This is topic For you F-T rail fans, UP Challenger 3985 in Las Vegas in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.


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Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 02-27-2005, 07:12 PM:
 
Las Vegas is celebrating its 100th birthday this year. Since the town officially started with a railroad land auction in 1905, Union Pacific will participate in the celebrations by bringing Challenger 3985 to town from their roundhouse in Cheyenne, WY.

Challenger 3985, the largest steam locomotive still in operation, will be here on display May 14-17th. Any of you F-T rail fans (you know who you are) that happen to be anywhere close by on those days might want to consider stopping by.

Challenger 3985


 

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Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 02-27-2005, 10:48 PM:
 
Damn, I'm going to be in Las Vegas the first part of April for the International Sign Association's World Sign Expo convention. Just visiting a little too early I guess.

Is the Union Pacific Roundhouse in Cheyenne, WY open to the public. I'll be visiting family in Colorado late May-early June. Cheyenne is not too far a drive up I-25 from the Colorado Springs area.
 

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Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 02-28-2005, 12:23 PM:
 
Don't know for sure Bobby. I imagine it is normally off-limits since it is still an active operations area. Couldn't find any info about it on the UP website. The historic UP Depot in Cheyenne is now owned and maintained by the city and its restaurant and transportation museum are open to the public. Not sure where UP actually keeps 3985 when it's not out pulling special steam excursions, but I'm assuming it lives at the roundhouse.
 

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Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 03-02-2005, 11:43 PM:
 
You may be able to find out here.....

http://www.uphs.org/

MArk
 

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Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 03-03-2005, 04:36 PM:
 
Why does that look like a little HO-scale man and boy waving down there?
 

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Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 03-03-2005, 07:09 PM:
 
Tim, You're definately right about that. Its been Photoshopped... I bet that Joe did it.... Definately out of proportion.... the prople shoulda been made even smaller and the engine larger .

Mark
 

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Posted by William Hooper (Member # 71) on 03-04-2005, 12:56 AM:
 
Check the shadows.
 

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Posted by Will Kutler (Member # 770) on 03-04-2005, 01:51 AM:
 
For those who are Challenger fans, Samhongsa built some wonderful brass models from the mid 1990's till almost the present time. However, last year Samhongsa, who was the leading builder of imported brass model locomotives, closed down its brass model department!

Also, in the late 1990's, PFM imported a final limited production Challenger run by legendary TENSHODO. If memory serves me right, there were only 25 or 50 total units with exquisite detail at about $3000.00 ea or so. Tenshodo announced that this would be the last time that they would ever build a Challenger, which since the late 1950's has bee one of their staple models. They also announced that they would be preserving all their tooling in the company's archives. But many of the parts used on the Tenshodo models were from Cal-Scale, which is still available to the public as pat of the regular Cal-Scale catalog. Many of these investment cast parts are of exquisite detail because the casting patterns are generated by injection molding dies. Of course, anyone wishing to superdetail one of these models needs the famous Bob Darwin articls The Art of Superdetailing which were origionally published in Model Railroader Magazine in the early 1960's, and remains to this day one of their most requested article series. Darwin also made several investment casting patterns for his early Tenshodo Challenger, which are also still available as castings through Cal-Scale.

For those interest in a live steam model, there is a company out of California offering kits/machined or raw castings.

Some of the plastic models now available at a fraction of brass also have some great detail that almost rivals brass!

There are actually more Big Boys around than there are Challengers...of which only two exist. And only one, the 3985, is restored and operating. There have been may people interested in restoring and operating one of the Big Boys, but these pose some serious problems. While Challengers were routinely converted between coal and oil firing, the Big Boy's firebox is just too large to efficiently handle oil firing. And a lack of coaling towers makes that job even more difficult. Not long after UP acquired SP, UP demolished (amid protest) the famous Tucson Coaling tower, which was a Tucson landmark. And the 3985 is oil-fired. Furthermore, Big Boys were actually designed to operate in the flatlands of the Northern US and to get heavy tonnage over some major elevation grades. Operating outside these areas is somewhat difficult, not to mention excessive track wear due to the enormous weight and pounding of these giants!

For anyone anting to see the 3985 in action, there are many videos. Mark-One productions is one of the biggies.

Actually, 3985 is still occasionally used in actual freight service! For example, there have been occasions when 3985 was used as one leg of a special excursion. So, instead of returning to Cheyenne empty, its put into payload service! Mark-One has some of this in their videos!

For anyone interested in literature about the Big Boys and Challengers, the books by Dr. Robert Church are a must have!

There were two series of Challengers, the early Fetter's, and the later Jableman's...both names being those of UP officials in charge of designing this motive power. No Fetter's Challengers exist, they were all scrapped. 3985 is a Jableman. And yes, there are many photos of forlorn Challengers in Cheyenne awaiting the cutting torch...and even photos of the destruction/scrapping in progress!

3985 was an ALCO built locomotive.

Cheers

K
 

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Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 03-04-2005, 07:42 AM:
 

quote: Will Kutler

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There have been may people interested in restoring and operating one of the Big Boys, but these pose some serious problems.

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