Anyone have one what are your thoughts pro’s and cons?
Thanks
Hello Allegheny 2-6-6-6,
First of all I run it on DC and it is a newer production Challenger (RP25 flanged wheels,can motor in the boiler). It is a smooth quiet runner, it is traction tire equipped(I have had one come off while pulling 33 not so free rolling Athearn and Roundhouse boxcars a dab of white glue has kept in place ever since), a little on the light side, good puller, it is plainly detailed by current standards. It is in the Union Pacific Greyhound theme, it will handle 18" radius curves no problem but looks strange with the amount of boiler overhang so you don’t want any catenary or above ground level scenery to close to the curves. I admittedly have a pro Rivarossi bias so I still like my Rivs even if they aren’t necessarily up to current standards. If you are in the market for one I would recommend staying with the newer production versions with the boiler mounted can motors, small RP 25 flanges. The cab mounted square motored ones tend to be noisy,jerky and less reliable (they are older after all).
Hope this helps
Andrew
Andrew,
Thanks for the info yes this one is a later model with the can motor in the boiler. I have an Athearn Challenger thats pretty sweet as far as I’m concerned. I’ve been wanting another one for a while now and found someone selling one. I can’t afford the almost $1000 price tag for an MTH so this may have to do. Don’t get me wrong their great engine and I have a few MTH but not an economically smart purchase right now.Whats killing me is about two or three years back I could have bought one for $100 brand mew in the box, oh well he who hesitates is lost I guess.
I don’t have the Challenger, but I do have the Allegheny and Big Boy. The Allegheny uses the same drive as the Challenger, and it’s an extremely smooth runner. The Big Boy’s detail is similar to the Challenger’s, and although most of it is molded onto the shell, it’s very cleanly done and looks as good as molded on detail can get.[:D]
I also don’t have their Challenger but have a late '8os “Red Box” Cab Forward. It sat in a sock draw for 20yrs. and ran fine the lst time I ran it last year. The grease never hardened or dried out! (closed/sealed gear cases). I agree that the detail level is pretty good although not as nice at Blueline’s. The mechanism still runs smoothly and it survived a DCC decoder install last week. I think Rivarossi stuff is “put down” a bit too much these days. Their older stuff seems to hold up pretty well. I’m looking forward to seeing if I can CV the starting speed down when I get together with my JMRI equipped buddy. Hope this helps you some even if it’s not the Challenger. If you can find your Challenger at a good price compared with BLI, etc. I think you’d likely be happy with it…