Can We Make it Run? Rivarossi U25C with Seized, Corroded Motor

[@mercuryoak2]

Wow what a unique drive system and you know harrison the music is a nice touch its like music anders enger jensen makes also its like how the How its Made tv series has the background music . very nice I gotta say. Even the fade in and out when you talk gives that feeling of how show was edited. Announcer: On SMT Mainline Repairing/ Restoring Locomotives, then chat and view running trains on live streams , and then How toos, layout updates ,and more on SMT Mainline. :-)

[@lawnmowermanTX]

Harrison is the Model Railroad Chief Service Technician! I envy him and his hands.. lol To be young again to due exquisite surgical work on my locomotives.. (All in storage with possible flea,spider eggs in them.. lol )

[@ChamplainDivision]

You sped up the re-assembly so fast that I needed to slow down the playback speed to 0.25 to see it. That drunk sounding, word slurring Harrison made me laugh so hard I was literally crying! Thanks for making my day.🤣

[@MJKToys]

My Dad bought a Rivarossi Northern Paciific U25 around 1979. It was one of the last locos I ran on the old layout at my grandparents. The last time I went there around 2012 a few years before my grandfather died. I dug around and found that loco. It never ran that well and it had been stored in the basement and the handrails had rusted. I ended up buying a nearly unused boxed one to run and my "original" I keep for display and nostalgia. Thanks for the vid!

[@davidztog9011]

Way to go, Harrison! Let's call this a fortunate success. Although it wasn't powerful enough, nice job getting the original motor operational considering the seized condition. That's why I cannot stress buying inexpensive donor locomotives to have on hand for just such an occasion. Fortunately you found what you needed among the parts sent by Nathan DeLay. She's a runner. Huzzah! Thanks for sharing. 👍 👍 👍

[@XBOXShawn12thman]

I am seriously blown away with this one .... Hands Down .... Speachless!!!!

[@gravesclayton3604]

This vintage of Rivarossi motor was prone to seizure if left sitting for a decade or more. That was a valiant effort you made to fix it, though. This split drivetrain was used in Rivarossi Alco Century models in the 70's. Also, the very first year of the TYCO C-630 was built on a slightly modified version of this chassis by Rivarossi, is extremely hard to find, and likewise to maintain. Unfortunately the chassis Rivarossi built for TYCO was not as well built as this one (snap-fit shell and gear box instead of screws) nor is it interchangeable. I have 2 of them, but only enough parts to make 1 run, and so they can be difficult to restore or service. TYCO abandoned this chassis after the 1st year and remade all their C630 shells to take their own Power-Torque truck instead. To be honest, these are some rather noisy drives and the long shell body only helps amplify the gearbox noise, lol! AHM & Life-Like kept selling this model, (built by Mehano) but with a slender center-mounted can motor and drive out each end, dispensing with the noisy center transfer case used in this chassis.

[@michaelg8936]

These restorations helped me start fixing my grandfather's old bachmann steam engine

[@theconnecticutrailfan17]

This is the only video I could find of a vintage rivarossi u25c, thanks for uploading!

[@franciscovergara2902]

This is why it's such a great idea to have spare parts, specially motors, gears, screws and wheels from the brand of locos one has.

[@aaronsadowski1691]

Hey SMT, thanks for the great video. I was looking at some of your old videos and your restorations have grown so much, still great entertainment!

[@trainstorm1225]

I’m so glad you got a cradle. It always scared me that you would break something just sitting it on that wood table! 😂

[@williamfindspeople4341]

I agree with the wooden work table being questionable. I use a piece of slate tile and cover it with foam.

[@Scrimjer]

The cradle was one of the best things I have ever bought

[@modelrailroader5619]

I’m impressed that you got that motor to run even if you didn’t use it . Wow!

[@MichaelHostetler-u3r]

I redid a motor like this several years ago with all the rust fuze, I used a wire wheel in my Dremel and that worked just fine.I had to grind some of the metal off the armature lobes till it rotated freely. I cleaned everything and it RAN and ran better than several I didn't need to fix. Lucky me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@lesforan7695]

I modeled in HO from 1968 to 1978. Rivarossi (imported by AHM) and Athearn were the most commonly used HO locos. Rivarossi units had very good molded detail, and usually had large motors like your U25C, but suffered from one truck drive and lead weights in plastic frames. Athearn locos had metal frames, hefty motors, and two truck drive, but lacked the level of molded detail found on Rivarossi. I ran a mixture of both makes.

[@LuSan291]

Ciao, sei stato bravissimo a rimettere a nuovo questo vecchio Rivarossi. Sei un mago dei trenini. Ciao

[@mrsam6751]

Great work on a determining the issue. A very sharp looking diesel.

[@dlc54]

Love your videos, had many old engines that I thought were scrap, now they are all riding the rails thanks to your education videos.

[@string1235]

You have SO many patients. Its ridiculous

[@highspeedboom]

Great video, possibly the best one yet, very few if any videos show the inside of a Rivarossi motor. You can re magnetize the old magnets but replacement is better. The greatest challenge is bending those tabs back to open the motor. Some I have found are super difficult while some are easygoing. The brushes are unique in these, one is a carbon composite, the other copper looking brush is made to clean the commutator surface. The more sparks they make the weaker the magnets have become, causing more current and more voltage required. More videos like this and you will get to 50k subs someday! Good job! Well done ! Hope to see more like this.

[@lawnmowermanTX]

@SMT Mainline Have you 'had' any locomotives that 'sparked' and caught fire in your tests? I heard of a friend in Texas got a 'used' locomotive, put on the track with power on, it got hot, and caught fire, because he got distracted... then again, the videos I see so far, it's some common corrosive/oxidation on the motor, the springs to the brushes worn out.. The power pack 'did' make a loud buzzy noise... some thought it was the dryer buzzer... some people don't understand, these are electric motors and have needs of keeping the motor serviced... My Dad 'did' salvage some Bachmann, Tyco locomotives with the same issue, the Blue Box Atherns are so cool.. I had an F9 Amtrak that ran good.. I got spoiled on the horn hook couplers.. AHM and Mantua were the 'caddilac' of locomotives... but then again, put a nice stout motor in a cheapo locomotive, Franken-change a cheapo into a caddilac.. ;)

[@heyjay25]

Hey smt! I really appreciate that you do these videos, even though I might not own this locomotive. This is very helpful.

[@Uptownloki47]

Love the video. I don’t know how they did it, but the warbonnet paint scheme looks good on just about every diesel locomotive.

[@colbeausabre8842]

Except ATSF had no U25C's and as a freight loco it would have been in the blue rather the Warbonnet scheme

[@FuzionHyperX]

I can’t stop laughing SMT said I’m going to tap it but beats it up instead😂😂😂😂 trust me I would do the same 5:29

[@glennvogt1194]

If there is a will there is a way. Nicely done ✅

[@dbtech7914]

Good job! Persistence pays off. The Rivarossi's usually pull pretty good, but a little noisy.

[@normanrowe2831]

You are the Dr Frankenstein of model railroad locomotive repair. Awesome. See ya.

[@speedster1093]

If you can’t make it run, give it a walk

[@giovannifischbach6880]

😂😂

[@engineerpat5290]

WOW!!!! Im so impressed!! Good to keep spare parts in the box!!

[@markvittorini5163]

Still nice to see the Riverossi motor all apart on this one and lucky to have a replacement one.

[@SPNGMalibu18]

I was just looking at a train store in google and this popped up so I decided to watch it.

[@Chaos42666]

I have several locos with slight variations of that drive shaft system, an Athern blue-box,an old Penn-Line GG1, as well as a Marx shunter, that while a single truck loco has a slot for a transmission bar quite similar to a Penn-Line Loco my grandfather had

[@shipbuilding1000]

Nice video. I've never seen a mechanism that badly corroded. Rivarossi made a new U25C a few years ago that's very nicely detailed and a great runner. It's not bargain priced, but straight-DC examples show up on eBay for under $100 occasionally

[@TRRailfan]

I wish I had that! I love the U-Boats and it would fit great with the other units on my layout

[@official_baymax6379]

Wonderful restoration

[@StrictlySteam]

Another great video! These restoration videos are very cool!

[@williammcgeehan3424]

Not many railroads had the G.E. U25C Northern Pacific, Louisville & Nashville, and Pennsylvania among a coue others. The AHM model, imported in the 1970's, was billed at the time as the most powerful diesel in the AHM line. 👋

[@garysprandel1817]

Had and might still have the Northern Pacific one that was apparently the prototype Riverrosi based it off. Sounds like the donor motor needs a little TLC or some light grease in the drive gears because I don't remember them being quite that loud.

[@Project_29]

I turned my bachmann union Pacific into a dummy because it has cracked gears

[@aaronsadowski1691]

I did this to a Bachmann about a week ago... I had some replacement gears, but I also wanted a dummy Santa Fe loco.

[@MattsTrainArchive]

Glad I’m not the only one making old engines into push pull engines.

[@the.porter.productions]

Project 29 I’ve taken a few logos and done the exact same thing. Now I have spare parts for other projects 👍 - JP

[@animalyze7120]

Super glue with a bit of baking soda will revitalize those gears, also assorted bags of plastic gears found on ebay or in hobby stores that sell trains will usually have a few of the ones you need.

[@FQP-7024]

3d printing tech has come a long way in the last 3 years, you could 3d print new gears

[@MoosesWorkshop]

Another great rebuild SMT!

[@Brian_rock_railfan]

great video SMT Mainline liked 🚄👍

[@johnramirez5996]

You need a dremel with brass wire wheels and a splash of pb blaster. Would do wonders

[@rex-ju8oy]

you have gained my respect for fixing engines you have a subscriber right here 😏

[@FuzionHyperX]

I think it’s time I make a custom tyco Diesel and make it a SMT main line train with his logo on it. Congrats on 9k 😉

[@colbeausabre8842]

One small problem, ATSF never had any U25C's. It did have 16 U25B's. They were painted in the Blue and Yellow freight livery, not the Red and Silver Warbonnet

[@jacojasso9901]

Wow what a great runner

[@mach37]

Your magic fingers work so well on HO gauge locos; have you ever tried resuscitating a modern, new, Atlas N-scale loco? I bought an SD60M new, DCC ready, with the notion of adding a DCC non-sound decoder to it. The first time I tried it on a DC track the lights worked but the engine wouldn't turn. I went ahead and installed an NCE decoder in it and still no-go. The expert-guide seems to indicate a short that I can't find. I have checked everything short of digging down into the brushes - I just can't see how to get to them. If you want it I will send it to you. I have more than enough other running DC and DCC locos that I won't miss it. Atlas 40002072 BNSF #8130 SD60M, new in box except for the added NCE 12A1 decoder, which I hope hasn't been burned out by an undetected short.

[@lasagna19.6]

this is so helpful lol, i had the same issue with the same loco in a different scheme

[@Alerrecks]

Nice loco! Is the fuel tank zamac? Looks like it's getting zinc rot :/

[@thatonemk6gti2010]

I got another in a PRR paint scheme if you’d like

[@leaf8585]

Hey smt I’ll be expanding my CN collection on Friday when I buy a SD40-2W

[@SMTMainline]

Nice.

[@raymondleggs5508]

I had the Burlington one, it was awesome.

[@zackerybenedict6978]

smt you should do another "running all my steam locomotives" I would love to see another because that is the very video that brought me to you channel

[@SMTMainline]

Funny you say, a lot of people have been requesting that. Maybe it's time to make a remake.

[@NicholassTrainChannel]

I was surprised to see how much rust was in that motor i did not expect there to be rust.

[@m.t.lanimations9206]

I like your vids very much! Keep it up!

[@GarrettsTrains95]

We have the same type of pocket knife! Mine just has a wood texture on the sides and has my name carved in it.

[@ryanross3640]

SMT you should get honrby live steam mallard! also intro would be so cool!

[@John-op5vi]

I have two IHC SD 40 s. Did you ever do a show on an IHC unit? Tkankks John

[@jdmills4370]

What is that pen-looking thing you used on the commutator? Appears to work quite well

[@highspeedboom]

The pin he used is a electrician’s cleaning pin. Some use carbon filaments, some use fiberglass filaments, to clean any surface quickly for better electrical contact. They can be found online. I like to use the fiberglass ones but be careful they can clean right though your skin because the fibers are like hairs sticking out the tip.

[@Yeeter-bb4ox]

This comment has no memes? I will fix that *this is amazing, I have looked at this for 6 hours*

[@RuneTheFirst]

RE: Rivarossi motors. Let me warn you to NOT try opening the old square motors Rivarossi used it the 60s. These actually had ball bearings and they were NOT in an assembly but ran in a track at each end of the shaft. These were loose individual balls. The only other time I ran into such a design (and HAD to disassemble it) was on B&H 16MM projectors made between 1925-1972. These little motors were impossible to repair without specially-designed tools. Late square motors went to regular bearings and the round ones were a carryover from them. Just look into the rear of the motor and tiny steel bearings can be seen in those that have them.

[@MattKonsol]

Wow i bet that was very hard! Dang that was alot of rust omg i have the bachmann version of this but mine is a ge u36b with the pancake motor drive. It does run but the light bulb on each side burned out.

[@warbabyproductions]

Smt how did you get the metal tabs to let go

[@barnfulloftrains]

It may have been exposed to salt water area, that has been the only time I have ever seen them rust up that bad. Great Job.

[@piggytuberailfans1738]

Hello SMT can you make a video of how to make a dummie engine because I have this Chessie system GP 40 that the gears got broken and I don't know how to repair it. Thanks

[@blakestrains1072]

Good video

[@fairportrails107]

I can't also wait for you to do those tyco e8s

[@Annuld]

Hey SMT, do a video about your favorite trains. Also what controller do you use?

[@SpottingWithSam]

I just bought one of these, and the fuel tank is crumbling with Metal Fatigue, any idea on what I can do to repair the fuel tank?

[@HifiCentret]

You forgot the small plastic washer in the motor. The magnets are not coated. It's a kind of (dirt cheap) plastic magnets made from plastics and pulverized ferrit magnets. Like the flexible ones on you refrigerator. They're dirt cheap as making them any shape it just like plastics. Ferrits on the other hand require more complicated manyfacturing, custom molds and machining afterwards.

[@shawntl]

Good job great video

[@crudecaboose8382]

Cool loco, nice fix

[@carstrainsandcrossings8639]

It might’ve also gotten left outside

[@chazco]

Bummer about the original motor, but it is what it is. Noisy runner, but a runner. Thanks

[@SpaceDave1337]

Can you make a T Gauge review someday?

[@antonbruce1241]

This might be a candidate for one of those Ebay motors you bought????

[@apenza4304]

Soaking that motor in Evapo-rust for a few hours works.great.

[@fstlnj29]

Soak it in atf if you are worried about breaking something. After cleaning you can shoot it with electronics cleaner available at any auto parts store. Enjoy the videos!

[@dr.huskigaming4575]

Why is there a hole in thumb?

[@2nd66tube2]

Good candidate for an eBay 15x15 square 6 pole motor. They are excellent

[@sd70acefanns8]

Smt work on the blue goose next

[@richardp6178]

You forgot to istall the thrust washers on the motor shaft.

[@harlint1233]

nice work.

[@jpbx_902]

why no light on the train...

[@bramosborne3078]

Is that 1/80 I remember having sold old rivarossi in the early 80s and they were all to 1/80 scale

[@SMTMainline]

I didn't notice that. I wonder why they would make it 1:80 instead of 1:87 scale

[@bramosborne3078]

SMT Mainline I’m in the UK and we have a few shops that specialise in North American models , I had some Old B&O Athearn heavyweight cars and also added 2 Rivarossi and could clearly see they were larger more like the OO we use here than HO so I took them back as didn’t look right at all on the track, that’s when the shop manager (who was the Rivarossi importer to the U.K.) told me they use the odd 1/80 scale for HO even the European models, 1/80 is the HO standard for Japan!

[@caboosech]

you will need to get some crc 2-26 multi purpose lubricant spray i used it before on must of my u25c fleet

[@felixfelix9062]

Holy crap, did you fish that out of a lake?

[@TomPrickVixen]

Yea those motors are the weak-spot of every old Rivarossi loco, and I still couldn't find a replacement brush for my V160, the old ones simply crumbled, but the Altaya made ones are not much better neither.

[@lorenzobeckmann3736]

get two brushes the same from carbon---yes, you have to reduce the size from larger--ball.point pen springs for tension

[@phoenicianlocal2363]

This honestly feels like a DIY video, or even a "How To" video, hmmmm

[@brandianhadaway631]

3:29 OMG, WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR THUMBS NAIL?

[@Adamingraham885]

Good job

[@angryrailfan5711]

At least you can’t lose the springs

[@ellepo4638]

I have the same locomotive it has a Burlington paint job

[@johnbullaro6788]

is that a froggy 101 bumpersticker under the turn out. were’d you get that .

[@SMTMainline]

It is a froggy 101 sticker. It was sent in from a man who lives near scranton.

[@johnbullaro6788]

SMT Mainline love your videos,, scranton,pa. thats were im. from. thats why i recognized the sticker. lol

[@MMRails]

Very interesting. Even my wife watched in amazement. All that hard work and it still didn’t work. Remind me to stop putting vinegar on my fries.

[@lesforan7695]

The vinegar used in the video was white vinegar. For fries you should use malt vinegar.

[@plaguedoctormuffin]

"Small hammer" *gets a full sized one*

[@carstrainsandcrossings8639]

What happened with the original Motor as in what did you do with it

[@colbeausabre8842]

Boat anchor. Actually, it might be usable as a flat car load

[@carstrainsandcrossings8639]

@@colbeausabre8842 I agree

[@Nightwolf5151]

Can someone send a link to the carbon fiber scratch pencil he uses? Or reply to this comment

[@Operation_Kodiak]

SMT what happend to you nail??

[@heckingaxle6618]

ATSF had U28Cs

[@colbeausabre8842]

No it did not, it had 16 U25B's

[@heckingaxle6618]

@@colbeausabre8842 Yes it did. ATSF U28CG 7908 is one.

[@colbeausabre8842]

@@heckingaxle6618 A U28CG is NOT a U28C