It inside the top display case across the aisle from the HO layout or at least it was last Friday when I was there.
Have 2 on order to go with the one I just picked up for a steal. Plus 2 Challengers that were also announced.
I'm resurrecting this thread to ask a question about the 'revised' new CHALLENGER announcement. When last I looked... they had NOT announced the Northern Pacific nor SP&S versions of the Z8 Challengers. I know that these are all ALCo varieties which were created during WWII (1942-1944)... and they should all be relatively similar to the 50 Union Pacific models that Athearn appears to have copied. Looking at the photos of the NP and SP&S models... the cabs look different, the sand/steam domes are close but not the same and the firebox seems longer on the Z8's. There are certainly more 'appliances' which are different on the Z8 versions which could not be seen on the photo. I think the tender is similar... but... slightly different sheet metal on the sides. I'm hoping that Athearn will at least do more than 'just' slap a different name on the identical UP versions of the Challenger... even though they will look reasonably close from the 3' vantage point. Are there any other 'glaring' differences between the ALCo Union Pacific Challengers versus the ALCo Z8's owned by the NP and SP&S?
I saw it... but... I believe they want near full retail for it. The new models may actually be priced lower than the former models MSRP... so the discounted prices for the new models are about $100 lower. Yikes...
I found a thread on another N-Scale specific board which has some posts of Challengers including both the Athearn & Rivarossi versions... but... also shows the GHQ Z8 conversion kit. It is on page 63/post number 1245. http://www.nscale.net/forums/showthread.php?18849-Show-us-your-locomotives!/page63
http://www.trainworld.com/manufactu...2931-4-6-6-4-w-dcc-sound-coal-tender-np-5148/ Im more concerned about these.
