Model Train Journal

I truly liked Peter Cozens. He was always a delight to chat with at OSWs. He left us last year, and through a fortuitous contact through Jay I wound up with his Challenger. I am putting the finishing touches on it this week. It got the full treatment - lag clamps, rivets, PSC boiler steps, CLW washout plugs, etc. A note will go in the boiler indicating where it started - with Peter.

It is missing a very few small parts, which I have hand-fabricated to my satisfaction. However, if any of you have spare castings, I would be happy to buy them. The missing parts include the short and long steam pipes that attach to the top of the forward cylinders, connecting to the wye on the boiler. They are slightly different from the PSC parts. The other parts are the bell hanger and the UP smokebox shield, both of which can be replaced with PSC.

I am only posting this to possibly capture spare parts. If you are like me, you find these things and put them in a box somewhere, just in case a Challenger comes along. I will be checking with Bob Stevenson as well - he probably has the masters.

Thanks - Bob

Bob,

I'm really happy the way things are working out with Peter's model. Please don't hesitate to post photos (what the hell was I thinking when I wrote that?).

Jay

Yes, Bob, please post photos. Vey much like to see this loco and your work again.

Butch

Here is Peter's Tender. It is the only Challenger tender I have seen using the sewing machine rivet maker. Most are very soft etched sheets.



Those handrail posts need further adjustments. I already ground the rear ones to lower the handrail, and I can see I will be doing more grinding before it is all over.

And here is the locomotive. I am afraid I shall have to heat the cab off and re-position it. It looks like it goes downhill forward.



This tender is a good example of the etched Lobaugh tenders. Whoever soldered it did a really good job - very few ripples. I will not be messing with it, either to add details or to repaint. I may choose to leave Peter's tender bare brass for a while.

I managed to straighten the cab without heat. Sometimes just a teeny nudge in the correct direction works. And I fabricated the few parts I needed to finish up.

So now a question for those of you who knew Peter: I would be happy to put Peter's chosen road number on this model if anyone has that sort of information. Without that, I am inclined to make this one DRGW #3800 - a road number that never really saw service, but that was actually painted on a real Challenger while folks decided where to send her. She wound up as Clinchfield #670.