Lionel Challenger Problems (update)

[rexhea]

"cjcrescent" came over to my depot yesterday to help determine the cause of my Challenger derailings and less than smooth operation. Well, it took him less than five minutes to have my Challenger running like a swiss made watch.

The first repair was to remove the front engine pilot spring. The spring was so strong that it was removing the traction pressure from the front drivers. The only other thing that needed to be dealt with was the close clearances of the valve rod assemblies that several of you mentioned. This was taken care of by some minor adjustments.

An added note is that the Challenger does not allow for very much tolerance in track alignment and each joint must be near perfect. This is actually a plus to help find any improperly aligned joints.

Now, the Challenger runs very smooth and dependable and gets better with every minute of running time...... plus I have 200 mph rated track[:D][:D].

Thanks to All, REX

[Anonymous]

It takes a steamer to discover all those track flaws that you never see when you run a diesel.

[Anonymous]

Would you recommend purchasing a Lionel Challenger ? I see it lists for $500+ and have noticed it for $250ish at www.discounthobbywarehouse.net

I have a couple of Broadway Limited engines (NYC Hudson and NW 2-6-6-4) and think they look great and perform terrifically. Any way to compare them to the Lionel Challenger ?

[rexhea]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Gary6853

Would you recommend purchasing a Lionel Challenger ? I see it lists for $500+ and have noticed it for $250ish at www.discounthobbywarehouse.net

I have a couple of Broadway Limited engines (NYC Hudson and NW 2-6-6-4) and think they look great and perform terrifically. Any way to compare them to the Lionel Challenger ?

Yes, I would highly recommend it. I also have the BLI NW Class A and they do look good together. The Lionel is beautifully detailed (more so than the Class A) and once you work out these minor problems it is well worth the money.

I have now ran it on all my mainlines that includes areas of 2.5% grade pulling 20 cars at 45-75 clicks of power (Digitrax Super Chief) and it ran beautiful. With my present settings that is way faster than norm, but I really wanted to put it to the test. I also slowed it to a crawl up the grades and it pulled very smooth and steady.

At first, the sound seemed to have too much white noise in it, but oddly it has mellowed to a very deep, almost prototypical sound. Just follow the tech tips at Tony's Train Exchange. [^] I love it.[^]

Make sure your track is in good shape because it will find all the defective joints. Ha!

REX[:)][:)]

[Anonymous]

Glad to hear you worked out your problems. I'm considering getting one myself, the UP #3980. Gotta love that two-tone gray scheme![:D]

[Anonymous]

FOR SURE

[Anonymous]

Frankly, I think that's an expensive***locomotive to have ANY trouble from. It oughtta be perfect outta the box. Anything less in my book, is unacceptable. But then, I don't have the money to throw around like some people do, so I have to get the best for my dollar.

QUOTE: Originally posted by Gary6853

Would you recommend purchasing a Lionel Challenger ? I see it lists for $500+ and have noticed it for $250ish at www.discounthobbywarehouse.net

I have a couple of Broadway Limited engines (NYC Hudson and NW 2-6-6-4) and think they look great and perform terrifically. Any way to compare them to the Lionel Challenger ?

[selector]

I have had my Challenger for a month, and the first thing I found was that my EZ-Track sections were not level with each other. The alignments were okay horizontally, but there was a slight gradient between sections, so the front truck would go through a curve, and so would the first engine, but the rear engine would get airborne by the rising front engine and leading truck. Once I realize what was happening, I fixed all vertical kinks and have have no other issues. The only other thing I did was to strengthen the spring for the leading truck on the tender so that it stayed in the track better on curves. I have 22"ers.

Generally, the Lionel is an excellent loco in every respect. I made sure the tech at modeltrains.ca had a close look at it before they shipped it due the the clearance problems in the valve gears. He did what I asked..but claims to have found nothing wrong.

I would recommend that you get one...they are becoming rare...if not terribly popular.