I have several RR Challengers and am waiting for the Athearn Challenger. I would like to put decoders in the Rivarossi Challengers, but I haven't figured out how to isolate the motor from the frame. Stay cool and run steam.....
Bill, thanks for the nice comment: Yes, it is not a washout :teeth: but the bridge connecting Union Station with the Prairie Line. The bridge building gang was busy constructing 15th Street Bridge over the City Waterway, so this project is "on hold"... I guess it must be one of the shortest helper districts on the NP: A Mike was used to help pulling passenger trains out of Union Station and to assist trains up the Parie Line to South Tacoma. I might need to equip a Kato Mike with double-traction tires and a GHQ metal boiler to give it sufficient traction to pull 5 heavyweights up that grade, even with a Pacific shoving on the other end.... There is a great pic of that operation in Warren W. Wing's "Northwest Rail Pictorial II", page 107.... Cheers Dirk
Dirk, We might get that Z6 from GHQ yet. Most of the master work is done for it. In fact I think the only unfinished part is the tender. If Greg can figure out how to make the Z8 work on the Athearn chassis there may be a chance we will see the Z6 commercially. Andrew
Ya know, the faster the Z6 you build gets done, the quicker we get a commercial Z6 from GHQ...... :angel: I thought you made that up... That's a real-lfe helper district?mg:
I already own a GHQ Z8 Conversion kit that I was going to use on a Rivarossi/Con Cor Challenger; just never got to finishing it ... yet!:shade: Not sure about doing any Z6 as yet .. unless GHQ really does come out with a conversion kit. BTW .. the Con Con S2 tender is close representation for a Z6 tender; except that Con Cor is now completely sold out of them. Also Athearn is producing two (2) Challenger versions: the UP/D&RGW twin stack (which was the last type ALCO produced and which class UP 3985 is); and the Clinchfield single stack type (which more closely resembles the NP "Z" class). The Athearn "Undec" version is of the Clinchfield type; it's the "Undec" version I have on order. :teeth:
verse, The Z-6 model is from a Japanese firm called More Co. Ltd. I first saw the models at the National Train show in Seattle a couple of years ago. The only place I know of that has them in stock right now is Hobby Smith. http://www.hobbysmith.com/consign.html They also have Great Northern and SP&S versions. They have a website but I can't seem to find it right now. Andrew
I found the website for More CO. although it has not been updated since 'O4 http://www.web-more.jp/eng/n_gauge.html Andrew
Thanks Andrew. WOW! I am going to need More Dough to buy one of them. I'll probably settle for the KEY Import version. verse
Not UP/D&RGW version or the Clinchfield version .. this is the NP/GN/SP&S version. Am seriously considering getting one. :zip: However, I believe Key is preparing to do a brass version of the UP despite Athearn's mass produced plastic style.:thumbs_up: Here's their link: http://www.keyimportsinc.com
4Nscale website now quotes early march for delivery of the Athearn Challenger. I will be at the Big E show in 2 weeks and will get an update from Athearn. Also photo if possible. The More Z6 should be available from www.railmodel.com by order. Key Models just updated their price and model list. There seem to be 4 models at the top of the production list including late model challengers (UP AND DRGW), as well as BigBoys, late model cabforwards, and GG1s. I just scored a Key Q2 and it is the most unique thing on my road! Keep up the steam. Dave
I just had a scary thought. Its possible that the delay to March is due to finding a minor or major flaw in the models that needs to be fixed before sending them out. Daryl
Like maybe the UP shield is still upside-down? That doesn't affect the undecs, so let's have them! Ben
Much more likely that the engine suffers from the same exact problems that plagues other N Scale steam efforts. Perhaps the drive rods fall off. Maybe is doesn't run in reverse. Then again, maybe it can't pull it's own tender. Could be that the flanges are so big they bump on Atlas 55, or that they are so small the wheel falls apart. Then there is the problematic electrical pickup, and the case of the too tight DCC wiring between the tender and the engine. The shipping box may be wrong, making the drawbar bend. The gears could grind horribly, making it sound like a coffee grinder. Sorry, but there's a much better chance of a static model than a working steamer... :teeth:
There may be issues with the loco, but my money is on simple overaggressive scheduling. Peg it before Christmas so that the Christmas money doesn't get spent on something else. Then backpeddle for a few months until the real delivery date gets here. I found it VERY strange that Athearn was at the OKC show in December, only a few weeks prior to release, without a working preproduction model of some kind. Heck, if nothing else hook it up to a UP SD70M and a few passenger cars as an excursion train and let the diesel push it around a loop of track for cryin' out loud. Regardless, I hope it's a hit. It's a pretty cool locomotive, for a steamer. mg:
Poster over at Atlas forum stated that he spoke to Athearn rep at a show in early Jan. Rep said they were testing a bunch of samples to make sure that everything is working right so as to avoid the embarrassments of a few other recent releases. I am still calling the glass half full. Otherwise, you can always place an order with Key for one in brass! Dave
