Challenger goes kablooey

N

nolatron

Member
Nov 17, 2004
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Katy, TX
railroad.sodh.net
My Challenger finally arrived yesteday from Tony's, so I thought I'd give it a spin on the old Scenic Ridge layout sitting in the garage.

When I first opened the box, I noticed a little arm was loose, connecting to the front right cyclinder. The pin was still in the box, so I put that back in. No biggie I thought at first. Well, that was just the foreshadow of what was about to happen.

The sounds are pretty cool and good (little loud though). It ran great on the layout.... for about 10 mins. In the middle of the filming, the arms on the right front axle popped off. You can see the arm hanging off as it rounds the corner near the end of the video before it jumps the track.


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I haven't really given it a good look over yet to see if it's just something that can be popped back in. I've sent an email to Tony's Trains to see what they think I should do. Major bummer that an engine this expensive by Athearn is having these kinds of problems not 20 mins out of the box. :(

Here's the video though of the Challenger making its brief appearance on the Scenic Ridge layout:

YouTube Version still processing (going on 10 hours!)

There's also this version:

Hi-Def Quality .m4v video (116MB)
(Requires Quicktime 7. Apple TV compatible):

http://media.libsyn.com/media/hdtrains/challenger_atv.m4v
 
Cannonball said:
Did you keep the vid below 100 MB?
Click to expand...

Yeah. The uploaded version was only like 30-40MB. I'll just try exporting to a smaller 320 clip tonight and reupload it.

I've had clips take a few hours before, but not this long. Probably just got lost is some processing blackhole. Weeeee.....
 
Well, that makes three that I know of that have had problems already. Yours is the first to have mechanical problems.
 
Today I sent an email to Athearn and they replied back with an hour so (wow!) and said they are completely sold out of the UP model. That's no surprise. They also have no means of repairing these yet.

I can either get a refund for the locomotive or send it in for repair but it would weeks before it was actually repaired.

So I opted to get a refund for it and will just purchase a new one at some other time when I can actually run it on the new layout (and they have them in stock). The 2nd run is due September he said.
 
Scratch that. He was mistaken. Athearn would only be able to repair it once they can.

So I'm just gonna hold on to it for now and and send it in for repair eventually. Just need to make sure to get that little warranty card mailed in.
 
My LHS has got a brand new UP on display. I'm sure you could find one and work a deal with Athearn if you really wanted to change your broken one out. After having one, I don't think I could wait until September to get another but then again, it might be worth the wait to get another after they have had a chance to work all the bugs out. My second (first one fried) is supposed to arrive tomorrow.
 
My Athearn Genesis Challenger W/sound Also

Hello, My Challenger has mabey 1 hour total running time on it, and yesterday the front leader wheels came off the track, and when I lifted it up, the front truck fell completely off, ROYAL BUMMER!!!. :curse: :curse: I have found the screw, and little coil spring, but no washers of any kind can be found. Can you take a look at yours for me, and let me know if there are 1 or 2 washers, one above the spring, and mabey one under the head of the screw? There must be something like that missing, as when I put it back together with just the screw and spring, it won't stay on the track anymore at all. Otherwise I am very impressed with the Locomotive, the sound is super, and the detail is awsome. Let me know if you can. The part's list that came with it, are not very specific as to any washers being there. Thank You In Advance, Duane :cry:
 
Athearn Quality Control Rep.

Is anyone on the Gauge familliar enough with Athearn to know weather or not they have their own Quality Control Inspector in China keeping an eye on the quality of the manufacturing and assembly of the parts, as much business as they do worldwide, I would surely think it would behove them to have their own rep. there. Just curious. sign1
 
I am not in possession of mine at the moment (old one gone... new one on the way). However, my new one SHOULD be in tomorrow and I will take a look at it then... unless nolatron beats me to it.
 
Ok. I'm a total duffus. That wasn't Athearn who emailed me, it was someone from Tony's trains. Oy, I need more coffee before reading emails in the morning.

Ok, so in the end I'm returning the locomotive to Tony's for a full-refund then and will just purchase a new one later in the year.
 
planeshavings42 said:
Thank's Trainut, I would appreciate it whichever one is first will be appreciated. :thumb: :thumb:
Click to expand...

Whichever you check first, be it here or your email...

planeshavings,
Sorry for the delay. Some was Athearns fault and some was mine. My new Challenger did not arrive when they said it would (surprise, surprise) and then I have been out of town here and there.
However,
The front truck assembly of the Challenger consists of 4 parts.
The truck, the screw, a washer and a spring. Insert screw through the truck, through the washer, through the spring and into the engine housing. I looked at the running gear diagram in the booklet that comes with the engine and it looks just like they show it. If this is unclear or you need further assistance, let me know and I can elaborate wherever necessary!
 
TrainNut:
I take it that you got the replacement locomotive. Any word what happened to the one you sent back? I will be suprised if you here what happened.
Hope this second one last a while longer than the first.
 
Yes, I will probably never know. I figure I had about 3 hours run time on the first one. Hopefully this one will run for a bit longer. It's still sitting in the box.
 
Well the box time and the run time will differant, don't you thinik?
Maybe someone will contact you and let you know what went wrong.
That would put your mind at ease, if you know that you did not do anything wrong. Hope it was just a factory goof up.
 
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