(translation by Dario Romani)
Purpose of the site
What we would like to implement is somewhat a “super-catalogue” of the model trains made by Rivarossi, from 1945 until taken over by Hornby.
Without hesitation I will do it on the locos and as I can, thereafter, on coaches and wagons.
To achieve this, I need everybody’s help, to check any mistake or lack as surely there will be.
Legend of the site
On the site I will publish images and texts mainly taken from the Rivarossi catalogues.
The original text from the catalogue will be printed in “italics”, while my comments are in common mode (production years, liveries, etc.).
For the liveries and the production years, I have referred myself to the Jubilee Book published by the Firm (50 years of Rivarossi), which lists all the models produced until then. Therefore up to 1995 I am confident about correct dates and liveries, but for the forthcoming production (e.g. the Allegheny steam locomotive) I lack verifiable data.
For some locomotives, in which the original text was pretty scarce, I have published the notes on the sheet included with the model.
Owing to my personal experience, I have ascertained that the same model could in time have many production variants, whether in quality and type of finish, and this means FOR SURE that there are models (slightly) different from the ones I have published.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
There is not actually a real and proper book about Rivarossi.
The only text not being a catalogue is the book published by Molfa in 1981 which includes the plates of (almost) all the models produced from 1945 to 1981, but which lacks almost completely as far as text is concerned: just two pages for introduction.
Another relevant book is the Jubilee Book mentioned above, which is fundamentally a list of the complete production from 1945 to 1994 (published by Rivarossi).
Very interesting is the catalogue of the fair “A train 50 years long – History of Rivarossi through model trains” held at the Milan Museum of Science and Technology in 1995.
Rivarossi periodically published a new-items catalogue and a general catalogue, but at particular times also published were special catalogues: for collectors, RR series, track manual, spare parts, etc.
As well as catalogues, Rivarossi also published from the mid fifties to the mid sixties its house organ "H0 Rivarossi -Rivista di Modellismo Ferroviario" model railway magazine, every two months.
-----------Summing up ---------------
- “General Catalogue” – by Rivarossi – published from 1946 to date
- “New-items Catalogue” – by Rivarossi
- Special catalogues: “for collectors”, “RR series”, “track manual”, “spare parts”, etc. – by Rivarossi
- “H0 RIVAROSSI – Rivista di modellismo ferroviario” – by Rivarossi – bi-monthly, from 1954 to 1965 approximately
- “Rivarossi 1945-1981” – by Edizioni Molfa – 1981
- “50 anni di modellismo ferroviario” by Rivarossi – 1995 (Jubilee Book)
- “Un treno lungo 50 anni – Storia della Rivarossi attraverso i modelli dei treni” - by Museo della Scienza e della Tecnica di Milano - 1995
