MTH Challenger review Part 2
The engine arrived on Wednesday (A separate story in and of itself involving Aussie Customs) and after taking it out of the box I stood back for about 20 minutes just taking it in and touching this and that. Just admiring the whole thing. Again I was struck by the attention to detail with many parts made from brass and those parts that were moulded to the body, not clunky in any way The sheer size of it conveys the might and power of the prototype . Especially when with the tender attached, it took up the almost entire length of our, not small, dining room table.
Then I started looking in detail and noted the entire pilot section was cast metal. No flashing anywhere to be seen Cast detail on the pilot is crisp and clear right down to the cross hatching on the step plate in front of the smoke box door. In looking in the cab I noted the back head is very well appointed with the usual array of valves and gauges and such. There are also two figures seated in the engineman / fireman position in not unnatural pose . The cab windows on both sides slide open and shut. Lettering on the locomotive is crisp and clear and the U.P Herald on the Smoke box door is exceptionally so. As are the builders plates with all the writing clearly legible even if needing a magnifying glass to read it. There are the same concerns I conveyed in my review of the tender however. These detail parts are of a fine nature and as such convey the need for careful handling.
One annoying aspect was that both number boards were snapped of, as was the bell knocked out of its mount. (I have contacted MTH on this and they will be sending me replacement boards) I tried reglueing the broken part of the number boards. Unsuccessfully. Whatever the plastic is, it will not stick Selley’s 5 minute epoxy. After the other boards arrive I will experiment with some MEK and see what happens.
All the valve gear and side rods are metal and again are not clunky in anyway. The side rods I noted are mounted the same as the series 2 units. Not knuckle jointed as the series 1 units were but were jointed and mounted to the crank pins directly. The crossheads are finely detailed and mounted very solidly. I lubricated all the motion gear, as I felt it was a little dry. I use #7 clock oil on these parts. Very expensive oil but it does not dry out. And a tiny drop on the end of a cotton bud is all that is needed.
I noted the road number of the engine and its number coincides with the drawings I have of the Challenger series locomotives. This is a series 2 Challenger. All dimensions I have quoted later on are for the series 2 type.
In comparing this model with the many photo’s that abound of 3985 some minor detail parts are missing, most noticeable is a pipe that runs from the walkway on the left hand side of the boiler up to almost the stack shield. In the photo I have of 3976 this pipe is not there.
(Interesting aside here is the series 2 loco’s the Clinchfield purchased from the DRGW. DRGW had been given these by the War Board and they did not match the Baldwin built Challengers that the road already had. Clinchfield did not like the double stacks and converted them to single stacks as per the series one units they already had. Clinchfield thus became the only road apart from UP to own both series locos built by Alco.)
Now on to the nitty gritty.
Trailing truck wheels are 1.245. Under size again by the same amount as the tender wheels. Should be 1.5/16 This is correct for the wheels as fitted to the trailing truck which were 42 inch
Lead truck wheels measure out at 1.072 which is 34.’5/16†in 1:1 scale. Again undersize Prototype was fitted with 36 inch wheels .
Drivers are 2.033. This converts to 65 and 1/16th. Way undersize as this model was fitted with 69 inch drivers. Should read 2 and 5/32 inches.
Trailing truck axle centres are 2.000. This equates to 64 inches. Should be 64. so they are correct. Lead truck axle centres are 3.046 These are chronically out by a lot. They should measure 2.750.
Driver centres are 2.315. They should be 2.281 Drivers as fitted standard on axle centres were 73 inches apart
The rear axle to lead axle distance between each engine is 4.241 inches. Should be 4.031
The overall axle centres of each engine are 4.550. Should be 4.563. This I found interesting.
Rear engine axle to lead trailing truck axle centre is 3.085. Should be 3.000. This measurement was a approximation though as there is a little slop in the trailing truck locating centre. I would say this is close enough.
The height of the loco from railhead to the top of the stack shield (highest point) is again as in the case of the tender off by the height of the slightly undersize wheels
The hoses on the front pilot are mounted in the wrong slot such as the folding front coupler cannot swing out but a careful removal and repositioning of the hoses to the second slot in the pilot allows the coupler to operate properly. The coupler itself appears to be a dummy and I have been able to check and see if it will mate with a Kadee coupler. It does.
The sound system is amazing. Very rich tonal quality with a interesting array of sounds. The compressor thump is amazingly realistic. Personal taste found me wishing I could turn the voices off though (Yard Chatter). They got annoying. I was intrigued to hear the snifter valves operate just as the loco started to move and then go into the deep exhaust note. The mallet sound is very identifiable with a definite two sets of cylinders going in and out of phase.
One thing I did notice with this unit was a slight bind in the front engine. This was at extremely slow speed and as it has not been run in yet I hope that this goes away. Checking the quartering found no fault visible to the eye.
In summary I find the MTH Challenger a good representation of a fine locomotive. There are some issues of course but how far do you want to take the rivet counting. Especially for the money involved. I was very wary of the fact that what might have been delivered would be a Tin Plate, High Rail type of model. In fact what we have is a unit of the calibre of the MTH Premier line.