670387556yshortcuts {
margin-right:0;}

#yiv7670387556 div.yiv7670387556attach-table div div a {
text-decoration:none;}

#yiv7670387556 div.yiv7670387556attach-table {
width:400px;}

#yiv7670387556 div.yiv7670387556file-title a, #yiv7670387556
div.yiv7670387556file-title a:active, #yiv7670387556
div.yiv7670387556file-title a:hover, #yiv7670387556
div.yiv7670387556file-title a:visited {
text-decoration:none;}

#yiv7670387556 div.yiv7670387556photo-title a,
#yiv7670387556 div.yiv7670387556photo-title a:active,
#yiv7670387556 div.yiv7670387556photo-title a:hover,
#yiv7670387556 div.yiv7670387556photo-title a:visited {
text-decoration:none;}

#yiv7670387556 div#yiv7670387556ygrp-mlmsg
#yiv7670387556ygrp-msg p a span.yiv7670387556yshortcuts {
font-family:Verdana;font-size:10px;font-weight:normal;}

#yiv7670387556 .yiv7670387556green {
color:#628c2a;}

#yiv7670387556 .yiv7670387556MsoNormal {
margin:0 0 0 0;}

#yiv7670387556 o {
font-size:0;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556photos div {
float:left;width:72px;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556photos div div {
border:1px solid
#666666;min-height:62px;overflow:hidden;width:62px;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556photos div label {
color:#666666;font-size:10px;overflow:hidden;text-align:center;white-space:nowrap;width:64px;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556reco-category {
font-size:77%;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556reco-desc {
font-size:77%;}

#yiv7670387556 .yiv7670387556replbq {
margin:4px;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-actbar div a:first-child {
margin-right:2px;padding-right:5px;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-mlmsg {
font-size:13px;font-family:Arial, helvetica, clean,
sans-serif;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-mlmsg table {
font-size:inherit;font:100%;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-mlmsg select,
#yiv7670387556 input, #yiv7670387556 textarea {
font:99% Arial, Helvetica, clean, sans-serif;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-mlmsg pre, #yiv7670387556
code {
font:115% monospace;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-mlmsg * {
line-height:1.22em;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-mlmsg #yiv7670387556logo {
padding-bottom:10px;}


#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-msg p a {
font-family:Verdana;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-msg
p#yiv7670387556attach-count span {
color:#1E66AE;font-weight:700;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-reco
#yiv7670387556reco-head {
color:#ff7900;font-weight:700;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-reco {
margin-bottom:20px;padding:0px;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-sponsor #yiv7670387556ov
li a {
font-size:130%;text-decoration:none;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-sponsor #yiv7670387556ov
li {
font-size:77%;list-style-type:square;padding:6px 0;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-sponsor #yiv7670387556ov
ul {
margin:0;padding:0 0 0 8px;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-text {
font-family:Georgia;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-text p {
margin:0 0 1em 0;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-text tt {
font-size:120%;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-vital ul li:last-child {
border-right:none !important;
}
#yiv7670387556
 

¿ªÔÆÌåÓý

Yeah, I think so too.? If you watch the brush end you can see it sparking.? It may be related to that strange screen brush they have on one side?


Vic Bitleris Raleigh, NC


From: yardbirdtrains@... on behalf of Henry Hultgren huligin62@... [yardbirdtrains]
Sent: Thursday, January 11, 2018 12:19 AM
To: yardbirdtrains@...
Subject: Re: [yardbirdtrains] Re: Teardown Instructions - Rivarossi Milwaukee F-7 4-6-4
?
?

Be advised that the OEM Riv motor throws EMI [ white noise ] ?? Lots o' filtering . Henry H .

--------------------------------------------
On Wed, 1/10/18, bpickeri@... [yardbirdtrains] wrote:

Subject: [yardbirdtrains] Re: Teardown Instructions - Rivarossi Milwaukee F-7 4-6-4
To: yardbirdtrains@...
Date: Wednesday, January 10, 2018, 8:41 PM


?









Quick test this evening.

I don't think I'll bother re-motoring.
Sounds pretty good, even at full-speed, 12V:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1YiY2RLHCy3pBgz6ppMCWbCwKJjVgdd4z

Brian Pickering









#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556 --
#yiv7670387556ygrp-mkp {
border:1px solid #d8d8d8;font-family:Arial;margin:10px
0;padding:0 10px;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-mkp hr {
border:1px solid #d8d8d8;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-mkp #yiv7670387556hd {
color:#628c2a;font-size:85%;font-weight:700;line-height:122%;margin:10px
0;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-mkp #yiv7670387556ads {
margin-bottom:10px;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-mkp .yiv7670387556ad {
padding:0 0;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-mkp .yiv7670387556ad p {
margin:0;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-mkp .yiv7670387556ad a {
color:#0000ff;text-decoration:none;}
#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-sponsor
#yiv7670387556ygrp-lc {
font-family:Arial;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-sponsor
#yiv7670387556ygrp-lc #yiv7670387556hd {
margin:10px
0px;font-weight:700;font-size:78%;line-height:122%;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-sponsor
#yiv7670387556ygrp-lc .yiv7670387556ad {
margin-bottom:10px;padding:0 0;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556actions {
font-family:Verdana;font-size:11px;padding:10px 0;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556activity {
background-color:#e0ecee;float:left;font-family:Verdana;font-size:10px;padding:10px;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556activity span {
font-weight:700;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556activity span:first-child {
text-transform:uppercase;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556activity span a {
color:#5085b6;text-decoration:none;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556activity span span {
color:#ff7900;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556activity span
.yiv7670387556underline {
text-decoration:underline;}

#yiv7670387556 .yiv7670387556attach {
clear:both;display:table;font-family:Arial;font-size:12px;padding:10px
0;width:400px;}

#yiv7670387556 .yiv7670387556attach div a {
text-decoration:none;}

#yiv7670387556 .yiv7670387556attach img {
border:none;padding-right:5px;}

#yiv7670387556 .yiv7670387556attach label {
display:block;margin-bottom:5px;}

#yiv7670387556 .yiv7670387556attach label a {
text-decoration:none;}

#yiv7670387556 blockquote {
margin:0 0 0 4px;}

#yiv7670387556 .yiv7670387556bold {
font-family:Arial;font-size:13px;font-weight:700;}

#yiv7670387556 .yiv7670387556bold a {
text-decoration:none;}

#yiv7670387556 dd.yiv7670387556last p a {
font-family:Verdana;font-weight:700;}

#yiv7670387556 dd.yiv7670387556last p span {
margin-right:10px;font-family:Verdana;font-weight:700;}

#yiv7670387556 dd.yiv7670387556last p
span.yiv7670387556yshortcuts {
margin-right:0;}

#yiv7670387556 div.yiv7670387556attach-table div div a {
text-decoration:none;}

#yiv7670387556 div.yiv7670387556attach-table {
width:400px;}

#yiv7670387556 div.yiv7670387556file-title a, #yiv7670387556
div.yiv7670387556file-title a:active, #yiv7670387556
div.yiv7670387556file-title a:hover, #yiv7670387556
div.yiv7670387556file-title a:visited {
text-decoration:none;}

#yiv7670387556 div.yiv7670387556photo-title a,
#yiv7670387556 div.yiv7670387556photo-title a:active,
#yiv7670387556 div.yiv7670387556photo-title a:hover,
#yiv7670387556 div.yiv7670387556photo-title a:visited {
text-decoration:none;}

#yiv7670387556 div#yiv7670387556ygrp-mlmsg
#yiv7670387556ygrp-msg p a span.yiv7670387556yshortcuts {
font-family:Verdana;font-size:10px;font-weight:normal;}

#yiv7670387556 .yiv7670387556green {
color:#628c2a;}

#yiv7670387556 .yiv7670387556MsoNormal {
margin:0 0 0 0;}

#yiv7670387556 o {
font-size:0;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556photos div {
float:left;width:72px;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556photos div div {
border:1px solid
#666666;min-height:62px;overflow:hidden;width:62px;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556photos div label {
color:#666666;font-size:10px;overflow:hidden;text-align:center;white-space:nowrap;width:64px;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556reco-category {
font-size:77%;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556reco-desc {
font-size:77%;}

#yiv7670387556 .yiv7670387556replbq {
margin:4px;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-actbar div a:first-child {
margin-right:2px;padding-right:5px;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-mlmsg {
font-size:13px;font-family:Arial, helvetica, clean,
sans-serif;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-mlmsg table {
font-size:inherit;font:100%;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-mlmsg select,
#yiv7670387556 input, #yiv7670387556 textarea {
font:99% Arial, Helvetica, clean, sans-serif;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-mlmsg pre, #yiv7670387556
code {
font:115% monospace;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-mlmsg * {
line-height:1.22em;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-mlmsg #yiv7670387556logo {
padding-bottom:10px;}


#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-msg p a {
font-family:Verdana;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-msg
p#yiv7670387556attach-count span {
color:#1E66AE;font-weight:700;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-reco
#yiv7670387556reco-head {
color:#ff7900;font-weight:700;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-reco {
margin-bottom:20px;padding:0px;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-sponsor #yiv7670387556ov
li a {
font-size:130%;text-decoration:none;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-sponsor #yiv7670387556ov
li {
font-size:77%;list-style-type:square;padding:6px 0;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-sponsor #yiv7670387556ov
ul {
margin:0;padding:0 0 0 8px;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-text {
font-family:Georgia;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-text p {
margin:0 0 1em 0;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-text tt {
font-size:120%;}

#yiv7670387556 #yiv7670387556ygrp-vital ul li:last-child {
border-right:none !important;
}
#yiv7670387556

 

¿ªÔÆÌåÓý

That looks really good.? Was this converted or is it a newer version with that nice can motor?? That doesn't look like most Rivarossi engines I have seen.


Vic Bitleris Raleigh, NC


From: yardbirdtrains@...
Sent: Wednesday, January 10, 2018 11:41 PM
To: yardbirdtrains@...
Subject: [yardbirdtrains] Re: Teardown Instructions - Rivarossi Milwaukee F-7 4-6-4
?
?

Quick test this evening.

I don't think I'll bother re-motoring. Sounds pretty good, even at full-speed, 12V:
drive.google.com


Brian Pickering

 

Dunno... what you see is what came to me off eBay a while ago. The motor is a perfect fit in the chassis/retainer, so suspect factory original.

Regarding interferance/shielding- is that with all Rivarossi motors, or just older ones? My main concern is finding compatible motor and worm with enough time to complete all work and document it before the clinic (scheduled to be presented at least twice in March, open to doing more if any more 4D PNW clinics/meetings? are interested!)

Brian?
 

The reason I know of all this noise is because I had my radio on a weak AM station? , those motors made lots of emi . Back when there was a kit for supperssion from AHM ? A choke was used across the poles of the motor ? I don't know the specs ? Henry H.
 

These Hiawathas were 90's runs, and they had very good Japanese can motors made by Igarashi. The old Riv made motors were made for cab mounting, and had one mesh brush and disk type commutators with wide gaps that did generate a fair amount of arcing and RF hash. Rivarossi did make noise suppression kits with chokes and capacitors -- in fact I have a few from a parts lot -- but they were for the European market. All European model trains there had them, maybe because homes there were more tightly spaced and RFI was a big issue?

One thing to be aware of with these 90's runs is that they switched to a white grease that turned to dried spackle in a very short amount of time, and on the Pacifics in particular this led to the plastic worm gear pin shearing off in the gearbox. The old grease should be completely removed if possible, but adding oil (I find Super Lube works best) can revive it if it isn't completely solidified.

Nelson

1 - 16 of 16