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The Union Pacific Challenger: Our Signature Locomotive
We offer you choices for building your own 7 1⁄4
- 7 1⁄2 inch gauge live steam model of the Union Pacific 4-6-6-4 Challenger:
- Rough castings
- Machined castings
- Machine drawings available with the purchase of our castings
- Partial construction available: machining and assembly of selected
sections
- Reproductions of original Union Pacific Challenger drawings
Benefits of our Union Pacific Challenger offering:
- Scaled down from original Union Pacific railroad drawings: Ensures high model accuracy
- Unique among models: Largest, most
powerful and only articulated model on the market
- Exceptionally high quality product: Fully
capable of producing a museum quality model
- Professionally made patterns and molds: Cleaner,
more accurate, beautiful castings
- Castings made by top commercial foundries: Top
quality, fewer casting problems
- Top quality casting materials: Higher
strength, better machinability, better finishes
- Precision CNC machine work available: Greater
accuracy, better finishes, smoother running
- Hardened and ground parts available: Less
wear, longer life expectancy
- Powder coating available: Long-term
protection and durability
- Partial construction available: Our
experience saves you time and guesswork
This model was built from our castings.
Just
imagine yourself owning a Challenger like this!
| Union Pacific Challenger built from our castings |
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| Challenger locomotive and tender built by our customer Bruno Platzer. Photo by David Lazarus. |
"Still being a bit shell shocked and speechless as words are hard to come by at
the moment.
I was confident my money was OK and that I was going to receive what I had ordered. However, what has arrived can only be
described as the finest set of Model Engineering Locomotive Castings that I have ever seen in 40 years of Model Engineering
involvement.
I am a fully indentured Time Served Tool Room Machinist who has spent the first 25 years of my working life working on Military
/ Aerospace Components then a further 20 years working in the Automotive industry at McLaren Automotive so I regard myself
as fairly qualified to comment on the integrity of quality castings.
I can honestly say that the quality and integrity of the castings that you have supplied rivals anything that I ever machined
for the Military / Aerospace industry and probably better than anything I have dealt with in the Automotive Industry.
For a very small niche hobby market, you should be VERY, VERY proud of what you have achieved. All the engineers here are
so impressed and cannot believe the quality."
- P.F., Shalford, Surrey, England
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| Proud builder and owner Bruno Platzer pulls the throttle on his completed Challenger. |
"I have now had the opportunity to look through the castings. They are absolutely
superb. What an achievement to have designed such a complex engine. The tender bed is a work of art even before it is machined.
I realized it was a big engine but seeing the parts makes my estimation too conservative! Cannot wait to get started!”
- M.M., Aberdeenshire, Scotland
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Union Pacific 4-6-6-4 Challenger Specifications
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Drivers: Boxpoc, 8 5/8" Diameter
Cylinder Bore:
2.500" Diameter
Cylinder Stroke: 4.000"
Piston Valves: 1.500" Diameter
Fuel:
Builder's Choice, Typically Oil or Propane
Overall Length of Engine & Tender: Approximately 15 1/2 feet
Weight
of Engine & Tender: Approximately 2500 lbs.
Minimum Turning Radius: Approximately 60 feet
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Union Pacific 4-6-6-4 Challenger Smoke Box and Boiler Specifications
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Smoke Box: Conical, 11" Diameter at Front
Boiler:
12" Nominal Diameter (12 3/4" actual OD) x 68 Tubes
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Union Pacific 4-6-6-4 Challenger Quality Features
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Castings: Top Quality Castings from Top
Quality Commercial Foundries
Accuracy: Precision CNC Machine Work Available on Request
Axles:
Hardened and Ground
Axle Bearings: Needle Roller Bearings
Crank Pins: Hardened and
Ground
Side Rod Bearings: Needle Roller Bearings
Main Rod Bearings: Needle Roller
Bearings
Cylinder Blocks: Fully Cored Castings Including All Intake & Exhaust Passages, Very Free
Breathing
Valve Gear: Walschaerts
Spring Rigging: Fully Equalized
Brake
Rigging: Fully Equalized
Paint: Powder Coating Available on Request
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"I opened the boxes of castings, yesterday, and it was better than Christmas! The
castings are beautiful and well made. Thank you!" - D.F., Traverse City, MI
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Available only from us:
We are the exclusive source
for castings and drawings for building an accurate live steam scale model of the Union Pacific 3900 Series 4-6-6-4 Challenger
including the world famous Union Pacific 3985 Challenger steam locomotive and its impressive 14-wheel centipede tender. Union Pacific Challenger 3985 is one of 105 Challengers built for Union Pacific Railroad and is the world's largest
and most powerful still operating steam locomotive. UP Challengers were used for both fast freight service (see video) and passenger service. (see video)
Imagine the additional thrill that would come from building an accurate scale model of a locomotive class for which
there is still an operating prototype that you can watch on video, visit in-person, photograph in detail and actually ride
behind!
| Full Size Union Pacific Challenger 3977 |
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| The real thing on display in North Platte, NE Click to enlarge. |
Best quality, exceptional accuracy:
Our Challenger is
an extremely well engineered and designed model steam engine. The entire design was done on a Computer Aided Design (CAD)
system extracting information from the original Union Pacific Railroad drawings for the 3900 class Challenger.
Our patterns and molds have all been made by professional pattern and mold shops. All castings are produced by top quality
commercial foundries.
The castings are highly accurate to the prototype design and are of outstanding quality. The castings are fully capable of
producing museum quality models. We are frequently told by hobbyists that our Challenger castings are the nicest, most beautiful
castings available in the hobby.
| Scale Model Union Pacific Challenger 3977 |
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| Built by our customer Bruno Platzer. Click to enlarge. |
Castings are available in either rough
or machined form. Castings may be purchased a few at a time, a section at a time, or all at once.
For customers who
order machined castings and/or parts, the machine work is done in our own Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machine shop.
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Think you can't build a Challenger?
You just might want to rethink that
We have customers who are building Challengers as their first live steam model locomotive building projects. Some of these
customers had no prior machining experience before starting their Challengers but that certainly isn't stopping them.
Here are three real life examples for you to consider before concluding that you could not possibly be able to build your
own Challenger:
Example #1:
Bill Dery did not own any machine tools or have any machining experience before starting his Challenger. He purchased a used
milling machine and a used lathe and then taught himself how to use both machines while machining castings and parts for his
Challenger.
| Self-taught machinist Bill shows progress to date |
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| Being built by our customer Bill Dery. Click to enlarge. |
Example #2:
Steve Gnas is building a Challenger as his first live steam model locomotive project and is making tremendous progress in
record time.
| A scale model Challenger under construction |
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| Being built by our customer Steve Gnas. Click to enlarge. |
| A scale model Challenger is taking shape |
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| Being built by our customer Steve Gnas. Click to enlarge. |
Example #3:
Do you think that you would never be able to build a Challenger because you are just too busy? Think again.
Mike Russo is very busy. Yet, he still found a way to build a Challenger as his second live steam locomotive by making the
best possible productive use of small increments of spare time. At an overall average of just 30 minutes per day, Mike is
turning those small increments of time that would have otherwise been wasted into real progress.
| Self-taught machinist Mike shows progress to date |
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| Being built by our customer Mike Russo. Click to enlarge. |
Some things for you to consider:
Please keep in mind that aptitude, desire to learn and determination are key ingredients toward being able to build a Challenger
and that skills and experience can be developed.
These customers have shown that they are capable of building their own Challengers.
If you have the aptitude, the desire to learn and the determination, then you might also be capable of building your own Challenger.
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Roger Goldmann * 413 Morrison Lane. * Santa Paula, CA * 93060 * USA
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