Champ decals

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Greetings -

I’m looking into possibly decaling my first shell. On eBay I’ve noticed Champ decals with prefixes of “EH-” and “HH-”.

What is the difference between the two prefixes? Is one newer in age or better quality than the other? I tried googling it but I couldn’t find anything definitive about it.

Thanks for the help and insight…

Tom

2

The prefix “EH” signifies HO locomotive sets (E = engine, H = HO).

The prefix “HH” signifies HO herald sets (H = herald, H = HO).

The choice and placement of prefix letters for Champ decals was not consistent. Sometimes the H for HO started the prefix, sometimes it ended the prefix. O could be signified by “O” or “N” or a void. But each prefix signified a certain “class”.

Ed

3

Don’t know but looking at Google images: There were other letter codes too

Found EH, HD, PH (HO Scale), X, E, LB, Hn (n scale), P (O scale), HO, HR, HH, S, LW, LZ, CN

4

Somewhere around here I have a 1980’s era catalog… somewhere.

Of my Champ sets I have come to the conclusion that:

E is engine

P is passenger

L is lettering

C is caboose, AND hopper?

B box car

R refrigerator

S stripes

No second letter= O scale

H second letter = HO

N second letter = N scale (incorrect, see below)

*Sometimes it is the first letter!

Number = catalog set number.

Some deluxe sets were BR for Blue Ribbon.

I’m sure someone out there has their vintage Champ catalog and can fill in the blanks.

Good Luck, Ed

5

EH–see above

HD–HO narrow gauge dimensional data sets

PH–HO passenger car sets

X–numbers

E–O locomotive sets

LB–Black railroad roman alphabets

All this from an old catalog.

Ed

6

Champ didn’t do N scale*. N was for “name”, as in road name sets. As in HN (H = HO, N = name)

It was also sometimes used to indicate O scale. As in CN (C = caboose, N = O scale)

Ed

*Well, that’s a pretty firm statement. I will say that I surely don’t recall any. And it certainly wasn’t in Richard’s style. I believe he was an O gage guy, and only did HO to bring in the money.

7

Thanks gmpillman and 7j43k, I was going to edit my post with some guesses. A few of which would have been correct.

They apparently eventually did some N scale. My brouse of Google images found one set i think was labled N Scale. I tried to find it again but failed so may be mistaken

The first N scale locomotive I decaled (Must have been in 1971 or 72, N scale decals did not exist) was with Champ decals. The HO scale Western Pacific set had two sizes of WP hearled. The smaller one was just right for N scale. Turned out it was the same size as the larger herald on a Microscale N scale set that came out years later.

8

So, about Champ N scale decals. Tell me about them. It must have been “later”.

I see a lot of “N”'s in his #76 catalog, but none of them signify N scale. There is only HO and O.

Ed

9

That’s the risk of going by memory alone. I thought I had a few N sets around but, now that I give it more effort, they may have been Herald King?

http://billingsgazette.com/business/end-of-line-near-for-model-decal-company/article_ce5c4878-6511-54b2-9940-d43d64960f45.html

Regards, Ed

10

My brouse of Google images: I think I found one set labled N Scale. I tried to find it again but failed so may have been mistaken

11

My old Herald King folder says they did HO only. But, again, maybe the added some N stuff later. I know Microscale has done N forever. And there may be some other folks.

Ed

12

Are the Champ decals still useable? The company has been gone a long time. Unused decals often deteriorate with time.

Found this http://www.minot.com/champ/ notice from Champ regarding their closing in 2010 on this thread http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/p/168128/1846910.aspx#1846910

I remember that someone bought their remaining sets and sold them for awhile. Upon reading the thread, maybe it was his family selling off remaining stock after the owner died.

I think someone also produced limited run copies of some of the sets which were made by a different method and unfortunately inferior to the originals.

13

I have Champ decals dating back the the '70s, and some (but not all) are still useable.

My catalogue No. 95 shows only HO and O scale decals

The complete code list for that time (1994) was:

A - large alphabets
L - alphabets
X - numbers
XPN - numbers to match private names
S - stripes

The five catagories above were applicable to both O and HO (and probably some N, too).

For HO scale, there were these:

HD -dimensional data
HN - road names
HC - assorted freight cars
HG - gondolas
HB - box cars
HR - freight reefers
HX - express reefers
HT - tank cars
PH - passenger cars
EH - locomotives
HON- narrow gauge sets
BRH - Blue Ribbon sets
K-1 thru K-12 - circus sets
HO scribblings - scribblings
SHS-100s - Super Sets
SHS-200s - Super Sets
SHS-300s - Super Sets
SHS-400s - Super Sets

…and from HD to SHS-400s, there were equivalent O scale numbers, too.

I was very sorry to see Champ go, but am thankful that I was able to get so much of my rolling stock lettered using their decals.

Wayne

14

Thanks for all the info fellas. [:D]

My desire is to create a NYC FT A-B in the “cat-whisker” scheme, which were released in June '44 and kept this scheme at least up through '48/'49 before being repainted in the familiar lightning stripe:

Although Champs decal packet #EH-69 is labeled for “Alco”, it appears to have all the ingredients for an EMD FT with cat whiskers. The challenge of the project will be cutting out an oval space on the stripes in order to fit the red NYC herald onto the nose.

Can decals be overlapped slightly and the edges not look like they are raised?

Thanks,

Tom

15

Tom, I put decals over decals all the time, it works fine. I will post some photos later.

Sheldon

16

Thanks, Sheldon. [:)] And no rush on that either.

Tom

17

I’ve had good luck overlaying decals with other brands, but never tried it with any as thick as Champ’s sets.

If you’re concerned about a possible edge being visible, I’d suggest trying to cut the overlaying piece with a bit of a chamfer at the edges, like you see on Microscale decals, as a vertical cut would just give you more of an edge that would stand out.

18

There was another L for letters. I used LW-40s for years.These was white alphabet decals.

I really miss those decals.

19

I overlay Microscake decals with no problem. Don’t remember doing it with Champ. I am pretty sure Champ decals are thicker, so would not be as easy to hide overlaps. However a good decal setting solution can do wonders.

20

Can’t you email Champ for information?