Hoople wrote: I regret posting this thread. A few "cool's" and "neat's", but mainly people just argueing about "Oh no another big boy" when its a PCM one with better electronics and authentic sound for $300 less. And now people are saying "Oh they should make this yada yada yada."Could we get back on topic-topic being a new big boy... and NOT about how theres to many big boys.
Uuh, yeah, .....we did get a little carried away there. Sorry, Hoople.
Hoople, soory as well. I guess I sort of missed the point. It not that people don't like the Big Boy (well there are a few) but the fact BLI is not making other great Steamers that I have yet to see and know about and the New Blue Line could be making them instead.
With luck I will have 2 PCM's, 1 GOOD Athearns and a Blue Line in the next few months. I have vesions of a Doubled Head Big Boy's dragging coal cars up my new 3% grade.
As far as getting Bored with another Big Steamer, HUM. Don't we all get bored with what we have? Last year I was hot and heavy for F-7's, now have around 6 of them. Then I was hooked on PK E-6's and have 5 of them A & B's. Then it was for Dash 9's, well only one of them. Next I got hooked on steam, 2 GS-4's, Hudson, M1a (that is a steam engine) Class J and Heavy Mike. They ruled the bench for 5 months. Other night I got a bug up my tender and pulled out the E-6's. It is now like seeing the first time again. One is pulling a 30 car drag on the DCC line and have a triple head sitting on a passing spur while the Big Boy is making it run.
If we all never got bored with are engines then why are there people here that have 100, 200 engines plus? Speaking for my self being still a little new at 17 months in this hobby I now have around 53 engines and around 200 rolling stock. Reason, got bored.
Cuda Ken on a quest again and again and again
I hate Rust
Hoople:
Please don't regret posting the thread, but I have to admit that lately there's been so many conflicting threads about BB's that the announcement of yet another one is bound to get a lot of people scratching their heads and going: "Why?"
For UP steam fans, it's probably another chunk of really Good News, but for a lot of us that are starving for other articulateds--well, like I said, it's just a head-scratcher.
I'll be interested to see what they do with the Blue Line BB as compared with their other version, I'm always interested in seeing how newer steamers compare, but the loco just won't work on my layout, so I'll be reading about it as an interested observer, not a potential customer.
Hope it's a good one, and you like it.
Tom
Tom View my layout photos! http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/TWhite-014/Rio%20Grande%20Yuba%20River%20Sub One can NEVER have too many Articulateds!
cudaken, I had an oppertunity to buy a matched set of 4 Athearn Blue Box F units years ago and for 70 dollars I would have. But I already heard and seen the announcement that the "Genesis" F units were coming out soon with my roadname and much better detail. I held off. Ultimately there are quite a few models of the F units availible now but I only wanted to choose just one set. The BLI set is everything I could want. If they released another F unit set, I wont want one now.
I am in experience with the older AHM articulaeds that I was allowed to run as a young person from time to time and it performed very well. Having two of them (Big boy and a Y6b) start about 50 feet worth of rolling stock with a slack run out of at least one foot was an experience.
That was back before DCC, metal wheels, kaydees etc even existed. All of that was with good old 12 volt with beefy amps to combat the track resistance.
We have just too many Big Boys, the manufactors are cranking em out by the dozen while the EM-1's and other engines get neglected. There is money potential and I will be willing to spend it on one or two articuleds each year but because all I see are "Big Boys" Challengers and such... I dont have anything worth buying unless I went to brass.
I probably will cave in and BUY a big boy and be done with it at some point in the future but the engine will most likely sit in the box for 15-30 sad years becuase there is no real reason to run it except to have the "Ooh" from a visitor or two. I already have a roundhouse FULL of oohs ready to go.
twhite wrote: Hoople wrote: I regret posting this thread. A few "cool's" and "neat's", but mainly people just argueing about "Oh no another big boy" when its a PCM one with better electronics and authentic sound for $300 less. And now people are saying "Oh they should make this yada yada yada."Could we get back on topic-topic being a new big boy... and NOT about how theres to many big boys.Hoople: Please don't regret posting the thread, but I have to admit that lately there's been so many conflicting threads about BB's that the announcement of yet another one is bound to get a lot of people scratching their heads and going: "Why?" For UP steam fans, it's probably another chunk of really Good News, but for a lot of us that are starving for other articulateds--well, like I said, it's just a head-scratcher. I'll be interested to see what they do with the Blue Line BB as compared with their other version, I'm always interested in seeing how newer steamers compare, but the loco just won't work on my layout, so I'll be reading about it as an interested observer, not a potential customer.Hope it's a good one, and you like it. Tom
I took the boys to K-10 trains for the Sunday operating session. What is everyone oohing and aahing at? That's right the Athearn Big Boy and a pair of Challengers in different schemes. I think that the bottom line is that like it or not, these large articulateds are very popular with the general public and sell well for that reason.
Here are a couple of shots of the layout for fun.
And why I do it in the first place!
Simon Modelling CB&Q and Wabash See my slowly evolving layout on my picturetrail site http://www.picturetrail.com/simontrains and our videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/MrCrispybake?feature=mhum
Simon--
Keep it up, good fellow--the look on those two youngster's faces is everything one could hope for the future of the hobby.
Good show!
simon1966 wrote: And why I do it in the first place!
I agree with Tom - that shot is priceless. It could be one of the classic Lionel ads.
Nelson
Ex-Southern 385 Being Hoisted
simon1966 wrote: I took the boys to K-10 trains for the Sunday operating session. What is everyone oohing and aahing at? That's right the Athearn Big Boy and a pair of Challengers in different schemes. I think that the bottom line is that like it or not, these large articulateds are very popular with the general public and sell well for that reason.
In theory, wouldn't out beloved Missabe M4 2-8-8-4 be a hit with the public as well? Its HUGE too.
"Being misunderstood is the fate of all true geniuses"
EXPERIMENTATION TO BRING INNOVATION
http://community.webshots.com/album/288541251nntnEK?start=588
Simmon, how does your Big Boy Run? Did you only watch or did you bring any of your engines and run them Sunday? You got to love K-10 Trains, that is one heck of a bench.
I think one of the reasons so may manufacturer's make the Big Boy is they are after the new people like me. With only being into steam for 5 months even I knew about the Big Boy and it's alure.
One of the guys named Tom that help me with my GS-4 problem (took the leap of death) was at K-10 running his Challenger. I was all stuck (spell check) with it running on the test track!
Guess the main stream is leaveing the lesser know engine to the brass companys.
Time to work on the bench again Cuda Ken
AggroJones wrote:In theory, wouldn't out beloved Missabe M4 2-8-8-4 be a hit with the public as well? Its HUGE too.
And much more appealing!
cudaken wrote: Simmon, how does your Big Boy Run? Did you only watch or did you bring any of your engines and run them Sunday? You got to love K-10 Trains, that is one heck of a bench. I think one of the reasons so may manufacturer's make the Big Boy is they are after the new people like me. With only being into steam for 5 months even I knew about the Big Boy and it's alure. One of the guys named Tom that help me with my GS-4 problem (took the leap of death) was at K-10 running his Challenger. I was all stuck (spell check) with it running on the test track! Guess the main stream is leaveing the lesser know engine to the brass companys. Time to work on the bench again Cuda Ken
Ken the Rivarossi runs OK. It is quite an old model and does not have the detail of the newer models. I have not converted mine to DCC as yet so run it on the 00 mode on my Digitrax that allows a DC loco to run. I can't say I have ever tested the pulling power, but it has never failed with anything I have given it to pull. I typically don't bring my locos to K-10 for these Sunday sessions, I know a lot of folks do. One chap this week had a new lash up pulling Accurail open car carriers with 160 vans, he said the train weighed over 20lbs without the locomotives.
The BLI/PCM Big Boy will be great if they get a sufficient amount of reservations. The lowest reserve price I could find was $245.
By the way, Check out the web pages below. Both Accucraft (1/32) and USA (1/29) are importing the Big Boy. Now you can have one giant 1/29 or slightly less 1/32.
http://www.accucraft.com/AM98114%20BIGBOY.htm
http://www.largescaleonline.com/cgi-bin/eimages/eimages.cgi?direct=Team_Member_Pics/bigd/USA_Trains/USA_Trains_Big_Boy
CAZEPHYR wrote: The lowest reserve price I could find was $245.
The lowest reserve price I could find was $245.