my blue line big boy arrived yesterday , here is my comment

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I received my blue line bigboy yesterday , the detail is good , it runs great and pulling is so powerful , i dont mind the traction tires equipped , the weight is not that heavy as what i had expected , especially the front driver truck is much lighter than the rear truck, most of the weight is at the back .

i fixed up some small problems myself like—

although the recommended min radius is 18 , it doesnt do a job on my 18 track curves , so easy to derail , the last driver set of the first truck , —the spring of one side not sprung hard enough so it easily derails when it goes back on 18 curves , so i pulled it off and put sth in the spring hole , now it gets better , the copper plate of the leading truck should be bent , but it was straight so i fixed it up also .

i am gonna buy some 22 curve tracks for my simple loop layout so that it works much better , i wouldnt recommend 18 , too hard for such a long engine .\

Overall it is an awesome engine

by the way , i forgot about one thing , the 8 pin plug , i cant push it in completely but just a slight snap , luckily it still works .

i am running my bigboy on DC ,i dont have a sound controller, the sound comes on when it goes straight, but when it goes back , the sound can only last for seconds and no more … so funny !!!

2

Did it come with sound?

Despite all claims of being 18" capable these brutes just don’t “cut it” on a tight radius.

If you can remove the shell you might be able to add more weight in the forward end, something I have done on several engines. You want to have the “folcrum” right between the fwd and aft set of drivers.

If you can achieve that you should notice a marked improvement.

Fergie

3

I’ve had mine for a few days and am quite happy with it the things I’m not happy with are ther traction tyres create a noticable wobble. The headlight on mine doesn’t work, and the leading truck wheels really need to be black.

Overall a lot better than the Athearn offering, but a cheapening excercise has been carried our with some areas of the Blue Line offerings compared to the original BLI products. I feel.

4

How so? I ask as I have some of the original BLI’s which I am very happy with but I’ve kept away from any new offerings as I keep hearing they are inferior.

Fergie

5

The Blue Line Big Boy is missing features like lighted number boards, smoke unit and the DCC drive for at least three items, but they cost much less money compared to the PCM Big Boy version. All Blue Line steam locomotives have traction tires without the standard driver set as an option.

I can’t figure out why they cannot get the headlight color correct, but for the money, they are very nice.

6

I guess I will never understand why people keep buying Big Boys with the intention of running them on 18" radius. I am still waiting for a Big Boy with no compromises…can we say rigid rear set of drivers, anyone?

David B

7

mj3200, could you post some pic of the draw bar from the engine to the tender for me? Reason I ask is a problem I have with my PCM Big Boy, it has a C shaped clasp that goes from the engine to the tender. C shaped clasp then hooks around a pole inside the tender. Problem is the clasp fits so tight, when the tender goes over a small hump or rerailer on my layout the tender goes up a little but the clasp will not let the tender go back down and keeps the front truck off the rails. Then it derails.

My Big Boy all so lost it headlights, number board lights, smoke unit and started running real slow. It is at BLI now waitting for its turn for warranty repair. A long with my PCM Y6-b, Heavy Mike and Blue Line GE AC 6000.

Cuda Ken

8

If you check on this page cudaken http://www.broadway-limited.com/index.php?p=page&page_id=service there is an exploded diagram showing the coupler. As far as I can see this is the same for both PCM and Blueline. It is also the same one that I have on my Niagara. How I did it was to push the engine and tender together rather than hook them. It takes a bit of pressure though. On you and the coupler! I think that this has the effect of opening the “jaws” slightly hence they arn’t quite so stiff / tight.

As far as my earlier comment re quality goes from my observations the packaging seems to be done to a budget. there are no longer options supplied as far as traction tyre preferences go. Of the two Blue line models I have (Big Boy & J1) neither of them has a working headlight - it is supposed to. Albeit the J1’s comes on if it takes a right hand bend at Mach 3! So I would love to be able to add to the dialogue about the colour of the Blueline lights but can’t. You can’t turn the sound down or off in DC without unpluging the speakers unless you get a DC Master. Also the BLI Niagara has nice dark chemically blackned wheels, whereas the Bigboys are a bright chrome. That is what’s shown in the brochure mind you. Seems like a shame to go to all the trouble of producing such nice units and then letting things down for the sake of a bit of QA.

My 1st run T1 was produced in Korea, I think by Ajin, although I may be dreaming this. they are one of the firms that supplies/supplied the brass market, and the engine runs and feels like it.

In fairness to Broadway the models are much cheaper to buy than they used to be and considering they have sound and all that it is an incredible performance and you can’t have everything.

9

[#ditto] boggles my mind. This is especially true after watching one that was on a layout across the isle from us at the Great Train Expo. It just looked ludicrous and made me cringe everytime it came by. Of course it didn’t help that they were also running it way too fast. Since about 4th grade when I realized what was what in the MR train world I’ve wanted the opposite. I want 36" radius curves on my layout so I can then get a Big Boy. Fixed rear drivers - you bet! Well not exactly a Big Boy but for me it would be a Yellowstone or heavy Challenger. Same idea.

I would like a set of updated comments after it has been run in normal service for about 20 hours or so. A fellow at the club has a loco with the traction tires and after a while they stretched out and now he can’t keep them on more than 5-10 minutes. I recommened replacing them at the beginning of each alternate operating session.

10

it boggles my mind that the engines DO work on 18" and that everyone feels that if you do not have a layout the size of a tennis court then you are not worthy to run large steam. They are sold listed as 18" because the greater population has smaller layouts and enjoys larger steam.

11

AHM had long since had their big boy capable of 18" radius. Its been like a good/bad ordeal about rivarrossi engines as I grind down flanges, do some driver springing to makem better.

Its a matter of meeting a market demand. I have Bowser’s Big Boy, still kitting it together after all these years dormant till I make my layout the way I mean it to be to be able to run these monsters on the correct track their meant to run on. But you just can’t help some of the 18" folks, their just gonna be around.

Easy to buy snap track and they run right on it. Happy camper buyer.

12

Simple… We all have dreams but not everyone has the space. It’s their dream let them enjoy it the best they can. That’s how I did it. I was 16, worked all summer to buy one and had a lot of fun running it.

Kinda ironic after what I said this morning but then again I’ve made a lot of compromises in the past and I’m still doing it.

Fergie

13

I understand what you are saying, the only way to run big monsters is the track work. Flex track can be used to run anything if you spend the time to make your track close to perfect. I spent allot of time setting up track to where I can run what I like. The engines I know I cannot run are the decapods and the 2-10-2s. The have a rigid wheel base so I have not tried one. I read the Bachman 2-10-2 runs well on small radius but have not seen one I liked or wanted to gamble with.

14

David–

Though I never had an 18" radius in my life, I do remember the first time I bought a double-articulated locomotive way back when (the original Rivarossi 2-8-8-2 which was designated a USRA but was actually a Y-6), and ran it around my then 26" radius curves and watched that second set of cylinders veer out slightly from the boiler. My first reaction was “HUNNH?”

I have 34-36" radius curves on my MR, most of my articulateds are brass, with a few exceptions, and even now, with relatively generous curves, the boiler overhang on the prototypically articulated brass makes me blink just a bit. Of course, on the several plastic double-articulateds, it’s hardly noticeable, but it makes me wonder when current manufacturers advertise: “Minimum radius–18”. Minimum for WHAT? Disneyland?

Frankly, I really feel a lot of scale steam locomotive manufacturers are doing hobbyists a disservice by advertising long wheel-based model locos as being able to negotiate very tight curves just to sell a product. Especially when they really DON’T without a lot of problems.

Tom

15

yes , PCM got a brass bigboy with a rigid rear set and it has been available for a while , price is less than 2000 i think , it is a good deal

16

The common price that I find on it is 2850$ or around that. MSRP is 3000$. Where have you found one for under 2000? I got one on order and would love to know that.

Magnus

17

Sorry but I have to correct a statement from the earlier poster about traction tires. I have two Blueline steamers and both came with both traction tires and solids. One even came with flanged driver to replace the unflanged driver. Not having DCC is no big deal for me. I can pick or choose which decoder to use. So far had one come with missing tooth in the gearbox. Emailed BLI and Matthew sent me replacement gears. It runs so good and sounds even better.

RTR with sound for around $200. Very decent detail great performance and user freindly. We are very fortunate right now in this hobby. To me I thank BLI for the Blueline lineup. Just waiting for some smaller steamers.

Pete

18

For the same reason people buy O Scale Big Boys that run on 027 curves.[:)] Because they can.

19

With some tweeking they will run on 22". I have two kitbashed Mehano’s and two Bachmann’s

Fergie

20

Whilst I can fully understand the points about how an articulated loco looks on sharp curves in the scenic part of the layout, I’ve yet to read much at all from any source on the usefulness of having the same loco having the ability to negotiate sharp curves in the non-scenicked and/or storage areas, which most of us have. Using prototypical curves for hidden curves and storage yards greatly reduces the amount of trackage we can install in a given space. To my mind, any locomotive should be capable of travelling around a 24 inch radius, albeit on hidden tracks.

The first two articulated locos I bought (Proto 2-8-8-2 and BLI 4-8-8-2) do pivot un-prototypically, but at least they get around my storage yard and hidden curves. Conversely, my Intermountain AC12, with its prototypical and rigid set of second drivers, is limited to only a small part of the layout and one storage track.

However, if I’ve learned anything, it’s that we all have different limits and compromises.

Brian