Grant-Kerr

There is another on Ebay. No photo of the loco but it is a Aristocraft 0-4-0 without tender.

It is not listed on ebay. It is listed on Largescale Central.

If you are still interested in a Challenger this came up on another forum last night my time. Here is the link to it. http://www.largescalecentral.com/forums/topic/22110/mth-challenger-for-sale

Unfortunately not Jens, However I know a fella here in Victoria that made the body for one from 2 USA trains F3 units. A bit of slice and a lot of dice but he did the body. Then ran into trouble with the trucks/ bogies. The Victorian B and S class diesels both ran 3 axle Commonwealth trucks / bogies. This made them 1-A-1 units and had a lot to do with axle loading in the day. I never found out if he finished it but these units are available in O and HO scale from Ausiscion. As an aside the S class is a bit of a odd fish as well because though it looks like a E8 - 9 it is shorter, but longer than a F3. Two of these were written of in a horrific train smash at a place called Violet Town involving the Southern Aurora Passenger Train. If any one wants to know about the paint scheme on the Loco's and the Passenger cars in the above photo I can tell you but I would do so in another thread. Quite a story in and of itself.

Classic FT F3 F7 F9 E8 E9 Nose

These were made by Clyde under license from EMD in Granville Sydney in 1952 for Victorian Railways. Only bulldog nose double ended diesels in the world. Some of them are still operating as rebuilt units except for this one which was restored to original condition as is the S class behind it. (Single ended)

Open it up and use a hairdryer on low setting to blow warm air into it and dry it out completely. Used to do that on PC boards after a lot of soldering and then wash down with soapy water. Just make sure it is dry.

Sorry Kevin, my fault. Should read code 215.

Spoken like a true Railroad Tycoon. :D

Kevin, I found the standards implemented by NMRA as quite acceptable and had / have no problem with them at all. Would have been nice though if they had not made their chart so damn complicated to read for the un-initiated. As for the subtle variations , I believe TOC called that " the NMRA fudge factor" . It is with some interest that I think MTH moved to the Hi- rail standard not long after it was implemented. Why I say that is because their early offerings would not run on code 125 rail without the flanges hitting the spikes, aka my Challenger, but their later stuff does not appear to do so, as reported elsewhere in this fora. USA trains I cannot comment on except to say my 2 GP 38's will not run well on 125 code rail. Hit the spikes. These are old units though. Aristo? No good flogging a dead horse so leave that alone now. Why I mentioned new moves were afoot was reported by Greg E. (who had Polk's ear for a while) and he stated that NEM MOROP standards were being looked at for adoption by the NMRA for anything running on 1.772" gauge track. Those standards to me meant that some of the problems would disappear with a certain manufacturer but would create a slew of other problems for older made gear already out there. So a question then arises. Do we need that?

Thank you Jerry. Appreciated

Jerry. I reckon a bit of a how to article on these would not go astray on here, and also be appreciated. Such as trucks used, what wheels, how you mounted the kaddee's., Source of the New Bright cars or do you think the Lionel units would substitute? You know, just the minor details. hehehe Grant

Live in Melbourne Victoria. As I post this it is Tuesday Morning at 04:05. Your tomorrow. By the way it is looking sunny with temps in the mid teens C.

Joe. My Challenger when I got it had issues with gauge with the lead and trailing truck and all of the axles on the tender. All were under gauge. Reset and no problem since but use care when resetting them. If I recall right, they were fairly tight on the axles so take them right out of the loco before doing it and the tender as well. The drivers however were ,from memory pretty good, so I left them alone. Then check the clearence's on the switches using the chart above. There is a ton of info around on how to fix them if needed. One of the reasons I started making switches for myself which grew into Outback Turnouts was the issues with the major's turnouts and the fact I DON'T like set track turnouts. A review of that Challenger can be found here at this link http://www.largescalecentral.com/forums/topic/5312/mth-challenger-review http://www.largescalecentral.com/forums/topic/5311/mth-challenger-review-part-2

These are what I use in the manufacture of Outback Turnouts. Note that there is no - on the back to back setting only +20 thou. I set my Back to Back to 1.575, Works for me. Joe , Don't give up on making your own turnouts. Took me a year to get Outback Turnouts to the point that they could be sold without any problems and then I just kept on improving them. Biggest turnout I have ever made was a #15. Still got it and no it is not for sale. Almost need a small layout area to use it hehehe. Make yourself a tie jig to start with. It will help you greatly.

It's a thought and a welcome one too

Have been on it a couple of times but living in Oz puts me out of sync with you blokes in the USA. Something about time zones Never seen anyone on it but would like to.

Joe Couple of suggestions. I check every axle of a car before it hits the track out of the box and, or wheel sets. I have to usually reset every set of wheels from new but once done never again unless it gets dropped. A little trick I picked up from someone years ago in HO was to put a bit of C.A. on the back of the wheel / axle join. It creates a little shoulder and the wheel usually never moves again. Worst I have struck are Bachmann, with Aristo a close second. USA are usually near enough in gauge but I still check them from new. Sometimes get the odd axle or two under gauge. Get yourself a electronic vernier set (Can be had cheap these days) and set to the G1MRA standard. If you do not know where or what to look for I will be happy to advise you where to look or anyone else for that fact. As for standards? Man do I get sick of hearing we don't need no stinkin' standards in G (sorry)........ Large Scale Myself, TOC, Gary Raymond and a couple of others fought AMRA to a standstill over what they were trying to do a few years ago with standards and got them to accept G1MRA. I believe reinventing the wheel was not called for BUT now I hear that they are looking at it again to perhaps go to the NEM Morop standard. In case you are not aware those are looser standards but kinda ties in with a lately defunct manufacturer who was all for it. Maybe had something to do with a bunch of loco's that had serious gauge issues and not just one line of them neither. ALL of them. Also the G1MRA standard is nearly or may even now be over a hundred years old. Worked then, works now! I have never used the AML sets and have heard all about how well the San Val wheels roll but if and this is a if, I buy wheels for something special, I buy Gary Raymond or NWSL wheels (and still check the back to back ) in semi finescale only. Will still work outside quite well. Finescale wheels do not work outside unless the track is dead level and that means transversely as well. Then all you need is a bit of bird poop or a seed and that 10 Grand loco just hit the ground. Also, I have yet to find a set of the major makers turnouts to be right. LGB Aristo USA trains, all have serious problems somewhere but you have to realise that the toy mentality was and still is rife in track work. Especially turnouts. Made to a price, not a standard and that goes back to LGB. Set track turnouts have always been a problem, even in the smaller scales, right up to today, and the Large Scale manufacturers swooped on them to be a "also me" against LGB. So as you see it is not a new problem but one brought about by cheap. By that, I mean to a price! I even had a fella here in Oz who accusingly said to me "How dare I make money out of L.S. trains." He did not want to pay for turnouts but was always moaning about his LGB units and derailing problems. He stopped annoying me after a couple of years! Any other questions , just ask. Always happy to help. Nice one Chuck!! Pleasing when someone actually listens.

Some of you may recall that I make turnouts and make them to the G1MRA standard. Making wheel sets is an art in itself and what appears to have happened here is the fillet is to broad. Making the flange thinner is not going to fix this problem, because the fillet is still to wide. Shortening the axle is not going to fix it neither. Shifts the wheel inward and again, a back to back problem ...to narrow. A whole rethink on the shape of the wheel is called for. Taking RPO25 and scaling it up to suit 1 scale track does not work in practice. Looks good on paper though. Myself, I use USA Trains wheels. Heavy, can be re-gauged easily, and interestingly can be fitted to the wider MDC/ Piko trucks straight of the bat. Once done I have never had a problem with them and I am a stickler for gauge / back to back settings. Bachmann wheels I have used and tossed. Noticed that RLD is selling sets of 4 USA wheelsets for 20 odd dollars. Put that together with a Piko hopper and 1 scale Kadee coupler and you are in front of any one else's stock by quiet a few dollars and if you model in 1 scale as I do then that represents good value.

A Southern Rail Mike. Which could also be offered in other roads with the ability to take the feedwater heater of of the top of the smoke box.

Hrmmm The Thot Plickens!!!

Every thing Jens said and then some! I have watched this build from when you started and posted it on another forum and am still very interested. Great work Joe.

Impressive.

Go to about 11mins and listen to what he says.

I heard him say that as well at around the 11 minute mark. Good to hear.