Thanks for the great review Dana. I have both the Challenger and Big Boy from the first release. Who did the boards in the first go round and what would it cost to get the Tsunami replacement boards as the sound seems to be much better with them. Keep up the good work.
Bought a Big Boy and am very happy. Runs right out of the box, comes pre lubricated. I run it every day, my min r is 16 but mostly 20 to 30. Took it to a buddies, 10 to 20 and it had no problems, but looked kinda out of place on his 10 in radius. In credible detail.
IMHO steam sound is generally less convincing than diesel, even in HO. I do have an N layout set somewhere in Rio Grande territory, designed for continuous running through spectacular scenery , but at only 26" x 82" I doubt I could get these round the curves (see Copper Canyon in the Jan 2013 Continental Modeller - I bought it on impulse at an exhibition as the builder wanted room for his next project). However, whilst I have no N scale sound, my thoughts are that as in effect an N scale railway is “seen from further away” (in scale terms) than an HO layout, maybe the best operational practice for realism would be to turn the sound down low to make it commensurate with the scale distance.
I have 3 Athearn f45’s with Soundtraxx and they all sound phenominal. These steamers sound just as well
Amazing locos. Can’t wait to get my hands on them.
nice
Sound is not realistic.
sounds good
Are there any other DCC N scale sound-equpped engines, diesel or steam?
To Warren Hester:
The first runs of Athearn Challengers and Big Boys had MRC DCC sound decoders. For information on purchasing replacement boards, I suggest checking the SoundTraxx website at www.soundtraxx.com.
Thanks for watching,
Dana Kawala
Senior editor
These look and sound great. N Scale has really come along way in the 45 years I have been modeling in N-Scale
They look good but I never heard a whistle toot???
Really not very convincing. Looks (just) Ok but the sound is really not very good. I would be embarrassed to have this big boy on my layout. They ave to do better.
One of those would look very nice on my Layout.
NICE EYE APPEAL…BUT THE SOUND IS REALLY NOT CONVINCING AT ALL…THEY HAVE TO FIX THAT…
I love the layout! Whose is it?
Nice when will the gray D&RGW challenger be available