Lionel Challenger parts

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I have a Lionel Challenger that needs parts. Any idea where I can find some? I checked the Lionel sight and no success. I am aware that they were a limited run and parts may be hard to come by. Any direction would be greatly appreciated.

2

Lionel is the only chance of getting parts that I am aware of. No other company picked up the mess, sorry product line so parts would only be available at Lionel. If they did outsource parts, they would tell you where to search.

I for one wrote mine off long before they went out of business. It is a piece of history that is not worth the time since much better running models cost much less money.

Good Luck, I hope they do have parts.

3

I got one for a really good price and I will try to get someone from Lionel on the phone tomorrow.

4

You might want to wait until Wednesday. Lionel’s repair techs are only available for phone service Wednesday through Friday.

5

Thanks for the heads up on the Wednesday-Friday deal. What is so wrong with the Lionel Challenger? I know the price and the fact that it is discontinued, but it received a descent review from Tony’s.

6

It was over priced for one thing, it had problems with the valve gear interfering with the cylinder heads…or some such thing…on some engines, the drive train is noisy (on mine), and the detail is poor for the price. Not fair…poor.

I like mine anyway, and use it. It runs well and pulls well. I can’t complain. I suppose I could take it upon myself to detail it more as so many other modellers do when they find an engine needs help.

7

I called Lionel last week Wednesday and spoke to a tech that time instead of a customer service rep. He got a list of the parts that I needed and said that he will see what he could do. Today, Monday, I opened the door to find 90% of the parts that I needed and a few that I briefly mentioned. I was suprised to say the least and the loco is 95% now. I got a great deal on a new one what was missing parts. I ran the loco today and it went without a problem. I went on Tony’s site and adjusted the CVs as recommended on the site. I also put foam in the speaker housing and it sounds better.