4-6-6-4 Challenger

[mklotz]

Some folks (like me) build model steam engines, model railroad enthusiasts build locomotives, REAL model railroad guys build working models of a Challenger 4-6-6-4 articulated locomotive. The (20 minute) video shows it in operation. It's 7.5" gauge (distance between rails) which translates into 1.5" to the foot.

[albertq]

A work of passion and beautifully made.
They were known as Garrat locomotives in South Africa and manufactured by Beyer Peacock in Manchester in early 1950's and were still operating until the mid 1980's.
They were a great sight to watch operating.

[mklotz]

A work of passion and beautifully made.
They were known as Garrat locomotives in South Africa and manufactured by Beyer Peacock in Manchester in early 1950's and were still operating until the mid 1980's.
They were a great sight to watch operating.

The Garratt is a different design from that of the Challenger. It consists of two separate driver units pivoted fore and aft of the boiler unit. One power unit is weighted down with fuel and the other with water to increase the tractive effort of each. There is no tender as is the case with the Challenger design which has both power units under the boiler and fuel and water carried in the tender.

The Garratt had some real advantages over the Challenger design but they came at the price of some additional mechanical complexity.

[mklotz]

A bit more on the model...

Attached is a picture of the model with its builder, Chris Hollands, of Vancouver, CA. Chris reckons it took him 28 years and 17,000 hours of work to finish it.

I couldn't find a reference for the model weight but the full size Challenger weighs ~630,000 lb. The model is 1/8 scale so, dividing 630,000 by 8^3=512 yields an estimated model weight of 1230 lb, a bit over half a ton.

Amazingly, Chris intends to sell the Challenger ! In his own words, "this engine will be for sale after TM 2025 as I'm moving onto another project and I cant have 2 large engines in my workshop ."

[albertq]

A bit more on the model...

Attached is a picture of the model with its builder, Chris Hollands, of Vancouver, CA. Chris reckons it took him 28 years and 17,000 hours of work to finish it.

I couldn't find a reference for the model weight but the full size Challenger weighs ~630,000 lb. The model is 1/8 scale so, dividing 630,000 by 8^3=512 yields an estimated model weight of 1230 lb, a bit over half a ton.

Amazingly, Chris intends to sell the Challenger ! In his own words, "this engine will be for sale after TM 2025 as I'm moving onto another project and I cant have 2 large engines in my workshop ."

Absolutely fantastic and can understand the 17 000 hours Chris put into it. This will need to be preserved for folks to admire it.

[BuffaloJohn]

If you want to see more about this one and a couple of others - including a bunch of decent resolution images - check out:

https://www.livesteamlocomotives.com...am-locomotive/