Yeah, I’ve got a 50-year-old Athearn BB F7 that’s still running. It’s good enough that I even put a decoder in it. Of course, the gear sound is so loud that it drowns out my sound engines.
It sounds like the Big Boy might need lubrication. It could be overheating and binding up.
Does anyone else have any experience with this particular model? It would be interesting to know if there’s a design problem here, or just a quality-control issue.