Athearn - 22932 - Locomotive, Steam, 4-6-6-4 Challenger - Spokane Portland & Seattle - 910

Specific Item Information: The Northern Pacific ordered 21 "Challengers" from the American Locomotive Company in 1936 and took delivery of them during 1936 and 1937. These 4-6-6-4s were designated Class Z-6 and were assigned road numbers 5100 through 5120. They had four 23 x 32 cylinders, 69" drivers, a 250 psi boiler pressure, exerted 104,500 lbs of tractive effort and weighed 624,500 pounds. In 1941, another six "Challengers" came from ALCO. These were designated Class Z-7 and they carried road numbers 5121 through 5126. They had four 23 x 32 cylinders, 70" drivers, a 260 psi boiler pressure, exerted 107,000 lbs of tractive effort and weighed 644,000 pounds. The last steam locomotives bought by the Northern Pacific were the 20 "Challengers" it purchased from ALCO during 1943 and 1944. This group designated Class Z-8 was assigned road numbers 5130 through 5149. The Class Z-8 locomotives were virtually identical those of Class Z-7. Two oil-burning Z-8s were also delivered to the SP&S.

Model Information: This stunning reproduction of the 4-6-6-4 Challenger is the result of a focused determination to accomplish one thing: create the finest operating miniature representation of the prototype available. Giving life to all the details are authentic sounds that are channeled through a factory installed DCC and soundboard with speakers. The DCC decoder automatically senses what type of power supply is in use (conventional DC or NMRA compliant DCC) and adapts its functions. The modeler doesn't have to do a thing. The N Scale 4-6-6-4 Challenger includes a history book and instruction book for quick reference.

Key Features:

• Boiler backhead with full detailing
• Individually applied piping, valves, generators, etc.
• Correctly operating eccentric cranks
• Headlights and number boards with directional light change
• Tender light
• Five pole skewed armature motor with dual flywheels
• Pivoting front and rear engines for negotiating 11" radius curves - 15" radius recommended
• Factory installed onboard sound and DCC decoder
• Hand held remote control for DC operation
• Blackened metal wheels
• MicroTrains operating knuckle couplers installed

The model's booklet can be found here.

DCC Information: Factory equipped with DCC & Sound decoder:
- 2007 run: MRC decoder with remote control for analog operation
- from 2010 run: Soundtraxx Tsunami decoder
The 2017 run was also offered in analog, DCC-Ready, version.

Prototype History: The Union Pacific Challengers are a type of simple articulated 4-6-6-4 steam locomotive built by American Locomotive Company (Alco) for the Union Pacific Railroad. 105 of these locomotives were built between 1936 and 1943. The Challengers were nearly 122 ft (37 m) long and weighed 314 tons (284,800 kg). They operated over most of the Union Pacific system, primarily in freight service, but a few were assigned to passenger trains like the Portland Rose. The locomotives were built specifically for Union Pacific and much of the experience gained later went into the design of the "Big Boy", which the later version of the Union Pacific Challenger was redesigned after.

Read more on Wikipedia and on SteamLocomotive.com.

Road Name History: The Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway (SP&S) (reporting mark SPS) was a United States-based railroad incorporated in 1905. It was a joint venture by the Great Northern Railway and the Northern Pacific Railway to build a railroad along the north bank of the Columbia River. Remnants of the line are currently operated by BNSF Railway.

The railroad was chartered in 1905 by James J. Hill to connect the two transcontinental railroads owned by him, the Northern Pacific (NP) and Great Northern (GN), to Portland, Oregon from Spokane, Washington, to gain a portion of the lumber trade in Oregon, a business then dominated by E.H. Harriman's Union Pacific and Southern Pacific railroads. Construction began in 1906 under the name Portland & Seattle Railway, proceeding eastward from Vancouver, Washington. 1906 also saw the start of construction of the line between Vancouver and Portland, including work on three major new bridges, crossing the Columbia River, the Oregon Slough and the Willamette River. The northernmost of these was the first bridge of any kind to be built across the lower Columbia River.

In January 1908 "Spokane" was added to the railroad's name, making it the Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway. SP&S freight and passenger service (from Pasco) to Portland was inaugurated in November 1908. By 1909 the railroad had completed construction of its line up to Spokane along the Snake River. In 1910 SP&S gained control of the Oregon Electric interurban railway, which the Great Northern had acquired two years before. Under the control of the SP&S the railroad was extended southward to Eugene, Oregon by 1912. SP&S also operated a second subsidiary railroad in western Oregon, the Oregon Traction Company, which owned a route to Seaside, Oregon. A third route on which the SP&S operated extended southward from Wishram, Washington to Bend, Oregon was the Oregon Trunk Railroad.

Read more on Wikipedia and The Spokane Portland and Seattle Railway Historical Society

Brand/Importer Information: Athearn's history began in 1938, when its founder-to-be, Irvin Athearn, started an elaborate O scale layout in his mother's house. After placing an ad selling the layout, and receiving much response to it, Irv decided that selling model railroads would be a good living. He sold train products out of his mother's house through most of the 1940s. After becoming a full-time retailer in 1946, Irv opened a separate facility in Hawthorne, California in 1948, and that same year he branched into HO scale models for the first time.

Athearn acquired the Globe Models product line and improved upon it, introducing a comprehensive array of locomotive, passenger and freight car models. Improvements included all-wheel drive and electrical contact. One innovation was the "Hi-Fi" drive mechanism, employing small rubber bands to transfer motion from the motor spindle to the axles. Another was the double-ended ring magnet motor, which permitted easy connection to all-wheel-drive assemblies. Athearn was also able to incorporate flywheels into double-ended drives.

The company produced a model of the Boston & Maine P4 class Pacific steam locomotive which incorporated a cast zinc alloy base and thermoplastic resin superstructure. It had a worm drive and all power pickup was through the bipolar trucks that carried the tender. This item was discontinued after the Wilson motor was no longer available, and was not redesigned for a more technologically advanced motor.

Athearn's car fleet included shorter-than-scale interpretations of passenger cars of Southern Pacific and Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad prototypes. The company also offered a variety of scale-length freight cars with sprung and equalized trucks. The cars could be obtained in simple kit form, or ready-to-run in windowed display boxes. The comprehensive scope of the product line contributed to the popularity of HO as a model railroad scale, due to the ready availability of items and their low cost.

Irv Athearn died in 1991. New owners took control in 1994, but continued to follow Athearn's commitment to high-quality products at reasonable prices. Athearn was bought in 2004 by Horizon Hobby. Athearn was then moved from its facility in Compton to a new facility in Carson, California. In mid-2009, all remaining US production was moved to China and warehousing moved to parent Horizon Hobby. Sales and product development was relocated to a smaller facility in Long Beach, California.

Read more on Wikipedia and Athearn website.