Tag Archives: Rivarossi

News for Second quarter, 2026

Swedish railway news

Talgo has been awarded a contract to supply 91* carriages for use on overnight services in Sweden. Additionally, ten Vectron locomotives will be ordered to haul the new trains. The new fleet will replace the existing night train fleet of carriages from the 1990s (1980s design), for services between Stockholm and Umeå / Kiruna / Narvik. The fleet will consist of seating cars, sleeping cars and bistro cars, and be able to withstand temperatures of -40°C; but built to the continental European loading gauge, instead of the larger gauge available in Sweden. (This means that the beds will be shorter.) SJ has already decided to withdraw the recently acquired central European carriages used for services to Europe, so maybe they will be used on these routes also (competing with Snälltåget). The carriages will offer four-bed compartments, premium compartments with two beds and a single-bed compartment. The latter two types will have an ensuite toilet and shower. The first new trains are expected to be introduced in 2030, with full deployment planned for 2031.

(*An unconfirmed report says that the quantity is actually much higher!)

Swedish model news

Albert Modell (www.albertmodell.com) in Hungary has produced a ‘Hbbinss’ wagon (Art: 245062) in AAE/GreenCargo livery for 470 kr.

Dekas has produced a limited edition of the TMZ diesel locomotive in Inlandsbanan livery, with more liveries to follow. Dekas has more recently announced models of the type ‘Kbis’ wagons marked for timber transport. All are to be in the blue/red livery from the 1990s, but three will be with SJ markings and two with GC markings.

A drawing of the Albert Modell Hbbinss wagon.

HNoll is re-releasing some of their earlier carriages in new versions; A11, B11, BC4, RB11, S12, WL4, WL6; 20 assorted carriages in SJ black, SSRT grey and SJ Blue-X liveries. We have no further news at this time about the awaited B2.

We have some more curiosities concerning NMJ; articles that a trader is advertising, but which are not on the NMJ website! Three 1960s carriage types including another variant of the RB2 (this time, the R2), the R1 (also as the RBo2), and the DF28 are being shewn with article numbers. Additionally, the M2 3-axle ore wagon in a pack of four with SJ markings and a pack of four with LKAB markings are shewn. There is a ‘logic’ that says if the manufacturer isn’t advertising it, then maybe it’s just a rumour. But can anyone believe that it took less than half a year to produce the Of-loco? Maybe (hopefully), some news has slipped out! This would leave just the WL1 and F5/F6K from the 1960s series to be produced!

More reliable news regarding, and directly from NMJ is that they have announced ore wagons type ‘Mas’ of the 1902 and 1908 types. These will probably be in packs of four, as before. They are also advertising a type MTR56 with crane; a former Yd railbus with half of the body cut away and converted to a service vehicle; but this is in their ‘Superline’ range with a prohibitive price tag!

The MTR 56, proposed as a model from NMJ Superline.

Rivarossi has produced a model of the East German accumulator shunting locomotive, two of which have been purchased by Swedish Tågab, and now identified as type Zö. The model is in a German livery, but it shouldn’t be too difficult to repaint. (Rivarossi is owned by the British firm, Hornby, who, also owning Arnold, has produced the same model in two liveries, in N-scale.)

In our previous model news, we advised about Roco’s intention to produce a model of the former Swiss locomotive 620.052 that was to be used by Nordic Refinance. We’ve now heard that the real loco will be scrapped in Sweden and SBB Cargo will not be selling any more of them. We don’t know how this will affect the model!

For Kit builders, SMJ (Stockholm Model Railway Club) is producing an etched kit of the type L (2-6-0) steam loco.

Busch has announced an authentic model of the VW ‘beetle’ in Swedish Polis livery from 1955 (Art: 52969).

The MicroCity H0-scale Volvo V90 is being marketed by Herpa! There are at least six models; article numbers begin 87MC0000 followed by 19 for silver, 20 for white, 31 for grey, 32 for black, 22 for an English Police car (but with the steering wheel on the left), and 35 for a Swedish Polisbil.

PCX87 is releasing four new liveries on their 1968 Volvo 164, thus; 871564 white, 871565 “Polis,” 871566 dark green, 871567 yellow.

H0 scale police cars; VW Beetle, Volvo 164 and Volvo V90 in Swedish ‘Polis’ livery, and Volvo V90 in a British livery.

Still with PCX87, and their Volvo 340 has arrived. We had stated that the 340 was a hatchback (3-door or 5-door), and that the 360 was only a 4-door saloon, as in the pictures from PCX87. This was based on casual observation in the UK from the time that they were in production, but is actually incorrect. In the period 1984 to 1989, Volvo produced 79,964 340 4-door saloon cars and 66,207 360 4-door saloon cars! The three (out of four) models that we have seen (models in red, white and dark blue) are all labelled 340 and finished in order, DL, GLT, DL.

Rietze has produced a model of the MAN ‘Lions City 12E’ bus in Skånetrafiken livery (Art: 76354).

Kalmar Model Railway Club (www.kmjk.se) is producing models of the so-called Per-Albin house as kits, which can be easily customised for different finishes. These were town-houses that were built in the 1930s and former Prime Minister, Per-Albin Hansson lived in one, in Bromma.

Winterzone has added models of the station building and goods shed from Fiskeby to their range of laser-cut kits. The former kit has ±300 parts and costs 1 599 kr, whilst the latter costs 699 kr.

MJ-Hobby Experten has announced that this summer they will be moving the store and making some other changes. This seems to be largely influenced by costs that are increasing steadily and that more and more trade is being done online. In connection with the move, they are launching a completely new and improved website with a greater focus on E-commerce with the country’s lowest shipping costs, a new generous bonus system, along with good prices and fast deliveries. At the same time, they are increasing participation in fairs and markets. Customers will be able to pick up orders and visit their warehouse store during opening hours 11:00-14:00 on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, plus the 1st Saturday of the month. Phone hours will be 11:00-14:00 on +46(0)8-248910 on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. The new address after August 3, 2026 will be Lyftkransvägen 3, port (gate) 18, Länna industriområde, 14250 Skogås.

News that has already appeared in the UK is that Accurascale has acquired Heljan, but this relates mainly to their British 00-scale range.

Our railway news

The N-class steam loco has had its body removed, and part of the running-in problem has been found; the motor is not secure (the body was holding it in place). So, this is something that is being fixed. At the same time, the rear end lamps are being reset; they protruded too much. They were damaged during removal so extra repairs are being made. But once this is all done, the loco will be run-in without its body attached.

Nyheter, oktober 2021

Våra nyheter på Svenska

Tre Rivarossi-vagnar anlände (som en förpackning) av typen ‘Gbs‘, förutom att två av dem är märkta och numrerade pre-UIC, som typ ‘Gre‘. Dessa är de före detta Lima-vagnarna, övertagna av Hornby, och sålda vidare under varumärket Rivarossi. Varför två olika epoker dyker upp i en uppsättning är något bara Hornby kan svara på. Ändå är de ett speciellt set, så vi ville inte missa möjligheten att skaffa dem, även om de är vittrade – något som vi brukar försöka undvika på FLMJ.
Inte rullande materiel, men åtminstone modellmaterial. Två byggnader förvärvades via Tradera. Det ena är ett annat exemplar av det vanliga Pola svenska huset, men bilden på kartongen antydde att det var en annan version. Det är inte säljarens fel att det inte är det, snarare Polas fel! Men det här är ingen besvikelse, och monteringen ska ske snart, Den andra är lite mer generisk, men ganska typisk för ett hus i Sverige (och ett som vi inte redan har), så det blir lika intressant.

Tillverkarens Nyheter:

HNoll rapporterar om ytterligare produktionsproblem i Kina, och det är osannolikt att vi kommer att se några fler nya modeller före 2022. Tågkompaniet och Connex sovvagnar och liggvagnar har sålt väldigt bra, men ändå inte tillräckligt för att motivera att göra fler med olika nummer på!
Brekina har tillverkat Daf 66 kombi i ett urval av färger. Det innebär att både Daf 66 och Volvo 66 finns som sedan och kombi.
Wiking har tillverkat Volvo 850 kombi i metallisk kopparfärg. Vi undrade hur äkta den här färgen är på den här modellen, och den närmaste 1:1-versionen som vi kunde hitta på en ganska grundlig internetsökning, fanns på den här bilden (se nyheterna på engelska) från Polen! Denna modell är fortfarande Wikings modernaste Volvo.
Winterzone (https://shop.winterzone.se/index.php?) släpper ständigt nya varor i sitt 3D-printade sortiment. Av särskilt intresse för järnvägsscenen är de lösa luftintagen och hyttväggarna att montera på NMJ:s Y1 och YF1. Se deras katalog på hemsidan. Andra föremål av intresse är en sandlåda, parkbänkar, trafikkoner och andra körfältsmarkörer, kabeltrummor, infartsbarriärer, pallar, olika typer av behållare och återvinningscontainrar, korvkiosk, plattformsställverk (nästa epok upp från TeknoBygg; se bild), diverse säten att sätta i modeller som saknar inredning, o.s.v.!

Andra nyheter:

MJ-Hobby hade ett speciellt evenemang i början av månaden, där, inne i butiken, all radiostyrd modellering flyttades bort för att ge plats åt en modulär modelljärnvägslayout och ett par andra utställningar; och lättare förtäring serverades från ett tält utanför butiken. Detta arrangerades istället för en full utställning eftersom det här är en hektisk tid på året för sådana evenemang och för mycket konkurrens! Butiken verkade mycket upptagen på dagen, men inga köp gjordes på uppdrag av FLMJ.

October 2021 News

Rolling Stock Updates

Three Rivarossi wagons arrived (as a boxed set) of type ‘Gbs’, except that two of them are labelled and numbered pre-UIC, as type ‘Gre’. These are the former Lima wagons, taken over by Hornby, and resold under the Rivarossi brand. Quite why two different epochs appear in one set is something only Hornby can answer. Nevertheless, they are a special set, so we didn’t want to miss the opportunity to obtain them, even though they are weathered – something that we usually try to avoid at the FLMJ.
Not rolling stock, but modelling material at least. Two buildings were acquired via Tradera. One is another copy of the standard Pola Swedish house, but the picture on the box suggested that it was a different version. It is not the seller’s fault that it isn’t, rather Pola’s fault! But this is not a disappointment, and it’s assembly shall take place soon, The other is a little more generic, but quite typical for a house in Sweden (and one that we do not already have), so that will be just as interesting.

The former Lima Gbs was sold in a set by Rivarossi/Hornby.

Manufacturer News

HNoll reports that production problems continue in China; now a lack of electricity means that future deliveries will be delayed. It is not possible to say with any certainty when any carriages can be delivered. HNoll says that we have to be realistic and count on delivery not before 2022. Revenues from these products will therefore be delayed, which affects the models planned for 2022. It is very sad that this is happening and nothing can be influenced. The only positive right now is that HNoll can spend even more time on details during the design stage for future models.
Tågkompaniet and Connex sleeper and couchette carriages have sold so well that they have made a profit. The series has been produced in 120 copies of each model. However, there are still too few sold to justify a continuation with more running numbers, which will be a disappointment to people wanting to create scale length trains. No more will be manufactured in this series. However, the remaining carriages in the TKAB and Connex series will still be manufactured.
Brekina has, not by surprise, issued the Daf 66 kombi in a selection of colours. This means that both Daf 66 and Volvo 66 are available as sedans and kombis.
Wiking has released the Volvo 850 kombi in a metallic copper colour. We wondered how authentic this colour is on this model, and the nearest 1:1 version that we could find on a rather thorough internet search, was in this picture from Poland! This model remains Wiking’s most modern Volvo.

Winterzone (https://shop.winterzone.se/index.php?) is constantly releasing new items in its 3D-printed range. Of particular interest for the railway scene, are the loose air intakes and cab walls to mount on NMJ’s Y1 and YF1. See their catalogue on the website. Other items of interest are a gritting sandbox, park benches, traffic cones and other lane markers, cable drums, entry barriers, pallets, assorted types of skips and recycling containers, sausage kiosk, platform switchgear (the next epoch up from the TeknoBygg one; see image), assorted seats to put in models that have no interior fittings, and so on!

The Winterzone air intake unit on the NMJ Y1.

Other News

MJ-Hobby had a special event at the beginning of the month, where, inside the shop, all of the Radio Controlled modelling was moved away to make room for a modular model railway layout and a couple of other displays; and light refreshments were served from a tent outside the store. This was arranged instead of a full exhibition as this is a busy time of year for such events, and too much competition! The store seemed very busy on the day, but no purchases were made on behalf of the FLMJ.