The pictures of this Z scale brass Challenger are amazing. We N scale modelers had for a long time wished for N scale steamers with good pulling power, and we have been blessed with some great additions to what is available in the last 2 years, with the N scale Athearn Challenger being one of them. I wish you Z scale modelers the same.
Hans, I would also like to know if the challenger will have both sets of drivers powered, because with only one set powered, it won't pull what it should. The cab forward is beautiful, but not very practical for pulling very many cars I'm afraid. Loren
Lajos, Loren, Jim, there are some well know guys in Germany called Oliver Passmann and Michael Bahls, they do traction tires for a couple of Euros, of course also for Steamlocomotives because the Märklin Steamer don't have the power to pull 5 Passengercars on a little grade. With the traction tire you have the pulling power you need with low cost.
I have changed my mind and probably can´t (don´t want to) resist to get one loco, especially when it´s the Rio Grande. I don´t own a Cab Forward, so I ´can´t say anything about its traction, but I have enough confidence in AZL that this will be the pure power. What I would like to see is not only a DCC-ready version, but an already decoder-equipped version as well. I don´t want to open this jewel and do her any harm. Also, I would like to know which radius is necessary to keep the engine going? Mattias
That should be something for Hans to consider (if not already done), the SD70s have traction tieres too, so why not this steamer?
Concerning ghost-waggon. There is a wonderfull loco concept from Märklin, and a very good puller. It's a unique build in all the Märklin engines and it is because of the flat design very easy to integrate into existing waggons ! It exist as 88690, 88691, 88692, 88693, 88694, 88695 THE END
And because only 4 pictures allowed :thumbs_down: (why limit the number and not just the size? and anyway linked pictures take no place?!?)
AZL Challenger First, thank you all for your interest. We have not made a final decision on the drivetrain and we truly value comments and ideas. I will actually alert our builder in Korea to this blog. We would love to power up the tender, but pushing a locomotive leads to all kinds of trouble. As we know more we will give you updates. Best,
Don't get me wrong, I would love more than anything, to see ALL locomotives produced in Z Scale pull 50 cars, BUT, at shows, it don't matter what loco it is, you can only pull a handful of cars unless you have 2 or 3 locos. I have lots of great running Marklin steamers, but once you put the "BEND" in Z-Bend Track, you also put the drag on the loco. Even double headed, my Mikado's can only pull 20 cars. I watched a grown man cry, after forking out $1500+ for a beautiful locomotive and set of SP reefers, when that loco could not pull the string of reefers by itself. The next big loco release, was not much better pulling wise. All my Marklin steamers pull poorly, relative to a single AZL SD70. IF I had ghost wagon boxcars, say 2 per train, I could give the illusion that all the many, already out there, steamers I have, can each pull a show sized train, and pull it all day long. YES, I am with you in wanting the loco to do it's job, BUT, there are tens of thousands of locos already out there that simply CANNOT perform 50 car pulls, and I don't want to just throw tham away... I want a Ghost Car to do the work, while the beautiful steamer up front only has to worry about turning it's own siderods. And if per chance another beautiful locomotive is released that simply cannot pull the train, my ghost cars will come to the rescue and relegate the shelf queen back to the mainline for all to enjoy at the shows! GHOST CARS... A WAY TO HIDE THOSE DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS!
"GHOST CARS... A WAY TO HIDE THOSE DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS! " Lets compromise, "ghost tenders". The original Marklin tenders are too small anyway, so a nice, heavy brass tender, equipped with a 10mm Faulhaber motor can do the job. No traction tires. Power and weight, the American way. Lajos :0)
Ghost tenders work for me too, but do not solve the problem of all mt NP Shorty Tenders on my Mikado's. There is room for both!
Most N scale locomotives like this use a drive system that is just like a regular diesel. Motor in the middle with flywheels and worms at each end. Each set of drivers had a gear tower that goes up to the worm. Athearn's N scale Challenger: http://www.nscalesupply.com/ATH/ATH-challenger.html (pics with the shell off) It should be pretty easy to power both sets of drivers. Specially for 1600 smackers!
Hi Chris, This is exactly the type of construction of the 8869x, it's on tob just flat, dispite the frame design. If you want I can strip one of my ladies for you
I was mostly talking about the locomotive itself not the ghost wagon, but yeah that chassis you posted would make a nice boxcar.
Awesome! About technology, can you confirm wheter both trucks are powered, or only one such as the Cab-Fwd? Dom
Instead of a "ghost wagon", in my opinion the easiest way is a powered tender.... If one considers the 6 or 7-wheel heavy tender that matches GS4, AC 12 or Challenger, this is even bigger than a F7. So when one remembers the MTL F7's pulling power, maybe it should be the direction to look at.... Here in Europe that's a common technology for steamers in various scales. And provided a steamer rarely ventures on its own far from its tender.... <grin> Dom
In a steamer as big as a challenger, you could power the locomotive, and power the tender with a second motor. That would really give some pulling power!
Another candidate could be a powered truck like the one Bachmann used for their Nscale doodlebug. I forget what kind of 5 pole motor the bug used, but only the front truck was powered. It did use pickup from all 4 axles. The model was discontinued in 2000. The #88690 appears useful.
