Sixty - odd years ago, many members of the club that I belonged to had these locomotives. Can't remember if they were good performers, or their level of detail. Does anyone reading this have one ? Any photos? Thanks.
Not the Challenger, but I have a Bowser 2-10-2 kit and super details that I have never assembled.
The open frame Pitman motors used back in those days really took a lot of juice to get them going. As David wrote, the amount of detail is up to the owner.
The boilers were a bare metal casting with no holes drilled, and it was up to you to paint the model, locate and add all the handrails, whistle, bell, etc.
Had one back in the day, until it took a 12 foot dive to the garage floor on its first run! I was very pleased with it and appreciated the option of detailing it to my hearts content but was dismayed at the lack of a correct tender.
Dave
I have one of the most recently made Challengers, with the updated DCC ready Pittman motor. It's a very smooth and strong runner, but it was difficult getting it to work half-way quiet. The motor is at an angle for the worm to mesh with the gear, and then a universal has to be at a constant sharp angle to reach the other drive wheels, making a lot of noise. The original units with both worms on pillow blocks were the best mechanically, but they're all very good overall.
The body has almost no detail as is. Drilling for super detailing takes a very long time, but it does allow you to mount a lot of separate detail parts to make it look good!
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I loved building my Challenger, I learned so much!!!! Loved detailing it. It's so heavy that it can pull all the cars I can put behind it--lol. I have the original open frame motor too. I may put DCC in it, but haven't run it in a while. It doesn't have the derail problems of some other steamers!
Richard