Z scale convention We have products being shipped from Asia at the moment and all Challenger type locomotives will be on display in Medford. It will also be possible for early purchasers to pick up the locomotive. Please contact Robert Kluz concerning delivery. All UP CA-3 caboose's will also be shown in Medford. And as promised earlier, AZL will announce a new freight car at the convention.
Hi Gang, We now have a shipping tracking number for the Challengers comming in from Korea. We are still waiting for other components to complete the sets. Best, -Rob(A) AZL
Other 4-6-6-4s How similar is this to the class J 4-6-6-4's used by Delware and Hudson? Could this be used for another run of locos? Or would much more extensive modifications be required? More than a simple repaint and a few detail parts? --Mike
Certainly not another run of locos and a 2 year wait. That limited run would be quite price prohibitive. Being brass also makes it all that more difficult. I can't imagine stripping the already hard to get off paint, reworking soldered brass and repainting. .
Z-scalers have done amazing work Z-scalers have done amazing work, bashing modifying and customizing any number of locos to get what they want. Witness the surgery done on GP's to build road specific models. I was thinking more about the structural differences between the Challenger and the Class J 4-6-6-4. They look pretty similar to me, but I'm no expert. Mike
I am looking for an excuse to own one of these beauties and the Delaware and Hudson did intersect with my Boston and Maine in Troy New York. Were the D&H Challenger's really substantially different? I couldn't find any good pics to check. Perhaps a name change would not be that difficult? ron
I don't know what the differences are but I do think most would think twice before bashing brass at that price. I am not afraid to ruin a marklin shell or a GP shell, but boy I'd sure hate to make a 1500 dollor mistake!
Good news Challenger fans! The UP gray version and D&RGW singles are here in the Ztrack offices. We are currently test running. The first shipments will be going out to those of you who pre-ordered this Friday. We still have a very limited quantity of the UP gray version available as well as D&RGW singles. Ztrack subscribers, you can still place your orders at: Ztrack Magazine: Challenger Page Rob
Amazing... you have the product in hand, yet... no photos of the different available models are posted on your order page.
Nice cabeese ! Rob, good to here about the arrivals and shipments. I can here Dave's arms flapping like a little kid at a show .
UP CA-3 Caboose Hi, The CA-3 will be released together with the Challenger sets. If I recall correctly, there are 80 sets total. Of the 80 sets there are 3 categories, dealing with different time periods. The brown CA-3 is late 40's (20 sets) and the CA-3 armour yellow with 4 digit roadnumbers fit the 50's. There are 40 sets with CA-3 armour yellow with 5 digit roadnumbers which is mated with the oil fired 3985 Challenger. This is a museum locomotive which still operates. That is why we chose the 5 digit CA-3 for this set. No decision has been made to sell the CA-3 caboose as a separate item. Depending on the Challenger sales, we could do a follow up production of the CA-3.
Got a little something in my mail today. That sure is one big engine! Compared to the Mikado D51s and the SD40-2. Close up of front drivers.