UP Early Challenger ????

[up148]

Just saw this on EB and due to the open gearbox I was wondering who is the mfg? It has been run quite a bit, but might be an interesting candidate for a repowering. The quality of the boiler detailing just blew me away.....back in the day this would be an Oooh and Aaah locomotive brought to a club. Haven't checked to see if it's right, but wow.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/275699042906?h ... Sw~mtj8mY1

[bob turner]

Looks like the IMP - one of the few models they did that has any value. Steeplecab is another. Atlantic, Pacific, and Japanese Hudson were brass scrap, and not very much of that.
Opinion.

[up148]

Thanks Bob. So this wasn't a kit, but an early Japanese built model?

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Surprisingly nice for IMP; maybe get Carey to confirm it?

[J. S. Bach]

Whoever built it, it closed at $725.00!

[bob turner]

A bit high - but what do I know?

[up148]

Choices for "early" Challengers are very limited. This is a pretty darn nice model actually and not a SS, who seemed to be about the only choice that I know of besides a kit. Good starting point for a potentially a "great" locomotive. The buyer definitely wanted this as he started bidding early.

[bob turner]

I had a chance to carefully examine one of these a while back. They are very well done, considering the junk IMP usually imported. I, of course, lean toward Lobaugh, and there is simply no comparison between the two. I am not at all sure the Lobaugh is all that rare, although the NP and D&H versions rank as extremely rare. The IMP is sprung and equalized, which is quite unusual in the early O Scale products.