Model Train Journal

Bob,

Most cool!

What should the correct trailing truck look like? If I have one I will donate.

Jay

Very nice, Bob. What's next? Waiting to see. Patiently.

I meant that it wasn't Lobaugh. Lobaugh didn't pay much attention to Challenger trailing trucks - their "Daylight" truck is better on the Jabelmann Challenger. This model looks ok to me.

Sure looks nice and especially without the bulge.......but it certainly gave it character.

The Challenger looks great, Bob. My memory is that Scalecoat made both black and loco black. The black was a true gloss -- like the shine on patent leather shoes, as I recall. The loco black was different -- maybe a step toward satin in finish and a half-step toward charcoal in color? Alternate points of view are welcome here, but the question is which do you use?

Jim

Jim,

Loco Black is dead flat.

They do make a Detail Black that's sort of a semi-gloss.

Jay

bob turner wrote: Still suffering under the idea that this might have been a Gerry White, maybe he made four?

Bob, I’m not with you on him having done it, for he would have ballasted it up in his own way. The running joke for years was that Jerry White was the biggest exporter of lead in the State of California. Even Woody would have been happy with the weight rather than tear it out and replace it with that horrible PVA and lead shot slurry of his. I seem to remember he had his own unique gearbox too.

I’m leaning to a more East Coast ‘80s builder; wouldn’t be surprised if it was one of Tom Harley’s or Frank Miller’s. It’s their style. Might even be Dave Eslick’s, for he did quite a bit of north-eastern region steam for the ex-pat New Yorkers and New Englanders in Florida.

With no provenance and no markings we’ll never know, but its fun to speculate…

Yes, we are guessing. Didn't some of these guys keep records? Workmanship is quite good, and there are features that may be pointing to one person's technique. For instance, copious pins and NBW castings were used, and the inside of the firebox looks like one of those forests in Siberia that got blown over by a meteor.

I will leave future guesswork to Maroon.

Paint is high gloss. It shows all flaws, including my airbrush technique, but it is the best substrate for decals. I normally apply decals, then Solvaset sparingly, then a coat of Future Floor Wax with a Q-Tip, going one direction only and covering the entire surface (cab side or entire tender side. After a couple days, then a coat of Floquil Dull Cote or equivalent (Floquil may be gone, but theirs was the best, when thinned with Dio-Sol). Then chalk or airbrush weathering to taste, realizing that the final Dull Cote will mute the chalk to less than half) and you are done. A rattle can dull coat or matte finish is ok if not sprayed on too thick.

Best of all, I am perfectly happy to do that for Jim - but I would need decals. As it is, it comes looking like patent leather shoes, sort of. And no graphite.

Bob sent me two more photos of the Challenger with the fresh paint job:





The detail on these really shows in the high-resolution versions of these photos, which can be seen here. They will show best if you set your browser window to full screen:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/nz01rnr529n3gcx/Lobaugh%20D%26H%20Challenger%20Restoration%2006.JPG?raw=1

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ithe5upw978nzgs/Lobaugh%20D%26H%20Challenger%20Restoration%2007.JPG?raw=1

https://www.dropbox.com/s/t08gweadbkdh4zf/Lobaugh%20D%26H%20Challenger%20Restoration%2008.JPG?raw=1

https://www.dropbox.com/s/hb1fdzfn3ne52a6/Lobaugh%20D%26H%20Challenger%20Restoration%2009.JPG?raw=1

All I can say is "Wow!"
Jim

Double WOW!

Dan Weinhold

We need some before and after shots!

The Challenger arrived from Bob in good shape. Bob sent the model with the boiler and chassis separate, as he knew that the chassis needed some attention. Dave had reported that there was a stark difference in the run speed of the front and rear engines. I put the chassis on rollers and verified Dave's finding. I did not get video but now wish I had. As one would expect, the motors were wired in parallel. This gives greatest pulling power but makes it hard to troubleshoot. I unsoldered the harness so I could run each motor-engine pair separately. Strangely, once uncoupled, the front and back engines ran at the same speed. So either there was a cold solder joint in there somewhere or (perhaps more likely), I managed to jiggle a brush block into seating correctly while unsoldering all the wiring. Not going to ask any more questions, just happy with the results. Here is a video of the bench test:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/2hd7chagbt95wdq/Chassis%20Bench%20Test.mp4?dl=0

I will put it on the layout at first opportunity and see how it does.

Jim

Runs extremely well and smooth now Jim. The builder or someone really put some time into getting the driveshafts lined up. Nice!

Hi, I don't know much or really anything about the prototype but the work done to the model looks great.