[Murv2]

Through no fault of my own I ended up with two Rivarossi 0-8-0 switchers (OK, one of them was my fault). These were the old versions with motors in the tenders and cast tender bases that were apparently fragile, because both bases were missing along with the motors and trucks. It’s too bad because the engines are still in good shape; one of them even has the Walschaerts valve gear on it.
I tried to remotor the nicer engine but found out I need an additional gear box to marry the can motor to the drive shaft, so that’s on hold but…last month I was at a local train shop and they had a wrecked Chattanooga Choo Choo (‘Woo Woo Chattanooga by Tyco!’) in the junk box. This type of engine has the drive in the tender and the engine is just decoration. A couple bucks later it was mine and my plan to make an engine live again was set in motion.
First I had to make the motor work, but a new brush (that cost more than the choo choo) and spring plus a brass clip to hold the broken motor together and it mostly runs after the motor warms up. Then I removed the worm gear from the engine and replaced about 2” of the weight inside the boiler with dowel. Then I added some more weight to the tender, made a new plate to screw the coupling bar between the two and replaced the couplers and it’s done.
Unfortunately I have to wait for warmer weather to repaint the tender so I can put Union Pacific decals on it (unless someone knows how to remove the paint) but otherwise it’s ready to sit on a siding as part of the snowplow train, waiting for it to snow in my basement.
Problem is, now I have a really broken Tyco Chattanooga Choo Choo engine and Rivarossi tender shell, what am I gonna do with those?

 

[LateStarter]

Paint & lettering can be removed with isopropyl alcohol and a toothbrush.
That being said, at the very least you'll have a couple of decent static models to rail... I have several, including a Varney Lil' Joe and an Athearn Hustler.

 

[Cab1]

If you plan on using it as a static display, could you possibly put them together and re-badge them to a rail line that might be close to something they may had used? Even better, perhaps part of a junkyard where the remains of a train wreck, heavily rusted, knocked around and weathered, was discarded among a heap of other junk? Then you wouldn't need to be too specific as to what it really was.

 

[Murv2]

Actually I underrated the motor, it runs consistently after it warms up a bit. The spare bits might end up under a layer of rust behind the roundhouse, if I ever stop building rolling stock long enough to build a roundhouse...

 

[kilowatt62]

What to do with the left over chattanoooooga and rivarossi tender parts? I say you should send me a photo of them. Why you ask? I might need them. I happen to have have 0-8-0 rivar loco and chattanoiga junk parts in need of more junk parts so I can finish making a piece of junk, or two run again. Just to see if I can.

 

[Murv2]

What to do with the left over chattanoooooga and rivarossi tender parts? I say you should send me a photo of them. Why you ask? I might need them. I happen to have have 0-8-0 rivar loco and chattanoiga junk parts in need of more junk parts so I can finish making a piece of junk, or two run again. Just to see if I can.

Heh, that's why I did it. Yesterday was abnormally temperate, so I finished the engine. Turns out the UP didn't have any 0-8-0 but had some Consolidations so I added a pilot truck.

 

[Murv2]

Resurrecting this thread because...One of the things I am interested in is fail-testing my engines, meaning find out how many cars they can pull before they either stall or slip. Most of the smaller engines I'm lucky to pull ten cars, but this piece of junk that won't even start without a nudge half the time will pull 20 cars. It only has four driven wheels which makes it even more remarkable. The most ever pulled on my layout was an E7 that pulled 37, and we ran out of cars before it failed.

 

[Shdwdrgn]

You might check the contacts on the motor where the brushes sit. I've seen a lot of old motors where there was no longer a decent gap between the contacts because the brushes had rolled the copper between them, and if one of the brushes is sitting over that spot it won't go on its own. If you find this is the case, a light tough with a brass brush or a hobby file can clean it up.