This one has the radiators on the deck which the 4014 hasn't since early in the usage as they were damaged to much. The second order had them as you see them today. Athearn has another version oil tender which is right as the coils are protected behind the doors on the front of the locomotive.
I saw the Big Boy in California twice in the desert canyons and Barstow Ca. It's an oil burner and absolutely beautiful. I use to look at it at the Pomona Fair Grounds and wished I could have seen it run. Mojave River crossing 20MPH and my 2-year-old granddaughter and close friends going crazy. Twenty feet away it looked 60Ft tall. Lifetime experience. When it comes back do not hesitate to see it you won't forget it. Great review of the model I'm trying hard to justify it.
Hello..... I'm commenting to improve, what you have created to be an source for professional model railroading enthusiasts. In breif.... my grandfather and father posted a railroad on the front cover of Model Railroader magazine in 1968. Grandfather was an engineer on the Southern Pacific line in 1952. The railroad posted in the magazine was 2500 square feet in a hay loft, and track was laid with wooden roadbed and hand laid spikes. First of all, on your reviews, it very important to show the unpacking, scale trains, BLI, ect..... can be damaged when unpacking the product. 2nd..... no matter what your fans say.....describing the details of the locomotive is important, true modelers love to see detail in order to buy, and you do a great job with that, and I enjoy the detail work and description. The reason for my commentary is when you describe the pulling capabilities of the locomotive. You have described locomotives pulling in excess of 100 cars for example. I've purchased some of the locomotives in your reviews and they can't pull 25 cars without slippage on a 2% grade. My point is...... be very careful when conveying pulling load. Coming from a modeler of 50 years you going to be misleading. Example..... your Challenger review can't pull 100 cars. And what are the cars..... plastic....brass....Mantua heavies...... It's a false number and misleading. For example.....SD45 from Athearn from the 1970s will pull more cars than a SD45 Scale Train today. Food for thought. Love what you do.....keep it up.....always look forward to your reviews..... just keeping a positive eye out for ya! Ernie Hyett
Nice review. I had my display layout running for the Camp Creek Railroaders' meet in mid-Sept and ran my Athearn UP 4014 for a full afternoon with no problems except those caused by dirty track. This one is a winner!
+ROGER RACHIMA I have it by BLI and honestly I can't see much difference in the fine details however, I think the sound decoder that BLI uses in their Big Boy locomotives is much better than Athearn. Just my humble opinion.
I live in Cheyenne, and am very much looking forward to the arrival of the 4014. Weight wise, unloaded, no coal or water. The 4014 with tender weighs in at 1.2 million, yes million pounds, and as of Jan. 26th of this year had been moved from the fair grounds in LA. Long Live STEAM!
Great video, we have the 4012 Big Boy here in Steamtown in Scranton PA, but it does not run,very nice to look at and at special times you can get in it like train fest!!! it happens once a year. You can find out the info about it on the internet it is available to everyone!!!
I always had a soft spot for the Big Boy I saw the B/B in Southern California painlessly watched as it was moved on its first leg of the new journey. It was very impressive. As for the new Athearn Big Boy I was very impressed a very sweet engine should be a great seller I can't wait to see the Real Big Boy once again when they finally put a fire in her. As for the model get it you won't be sorry .
Silicon Valley Lines in San Jose, CA has this model. At the last work meet of 2015, the club president had me run it over a bridge that was recently glued into place.
Love watching your vids man, Im at the very very early stages of my HO hobby. I would love to see a video of your collection at some point. Thanks again for your time with these vids
I spoke with the Athearn rep at the World's Greatest Hobby train show. He said that once the 4014 has been restored, and they have an actual prototype for the oil-converted tender, they will retool this engine to reflect its restoration. I also suggested that they start making UP water tenders to go with their UP Heritage Fleet steamers, as well as releasing an Art Lockman tool car. I really hope they release the water tenders, because the brass ones are hard as hell to find, not to mention damned expensive, and no longer prototypical, because the real ones were overhauled and redesigned in 2008.
Yet another great video. Love watching your well defined reviews. Albeit I live in Scotland, I model in Kato n scale US locomotives. I currently have 63 lococ with 11 NS heritage on order from my New York dealer. Your loco collection must be quite extensive also. All the best.
good thing you got it jlwii2000 the #4014 is the most requested because Steam Shop is trying to bring the prototype back to life I wish Steam Shop luck with that
My grandfather has a Big boy from athearn, the only thing I never liked about his was the all Black boiler, yours has the silver smoke box (which in my opinion makes it look excellent)
I own one of these (Not 4014). Outstanding model. The detailing is incredible. My only two complaints (Very minor), are no lighted classification lights (Number boards but not classification lights?) and the sounds that come pre-loaded on both the Tsunami Board and the earlier one (Earlier runs had something besides Tsunami, I can't remember what it was though) are kind of a disappointment, but you can upload more prototypical sounds to both of them. At least the Wheel Diameter is correct, and the DCC board won't blow up on ya (Reference to competitors from the past)! After that, as an owner, I'd happily recommend these locomotives to anyone looking to add a Big Boy to their collection. Raevenon
The Big Boy 4014 (I think) is being restored by Union Pacific for their 150 year anniversary. It is confirmed that it will be a oil-burning locomotive.
i thank you for this review, it helped me decide on what model I wanted. Plus I am originally from Scranton and volunteered for 10 years at Steamtown National Historic Site, so someone finally making the 4012, I had to go for it. I also purchased the Athearn Genesis 3985 Challenger, Finally got to run them both 2 weeks ago, due to moving I no longer have the room to run them, and they ran great. I enjoy your reviews. I believe I am going to go for the Athearn and Intermountain NS Heritage units. Thank You Kflannigan98. I have subscribed to your channel.
the plug on my PRR 2-10-2 had to be glued in because it kept coming out. Wires stick out, too. Int'l Hobby Corp.I have 22 radius, and the latter engine barely stays on the track.
My Athearn Big Boy that I brought 2 years ago did not have LED's But I will be replacing them with led's But I must say it does run great. I have had not problem with it. Great Locomotive.
Did anybody else notice the bell on it sounded like a pneumatic bell found on the newer diesels? Hopefully they have the swing bell sound installed on the decoder
Yes, my little spider conductor must have climbed up on the front of the loco. Spiders in my basement can get ahold of things quickly, so quickly that they ended up on the big boy even though I had just unboxed it minutes before.
The major trouble with this locomotive is that now I have to fit a bigger turntable. Does Union Pacific get a little out of the sales of 4014 to assist in the work on the real thing ?? When the Brits rebuilt the wreck of The Duke of Glouster 4-6-2 the made models of loco in HO and these were sold to offset costs. Good idea. The whole world wants a BIG BOY in steam again
The only realistic steam sound is by TCS WOW. Why? Because when a steam locomotive starts it roll it does not huff. The other reason is that when they roll with the throttle closed they don't huff. The TCS WOW's replicate those operating sounds and the rest of the sounds are as good as any in my opinion. Thanks for the reviews, they have helped me decide on several of the locomotives I have purchased.
Nick, I think just voltage. From what I read #9 is better for DC only systems but both #9 and #10 work on both DC and DCC, I have both and one doesn't seem to produce more smoke than the other.
Peobably a rivrossi... A gazillion manafactures make the big boy.1 is z scale, 3 in N scale, at least 7 in HO scale, 3 in O scale, and 5 in G scale. Not to mention you can buy them in larger scales
This 4014 model is the same as a friend owns. The headlight on his doesn't work any better. He even sent his back to Athearn for repair and when he got it back , it STILL didn't work worth a damn. Athearn obviously needs to do some homework yet. I won't even think of buying one unless it gets a REAL headlight!!!
Geat review James, I just ordered my Mth Big Boy on Monday and you got me really stoked. It should be here within the next few days. I'm also looking to get the Athearn challenger that just came out. I've heard that people have been having problems with it. Did you experience any complications with yours? Rrk1937
Very very nice model, but it only looks nice on gradual curves like yours! My current HO scale layout has mostly 36 and a few 22 in radius curves. I plan on building a much larger layout in the future,and i have started buying full length heavy weight passenger cars, and larger locomotives. I was just wondering what radius curves you have for such large locomotives. Thankyou!
Your wind turbines are seriously out of scale on your layout my friend. I use to haul them and work with a couple companies that designed & installed those and those are seriously out of proportion and they look quite strange on that layout. They would work fine with Lionel trains but they are absolutely ridiculous looking with HO scale. Great video & review of the Athearn Big Boy btw!
I love your reviews. Is there any way for us to talk? I have some constructive ideas about your presentations becoming way better. Thanks for the good work.
I would much rather see the locomotive run after it’s been broken in at least an hour. Break it in, de-bug it then re-package it so it’s like new and then proceed with the review. It would actually be a more accurate review than taking it out of the box after its long trip from China and expecting it to optimally perform.
I have the Rivarossi Big boy I bought back in the mid 90s she runs smooth as silk always keep it oiled up how much are they worth now days if I was to want to sell it to help pay for one of these new ones??
James, do you know what ( if any ) differences are between the suethe 9 and 10 smoke generators? The 9 looks like it draws a bit more power, which would make me think it puts out more smoke.
I have one also and as soon as I got It the traction tire came off and the driver wheel didn't have a groove...but I've also noticed that the front bounces a little and one time It derailed. So I was wondering have you or anyone else had this problem?
I live in Omaha and we drive by the Big Boy all the time! It's very astonishing in person!
This one has the radiators on the deck which the 4014 hasn't since early in the usage as they were damaged to much. The second order had them as you see them today. Athearn has another version oil tender which is right as the coils are protected behind the doors on the front of the locomotive.
Finally building my layout and being an Iowa farm boy I would love to learn where you got the farm backdrop. Thanks, Ted
The Big Boy is my favorite steam locomotive ever!
smae
+Jalil LeDoux same
same here but im more of a stong looking freat engen that's deasel
I love them too
My Athern Big Boy runs wonderfully. Now had it for several years, reliable each time I call for it to pull freight.
I saw the Big Boy in California twice in the desert canyons and Barstow Ca. It's an oil burner and absolutely beautiful. I use to look at it at the Pomona Fair Grounds and wished I could have seen it run. Mojave River crossing 20MPH and my 2-year-old granddaughter and close friends going crazy. Twenty feet away it looked 60Ft tall. Lifetime experience. When it comes back do not hesitate to see it you won't forget it. Great review of the model I'm trying hard to justify it.
Hello..... I'm commenting to improve, what you have created to be an source for professional model railroading enthusiasts. In breif.... my grandfather and father posted a railroad on the front cover of Model Railroader magazine in 1968. Grandfather was an engineer on the Southern Pacific line in 1952. The railroad posted in the magazine was 2500 square feet in a hay loft, and track was laid with wooden roadbed and hand laid spikes.
First of all, on your reviews, it very important to show the unpacking, scale trains, BLI, ect..... can be damaged when unpacking the product.
2nd..... no matter what your fans say.....describing the details of the locomotive is important, true modelers love to see detail in order to buy, and you do a great job with that, and I enjoy the detail work and description.
The reason for my commentary is when you describe the pulling capabilities of the locomotive.
You have described locomotives pulling in excess of 100 cars for example. I've purchased some of the locomotives in your reviews and they can't pull 25 cars without slippage on a 2% grade.
My point is...... be very careful when conveying pulling load. Coming from a modeler of 50 years you going to be misleading. Example..... your Challenger review can't pull 100 cars. And what are the cars..... plastic....brass....Mantua heavies......
It's a false number and misleading.
For example.....SD45 from Athearn from the 1970s will pull more cars than a SD45 Scale Train today.
Food for thought.
Love what you do.....keep it up.....always look forward to your reviews..... just keeping a positive eye out for ya!
Ernie Hyett
Who would´ve thought that 6 years later the real one is rolling again lol...
Always like our reviews! Being a UP fan never hurt either.
Nice review. I had my display layout running for the Camp Creek Railroaders' meet in mid-Sept and ran my Athearn UP 4014 for a full afternoon with no problems except those caused by dirty track. This one is a winner!
A typical review by James. Well done and a great review as always. Thanks very much.
that sound did not sound like steam chugging,it sounded more like a muffled .22 shot
I have an old Rivarossi version, but the Athearn has it beat in detail. Athearn are pure solid with their work. Very nice,
+ROGER RACHIMA I have it by BLI and honestly I can't see much difference in the fine details however, I think the sound decoder that BLI uses in their Big Boy locomotives is much better than Athearn. Just my humble opinion.
+ROGER RACHIMA My Rivarossi Hudson never worked right. I got it in 2001, and it's been nothing but trouble. I plan to replace it with an NYC diesel.
I live in Cheyenne, and am very much looking forward to the arrival of the 4014. Weight wise, unloaded, no coal or water. The 4014 with tender weighs in at 1.2 million, yes million pounds, and as of Jan. 26th of this year had been moved from the fair grounds in LA. Long Live STEAM!
Brilliant presentation & video of a magnificent locomotive. Can't wait to see her fully operational. Many many thanks James!
On Monday 4014 will be on display at Union Station less than 5 miles from my house. I am so stoked to get to see it on its way the Wyoming.
Great video, we have the 4012 Big Boy here in Steamtown in Scranton PA, but it does not run,very nice to look at and at special times you can get in it like train fest!!! it happens once a year. You can find out the info about it on the internet it is available to everyone!!!
When I said they always had LED bulbs, I am specifically speaking about the Big Boy, Challenger and Northern locomotives from Athearn.
I always had a soft spot for the Big Boy I saw the B/B in Southern California painlessly watched as it was moved on its first leg of the new journey. It was very impressive. As for the new Athearn Big Boy I was very impressed a very sweet engine should be a great seller I can't wait to see the Real Big Boy once again when they finally put a fire in her. As for the model get it you won't be sorry .
Silicon Valley Lines in San Jose, CA has this model. At the last work meet of 2015, the club president had me run it over a bridge that was recently glued into place.
Love watching your vids man, Im at the very very early stages of my HO hobby. I would love to see a video of your collection at some point. Thanks again for your time with these vids
I spoke with the Athearn rep at the World's Greatest Hobby train show. He said that once the 4014 has been restored, and they have an actual prototype for the oil-converted tender, they will retool this engine to reflect its restoration. I also suggested that they start making UP water tenders to go with their UP Heritage Fleet steamers, as well as releasing an Art Lockman tool car. I really hope they release the water tenders, because the brass ones are hard as hell to find, not to mention damned expensive, and no longer prototypical, because the real ones were overhauled and redesigned in 2008.
Yet another great video. Love watching your well defined reviews. Albeit I live in Scotland, I model in Kato n scale US locomotives. I currently have 63 lococ with 11 NS heritage on order from my New York dealer. Your loco collection must be quite extensive also. All the best.
I've seen the one in Scranton a few times. There is no way to really explain how massive these things are until you stand next to it!
good thing you got it jlwii2000 the #4014 is the most requested because Steam Shop is trying to bring the prototype back to life I wish Steam Shop luck with that
Very nice locomotive. Great review. Thanks for doing this James!
My grandfather has a Big boy from athearn, the only thing I never liked about his was the all Black boiler, yours has the silver smoke box (which in my opinion makes it look excellent)
And nice loco I've Been admiring your work i barely have 2 days with this account so im kind of a new fan
I own one of these (Not 4014). Outstanding model. The detailing is incredible. My only two complaints (Very minor), are no lighted classification lights (Number boards but not classification lights?) and the sounds that come pre-loaded on both the Tsunami Board and the earlier one (Earlier runs had something besides Tsunami, I can't remember what it was though) are kind of a disappointment, but you can upload more prototypical sounds to both of them.
At least the Wheel Diameter is correct, and the DCC board won't blow up on ya (Reference to competitors from the past)!
After that, as an owner, I'd happily recommend these locomotives to anyone looking to add a Big Boy to their collection.
Raevenon
The Big Boy 4014 (I think) is being restored by Union Pacific for their 150 year anniversary. It is confirmed that it will be a oil-burning locomotive.
i thank you for this review, it helped me decide on what model I wanted. Plus I am originally from Scranton and volunteered for 10 years at Steamtown National Historic Site, so someone finally making the 4012, I had to go for it. I also purchased the Athearn Genesis 3985 Challenger, Finally got to run them both 2 weeks ago, due to moving I no longer have the room to run them, and they ran great. I enjoy your reviews. I believe I am going to go for the Athearn and Intermountain NS Heritage units. Thank You Kflannigan98. I have subscribed to your channel.
the plug on my PRR 2-10-2 had to be glued in because it kept coming out. Wires stick out, too. Int'l Hobby Corp.I have 22 radius, and the latter engine barely stays on the track.
i just pre ordered the lionel o gauge of the big boy, can not wait to get that monster
Whistle sound just as powerful as the LNER A4 pacific another great steam locomotive of history
Ein sehr schönes Modell der Sound ist super 👍👍👍
A friend of mine owns the brass version of the HO scale Big Boy. Very heavy.
Make sure you put half a hand brake on the first tanker car at 18:33 to keep those tankers from sloshing.
THX
My Athearn Big Boy that I brought 2 years ago did not have LED's But I will be replacing them with led's But I must say it does run great. I have had not problem with it. Great Locomotive.
Love it! Can't wait to see the real 4014 run for UP!
Keep em coming with the videos!
AMAZING I love the whistle sound very detailed and very cool!!!
Very nice. Look forward to seeing if you change the coal to oil. Thank you
The indent on the coal load is where the stoker hole is.
Did anybody else notice the bell on it sounded like a pneumatic bell found on the newer diesels? Hopefully they have the swing bell sound installed on the decoder
Yes, my little spider conductor must have climbed up on the front of the loco. Spiders in my basement can get ahold of things quickly, so quickly that they ended up on the big boy even though I had just unboxed it minutes before.
I think the 4-8-8-4 had pneumatic clappers. i do know some engines did and I don't ever recall a photo or video of the bells swinging on these units.
The major trouble with this locomotive is that now I have to fit a bigger turntable. Does Union Pacific get a little out of the sales of 4014 to assist in the work on the real thing ?? When the Brits rebuilt the wreck of The Duke of Glouster 4-6-2 the made models of loco in HO and these were sold to offset costs. Good idea. The whole world wants a BIG BOY in steam again
it's an athearn, I was with him when he picked it up from the store.
They are overland brass from brass trains website
Thank you for analysis. J have Challenger for now.
they changed the whistle somewhere between the original release and 2017
The only realistic steam sound is by TCS WOW. Why? Because when a steam locomotive starts it roll it does not huff. The other reason is that when they roll with the throttle closed they don't huff. The TCS WOW's replicate those operating sounds and the rest of the sounds are as good as any in my opinion. Thanks for the reviews, they have helped me decide on several of the locomotives I have purchased.
I got a new big boy loco at a train show (oil tender #4005) for $445, and it runs like new.
along w/ the #844, it was $300. it runs like new as well.
You do an excellent job. Thanks.
Nick,
I think just voltage. From what I read #9 is better for DC only systems but both #9 and #10 work on both DC and DCC, I have both and one doesn't seem to produce more smoke than the other.
A beautiful machine, very similar to real life.
Really BIG boy! Nice train.+
Very nice and concise review.
I'm currently building the Revell HO size model of this locomotive.
Peobably a rivrossi... A gazillion manafactures make the big boy.1 is z scale, 3 in N scale, at least 7 in HO scale, 3 in O scale, and 5 in G scale. Not to mention you can buy them in larger scales
No the Genesis Mountain locomotive has incandescent bulbs.
cool review
Train Productions by iLoVeSD70Ace35
,.
Great Review. Love the whistle sound!
Got to go with the Trix product. The smooth movement is second to none. Beats BLI, AND athearns.
The lowest price I saw so far is $339.95, looks like a great Locomotive.
Wow! think i'm getting hooked!
haha same here. I wonder which HO Company is the best for the steam engines which has great details. I'm planning to buy alot of them.
beautiful locomotive
great video
This 4014 model is the same as a friend owns. The headlight on his doesn't work any better. He even sent his back to Athearn for repair and when he got it back , it STILL didn't work worth a damn. Athearn obviously needs to do some homework yet. I won't even think of buying one unless it gets a REAL headlight!!!
amazing ! "Very VERY Nice" !
I've always thought up #4014 was already oil fired
I miss this layout
What are you controlling the train with...software wise?
Awesome love the big boy
Sweet locomotive.
Excellent review video! Im glad I bought one. Where did you get the water tenders?
That's a nice engine, is this equipped with a Tsunami Heavy Steam decoder, or something else?
Any comment on the driver articulation?
Based on the size it must have it. Would love to see a shot of that nose swinging out as it rounds a curve.
Geat review James, I just ordered my Mth Big Boy on Monday and you got me really stoked. It should be here within the next few days. I'm also looking to get the Athearn challenger that just came out. I've heard that people have been having problems with it. Did you experience any complications with yours?
Rrk1937
Very very nice model, but it only looks nice on gradual curves like yours! My current HO scale layout has mostly 36 and a few 22 in radius curves. I plan on building a much larger layout in the future,and i have started buying full length heavy weight passenger cars, and larger locomotives. I was just wondering what radius curves you have for such large locomotives. Thankyou!
Your wind turbines are seriously out of scale on your layout my friend. I use to haul them and work with a couple companies that designed & installed those and those are seriously out of proportion and they look quite strange on that layout. They would work fine with Lionel trains but they are absolutely ridiculous looking with HO scale. Great video & review of the Athearn Big Boy btw!
Nice Loco just think the headlight is very dim
That's how mine came but I have a problem with sending back I think to get it repaired
I love your reviews. Is there any way for us to talk? I have some constructive ideas about your presentations becoming way better. Thanks for the good work.
How do you guys get that pin to hook up to the tender? I have big farmer fingers and can't even come close to getting a finger near the connection..
was it me or could you see a spiderweb or something around the front cylinder at around 14:56
Does any manufacture make these steam locomotives that are not tender driven but the actual locomotive pulls?
I would much rather see the locomotive run after it’s been broken in at least an hour. Break it in, de-bug it then re-package it so it’s like new and then proceed with the review. It would actually be a more accurate review than taking it out of the box after its long trip from China and expecting it to optimally perform.
I have the Rivarossi Big boy I bought back in the mid 90s she runs smooth as silk always keep it oiled up how much are they worth now days if I was to want to sell it to help pay for one of these new ones??
Sweet nice unit
Cool vid.
Pretty impressive.
How does it compare to Broadway Limited In terms of overall quality and details etc ???
Not to be operated on anything more than 11" radii curve. Thank you for watching.
James, do you know what ( if any ) differences are between the suethe 9 and 10 smoke generators? The 9 looks like it draws a bit more power, which would make me think it puts out more smoke.
Nice review looks like a nice engine. Way out if my price range
I have one also and as soon as I got It the traction tire came off and the driver wheel didn't have a groove...but I've also noticed that the front bounces a little and one time It derailed. So I was wondering have you or anyone else had this problem?
I have this train now
I have the promontory version it has red wheel valve for coal but my version has oil can I get the coal tender or should I just remove the red wheels?
lol spider conductor, was he even properly licensed?
You champion