Lionel HO Challenger

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by cacole
[bI could have saved around $450.00!

Your reply caused me to pull the MR Feb 04 review. MSP $700.00 WOW! and the their closing remarks"Top Quality,well- constructed model".

[cacole]

Mine was definitely a first run because I ordered it shortly after Lionel announced that it was going to be released, and had to wait almost 6 months before actually receiving it. If I had known that Lionel was going to abandon it a year later and have a fire sale on them, I could have saved around $450.00!

[Anonymous]

It was reported that there was a second run that was an improvement. If so, was it part of the fire sale?

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by cacole

Maybe I just got lucky -- I have had none of the problems with my Lionel Challenger that other people have reported. It pulls like crazy, runs very smoothly, and has no rocking motion. My only critique had to do with the lousy whistle sound. It took a lot of tweaking as per the recommended DCC CV settings posted at Tony's Train Exchange's Web site to get the whistle fine-tuned, but it still sounds harsh and raspy. I did not use any cotton in the speaker as recommended there, though, and am not going to risk damaging the speaker by doing that. Overall, I am very satisfied with my Lionel Challenger. After reading a comment that the new Athearn Challenger uses an MRC sound system instead of QSI, and that it doesn't sound very good at all, I'm glad I have the Lionel.

When did you buy yours?

Man I am really agonizing over this ...Athearn or Lionel......arrrgh!

[cacole]

Maybe I just got lucky -- I have had none of the problems with my Lionel Challenger that other people have reported. It pulls like crazy, runs very smoothly, and has no rocking motion. My only critique had to do with the lousy whistle sound. It took a lot of tweaking as per the recommended DCC CV settings posted at Tony's Train Exchange's Web site to get the whistle fine-tuned, but it still sounds harsh and raspy. I did not use any cotton in the speaker as recommended there, though, and am not going to risk damaging the speaker by doing that. Overall, I am very satisfied with my Lionel Challenger. After reading a comment that the new Athearn Challenger uses an MRC sound system instead of QSI, and that it doesn't sound very good at all, I'm glad I have the Lionel.

[Anonymous]

I wish I knew this before I took the plunge. Man.......

Do the Lionel Challengers purchased last year have the same boiler rocking as the ones that just got dumped on the market.

[Anonymous]

I saw one in a hobbyshop in early December. The performance was disappointing to say the least and the sound was not as good as other locos. The owner of thee store said that after about three hours of running the locos get broken in and perform better, but still not up to the quality of a BLI or Trix. [:(]

I won't be getting one.[V]

[Anonymous]

Guess I won't be looking at this unit anytime soon.

Warren

[sfagel]

Has anyone had experience with the disappointing performance and sound from the new Lionel HO Challenger? For details see www.tonystrainexchange.com. Too bad they didn't "beta test" it before marketing; it oesn't compare with BLI or Trix Big Boy.[B)]