I haven’t seen this issue brought up in while, so I thought I’d kick it and see if there was still any life left in it…
I’m a Challenger man myself, I guess because it pulled both freight and passenger service, and also probably because it fits into my not real big layout so well. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against the Big Boy, but it’s never really appealed to me like the Challenger does. Oh well. I guess it’s an each to their own kind of thing.
Of course you realize if you don’t agree with me that you’re wrong ([:P])!..
Sorry, dude. It’s the Big Boys for me. I think the longer, leaner lines and 2 extra drivers really make for something unique. Challengers are okay, but you just know everyone who sees 3985 roll by is thinking “If only it were a Big Boy.” [sigh]
I know the Big Boys pulled troop trains during the war, but I don’t think they ever handled regular passenger trains.
I disagree with both of you. They are BOTH cool. I’ve not seen this shot anywhere else. It is a scan from a really nice original 8X10 I have that has “Union Pacific” stamped on it on the back. It’s probably a rare shot. The Challenger in front is X3999 and the Big Boy behind it is Z4011.
I like them both but I lean more towards the Challenger because more railroads used them and there are some more noticible variations between the different versions/classes on the different railroads.
Well, I guess I’m going to be wrong either way because I say neither. They’re both too big. Give me a smaller 0-8-0 switcher or 2-8-2 any day of the week…
A graceful 4-4-0 from the 1880s is prettier any day, is more of a challenge to get to run well, and is more in keeping with the train lengths and curves that fit in my layout space.
…modelling foggy coastal Oregon, where it’s always 1900…
As others have said, the Big Boy is too big for my layout, and if I were to get one, it would overshadow my nice greyhound Lionel Challenger.
Additionally, for me, the Big Boy is a bit of a disappointment performance-wise. The H8, Yellowstone, and certainly the Y6 could run circles around them. To have lived up to its billing, it seems the Big Boy only had to be that…big… and not necessarily the mighty puller it could have been.
(This is aside from all the engineering and purposeful design that went into it for UP’s needs.)
If you’re into following a prototype and like interesting scenery, the Challenger is the only way to go. Big Boys were only operated on a limited percentage of Union Pacific trackage, most of it located in some of the most desolate scenery on the planet.
OTOH, Challengers found themselves storming the forested slopes of western North Carolina (on an alignment that just begs to be modeled!) and rolling tonnage under the Starrucca Viaduct. Not to mention that both the Clinchfield and the Delaware and Hudson offered far more opportunity for interchange than did the UP in Wyoming!
Of course, the whole thing is an academic exercise to someone whose prototype was not into articulateds and whose only articulated steam loco model is a low-drivered 2-6-6-2T. (The collection of 1-Bo+Bo-1 and 2-Co+Co-2 catenary motors don’t count.)
I recently came across a Big Boy v. Allegheny thread on ahem another venue, where a historian chimed in and put it best:
"The Big Boy and Allegheny were close in a number of comparisons such as machinery factor and power per ton, but they were different animals and each had different advantages over the other. A Big Boy WOULD drag around the Allegheny from a dead stop, it had almost 20,000 more pounds of starting tractive effort, but that doesn’t make it a “better” or more powerful locomotive. A 4500 HP four unit FT would drag around either one of them from a dead start. A four unit lashup of 1200 HP switchers probably would too.
It is widely held that at the speed at which the most horsepower is produced for each engine the Allegheny produced more HP than the Big Boy. Once again it doesn’t mean it is a better or more powerful locomotive, it just means that at the particular point where the speed and max HP curves intersect the Allegheny had the advantage. Of course, you have to get the tonnage started to reach that speed so unless you are working with certain grade profiles and consists you can’t even make the com
OK, OK, Everyone that owns a big boy or challenger( I thought they were the same) will you ALL post your ownership of the above 2 locomotives Even if you own more than one, This will show just how many of these locos exist out there, according to the amount of print dedicated to these 2 locos on these forums it must be in the hundreds of thousands, a day doesn’t go by that 1 or more posts decry the size or cost of these engines, there should be a special forum for these 2 locomotives alone. I shall wait for the next subject on big-boy-challenger shortly.
