I would like to know how much it costs for the engines and if they're any good.
( Darth Santa Fe , I could use your help!)
- Luke
Modeling the Southern Pacific in the 1960's-1980's
The Big Boy is currently out of production, but I'm pretty sure they're still making the Challenger.
All the kits together for a Challenger will cost somewhere around $230, but that's with no discounts. With some work, it's a great engine with a lot of detail, a lot of power, and a lot of reliabilty. The boiler is a little too wide, but that's about the only problem externally. The only other problem I can think of is the stock driveshaft, which works fine, but it's extremely noisy. I replaced the driveshaft couplings in mine, and it's much quieter now than it was before.
The Big Boy was made by soldering two Challenger boilers together, so it required a lot of filing and filling to look good. Even I would go with a ready-to-run Big Boy (AHM for me!) instead of going through all that trouble to build Bowser's version. The Challenger, on the other hand, I would definately recommend.
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New Haven I-5 wrote:Could you post some more pics of the Challenger? Mr. King of Bowsers!
Here's the link to the topic I posted a while ago showing some detailed shots.
http://www.trains.com/trccs/forums/1129284/ShowPost.aspx
davidmbedard, the newer Bowsers draw far less current than the older ones. My Challenger draws between .35 and .4 amps running free, which isn't bad at all for a steam engine this heavy. I also have a T1, and with the newer motors, it only draws about .6 amps (4 amps stalled, if it's even possible for that to happen ).