Cheapest Big Boy

[soumodeler]

I was in Hobby Lobby today looking for 'candy tuft' for making tress out of, which I didn't find. But I walked through the train section glancing to see if they had anything new or worth buying (they didn't) and happened to walk down the plastic models row. I randomly picked up a box and it was a plasitc model of a Big Boy for $20. It was 1:87 scale and everything. It didn't look to be all that detailed, but for something to go in a roundhouse or back track, it might be worth it. There was also a Hudson for the same price.

[simon1966]

These models have been around for years appearing under a number of different brand names.  I'm sure that someone here can provide the complete history of when and by whom these have been sold before.  I seem to remember a thread on here some years back discussing the possibility of putting a mechanism into the model.

[loathar]

I picked both of those up at a 1/2 off sale they had. Your right. Not much detail but they don't look bad on top of my computer desk.

[UNIONPACIFIC4018]

I bought a few of those big boys and I use them to fill my round house I had one time. It was much easier to get 25 big boys with those models

[SteamFreak]

These kits have been around for at least 20 years. Revell markets them now, but I think they were originally Monogram.

[R. T. POTEET]

These units have indeed been on the market for a long time - I worked at a local hobby shop in 1981-82 and my boss insisted on keeping a few on the shelf at all times - not sure whether any ever went out the door or not.  I believe, like SteamFreak, that they were - originally, at least - manufactured by Monogram®.  I haven't seen these in a long time and I wasn't even aware they were still on the market.

I do recall one published article - I do not remember where this was and, indeed, it may only have been a photo feature in one of the hobby mags; I can't recall for sure - dealing with powering these units.  This particular individual had - maybe, had had expresses it better - an Akane(?) Big Boy that destroyed itself at the bottom of 300 (scale) foot deep Great Canyon - oh! what concrete can do to a brass boiler defies description; there is a lesson here about running 22 inch snap track curves on a 48 inch wide platform but that is a different subject altogether.  Anyway, after this individual had bawled himself out he looked around and discovered these static models - they were only about $9.95 in those heady days of yesteryear - and decided to see if he could not graft one of these onto his still operable power mechanism; he did, although it had not been a particularly easy task,  and it was a credible success.

The Big Boy's tender has frequently been used behind Bowser's Big Boy and Challenger because - at least in the old days - they did not provide a centipede tender for their units.  They also are frequently used for static display inside a roundhouse.