Does anyone in here have any experience(s), good or bad, with this particular locomotive from USA trains. Also, can anyone tell me what the going price for it is. I imagine it is thousands, but how many?
Thanks
You are looking at around 4 to 5K for it. You also need to have a layout with large radius curves. Also moving it is no small feat as it’s usually a two person operation just to move it.
I don’t have one, but have read a lot about it. Lots of wiring inside, well made but complex.
Drop one and you can break a lot of parts. Interestingly, USAT seems to be pretty good on repair parts.
Do you have 16’ RADIUS curves though?
Greg
Stacy, RLD Hobbies has them for about $3,900. I have one of the first run BBs and my experience has been good. USAT catalog says minimum diameter is “16 feet approximate.” I ran mine on Aristo 16 1/2 foot curves for several years with no real problem, except several times I heard a clunk. I think it must have been the lead wheel on the pilot truck riding up at a less than perfect rail joint. Since then I have added a loop with 17’ 9" diameter curves and I never hear the clunk any more.
The drawbar pushes down (against a spring) to engage a pin on the tender. The drawbar won’t go low enough to slip over the pin without lifting the front of the tender a little. The deck plate is hinged, but on mine the hinges won’t let the tender be lifted enough to engage the drawbar and pin. I need to see if I can adjust the drawbar mount to let it push down lower, or grind a little off the end of the pin.
To get to the wiring, it is only necessary to remove 4 screws and the whole top of the engine lifts off. The cab, boiler, and smoke box all come off together as an assembly. The assembly is not very heavy and easy to handle. When replacing it on the chassis, care is needed to see that the handrail ends go into holes at the front of the engine.
I never had any tracking problem on my indoor layout, but I have seen others complain about derailing issues. My track is indoors on plywood with no humps and valleys and no cases of one rail being higher than the other. It would be very hard to have this same degree of “levelness” outside on ballast and maybe that is why derailments happen. I’m not sure, but I saw somewhere that the current issue engines have better suspension and should track better. I don’t know if changes actually have been made.
The engine itself is awesome. Detailing and finish are top notch. The factory-installed Phoenix sound is superb. There are separate cams on the front and rear drivers, and at low speeds the two sets of drivers go in and out of sync, just like a real engine, and the chuff sounds correspondingly go in and out of sync.
I mentioned before that the top comes off as an assembly, and with it off there is access to all the wiring, and there is a lot of wiring. There is one set of wires for the running lights, including headlight, classification lights, ashpan glow, firebox and tender lights. All the lights are good, but it seems to me the classification lights are too bright compared to the headlight, and the firebox light is feeble (but you can’t see it anyway). A separate switch turns on the work lights, including cab roof, underneath the cab, and running board. Each running board has three lights for night work on the engine, just like the real ones.
The engine is heavy and most of this weight is in the chassis. It weighs 45 pounds and the tender another 20. My belief is that the chassis is very heavy for rigidity to protect the cast metal boiler from flexing forces.
Some of the details include adjustable firebox doors, adjustable smoke deflectors, adjustable roof hatch, and sliding windows. There is linkage to operate lubricators, and just like the real ones, the linkage on the front drivers is different than on the rear.
I couldn’t ask for an engine to run any more smoothly than mine does. And of course it is just playing with the 20 cars trains I run. On YouTube, there is a video of Dennis Sirrine running over 150 cars on his fantastic outdoor layout.
Stacy, I know that for most of us that price is high. I gulped more than a few times before buying one. But my opinion is that this is a first rate engine, smooth running and beautifully detailed, and actually a bargain. As we all know, there is nothing perfect in this world, but any flaws in the USA Big Boy are trivial. It is big. It makes my LGB Sumpter Valley Mallet look like a dwarf. I love the engine. If I had it to do over again, would I buy it? YES YES YES. I LOVE THIS ENGINE!!!
Now don’t hold back Bill. What are you really trying to say? 
Thank you bill for that review. Sounds like a really first rate locomotive. I don’t have the funds right now to invest in such a beast, but one day…
Anyway, I am also liking the Hudson by USATR. The Hudson also has a really nice look to it and with some mods, it can really be a first rate locomotive as well.
Aside from these two locomotives, the Union Pacific 844 would be my next choice.
Anyway, thanks to all for replying.
Please.
Let Bill have a moment with his engine.
Thank you.
Sorry, David. Didn’t mean to seem reticent.
Hey, if I had that engine, I’d sleep with that bad boy right next to my bed. LOL
Truly a marvel of modeling engineering and one for the books in my opinion.
Stacy, the USA Hudsons are beautiful engines. I don’t have one, but a friend got one and they are magnificent too.
A couple of things I didn’t mention relate to the speakers and a loose part. The Big Boy has two speakers in the smoke box, so the sound comes from the front of the engine like it should. On smaller engines, the speaker in the tender is not a problem, but this engine is so long that if the sound came from the tender you would notice.
My engine came with a loose part, a rod several inches long with a loop at one end and a Tee at the other. I have seen videos of a crewman using one to position coal chutes and water spouts. The USA tender has hooks for this rod on the right side, just like the real ones had. More great attention to detail by the USAT guys.
I agree Bill, the length of this particular locomotive seems to necessitate placing the sound near the front of the locomotive. If in the tender, I agree, it would be very noticeable.
USATR is a good manufacture and although their products are made in China, they do quite well in the areas of detailing and operation.
My only experiences with USATR have been with diesel locomotives thus far. Like the SD40-2. I sold that one, but it was a truly beautiful locomotive adorned in Rio Grande livery.
So, I can only imagine what the Big Boy must look and feel like.
Ha! Your Big Boy is worth more then my old Dodge Ram…LOL
That’s funny.
Anyway, my respects. Really truly a beautiful locomotive.
Stacey,
I will ad my knowledge to the mix. A fellow club member had one of the early issues as well. As Bill eluded to above there have been rumors of later modifications I can not speak specifically to. That said, the Big Boy is an overall great locomotive, and a hoss of a puller. I have personally witnessed 65 AristoCraft short covered hoppers and the engine pulled like they were not there.
Tracking is another issue, as Bill eluded to. On perfectly flat and level track the loco is flawless. On our club layout however, that is another story. When we first built the layout about 5 years ago, when everything was new and near perfect it ran great. As the layout aged, settled, moved - the loco became less reliable and was a great means to find track problems. Albeit, a rather expensive track maintenance vehicle.
As for appearance, I too am enamored with it, but my train budget will never afford one. On the appearance note, we ran it on 20 foot diameter curves, and to be honest the overhang on the boiler due to the length of the rigid frame was considerable. Track side items on curves must be tailored to the boiler overhang.
I wish you well in your search, and hope you will find your desires.
Bob C.
Bob Cope said:
Stacey,
I will ad my knowledge to the mix. A fellow club member had one of the early issues as well. As Bill eluded to above there have been rumors of later modifications I can not speak specifically to. That said, the Big Boy is an overall great locomotive, and a hoss of a puller. I have personally witnessed 65 AristoCraft short covered hoppers and the engine pulled like they were not there.
Tracking is another issue, as Bill eluded to. On perfectly flat and level track the loco is flawless. On our club layout however, that is another story. When we first built the layout about 5 years ago, when everything was new and near perfect it ran great. As the layout aged, settled, moved - the loco became less reliable and was a great means to find track problems. Albeit, a rather expensive track maintenance vehicle.
As for appearance, I too am enamored with it, but my train budget will never afford one. On the appearance note, we ran it on 20 foot diameter curves, and to be honest the overhang on the boiler due to the length of the rigid frame was considerable. Track side items on curves must be tailored to the boiler overhang.
I wish you well in your search, and hope you will find your desires.
Bob C.
Why thank you Bob for your kind words.
I agree the boiler overhang is absolutely a situation one must consider before running this beast. USA trains states she can run on 16 foot diameter. However, I agree with you. If one has a tricky layout, they might not like the way this locomotive tracks. She is long and needs level track to run smoothly.
It almost appears as though one must build/construct their entire layout around such a locomotive. I know if I do purchase one, I will run it outside for sure and on only on perfect days…LOL
Thanks
Stacey,
My recommendation for road bed in this case, knowing what I know, would be to use a poured concrete road bed. There are several threads here, and on other fora, on the subject. The advantage of the concrete is if you do it right the first time, it will last a very long time. The down side is changes to the layout once down is difficult.
My tuppence worth.
Bob C.
I am so far removed from what I will and will not do Bob that I have come to the conclusion that when I do something, my goal, of course, is to do it right the first time. Hopefully…
Anyway, I agree. Concrete would make the most sense. It is durable and long lasting, but like you said, it is also hard to change once it is set.
BTW. I hadn’t considered weight. The Big Boy weighs what? About 50 pounds. I guess it needs a pretty substantial road bed. Right?
As far as road bed, the club layout was done in the ‘ladder’ method using 2" sch 40 pvc pipe stanscions on approximately 2 foot centers with 1/2 x 1 1/2" pvc ‘ladder’ with spacer blocks at about 8-10 inches. This was eventually back filled to the top of the ladder with sand/red clay mix. When new it ran fine even before the back fill.
There are many other methods available, but for a ‘permanent’ layout, the concrete is by far and away the most durable. Considering the finicky nature of the Big Boy, could I afford one I would most likely go that route, even though the rigidity of construction scares me.
Bob C.
The level of detail on the USATR BB is stellar in my opinion. I know there is allot of room for even more detailing. I like the look of the BB allot. I also like the USATR Hudson.
The Niagara is still my all time favorite locomotive ever, but a BB looks totally cool when pulling a large consist of coal hoppers. I love the engineering of the BB in scale. Remarkable. All those moving parts and the thing gets around the track.
If I ever get one, it will only run on perfect days and with a perfect track. With that much money invested, I might as well treat her right and not take any chances. Lest she turns into a giant paper weight! LOL
Stacy said,
It almost appears as though one must build/construct their entire layout around such a locomotive.
That is exactly what I did. I built the layout with 16 1/2 foot curves with the BB on preorder. It was a big relief when the engine came and
made it around!!Bob, I think I met the man you mentioned with the BB at Perry a few years ago. Nice guy.
Bill,
He is a member of the Emerald Coast Garden Railway Club in Milton, Florida. Bob is a good friend of mine. Bob is unfortunately starting to have some health issues, and he recently sold the loco to a fellow club member who just retired to Tennessee. I will miss it, surely.
Perry was quite some time ago. They stopped the South East Garden Railroad Show a couple of years ago and that ran for 4 or 5 years. I am thinking it would have had to be before 2008 when we went to the first show in Dalton, GA.
Bob C.
Stacy:
I note with interest your initial inquiry about the USAT Big Boy.
After a two-year pre-order waiting period, I was finally able to get one of the first one off the container and it was eventually delivered to my residence. Curiously, the UPS driver was nearly smaller than the locomotive box nd I had to help her get the Big Boy up to the house.
Weight of the locomotive is awesome: about 70# for the locomotive and 25# for the tender. It is a real struggle to pack and unpack the Big Boy for running at large trainshows, particularly when all trackage was laid out on the floor. Nevertheless, where I went the Big Boy was certain to follow and it was exhibited at many very large G scale train shows in the East for a number of years.
Once the club layout was completed (www.ecgrc.com) the Big Boy was occasionally run but, as noted within this thread, as time passed track work was often necessary before the Big Boy could be run reliably (just like the real world)
One would think that the rigid frame for the 4-8-8-4 would present a host of derailment problems but that was never the case for me, whether the engine was run on the floor or on club layout track with a 20-ft. minimum diameter curves. Instead, what sometimes gave me fits was the leading (not centipede) truck on the tender. They were VERY sensitive to track variations and would derail easily.
The weight of the locomotive was always a concern. One had to be very careful where it was grasped and lifted so has not to damage details. Try setting 70# on a piece of track thinking all the while what might become bent or broken off if off balance. Still the locomotive was a beautiful beast to run and I enjoyed the many hours I had to run it. Regretfully, with the advanced onset of arthiritis in my hands, handling of the Big Boy became problematic. As someone has pointed out, it is heavy enough to have major damage, if ever dropped.
Speeds were superlative and I could get the engine to crawl so slowly hat you had to look at it closely just be ascertain whether it was actually moving. The Phoenix sound board was also faultless and impressive.
I am somewhat surprised that owners have tried to run this locomotive on less than 20-ft. diameter curved track. It would have been something I would have never considered because of the stresses that would have arise with a tight turn. Even with 20-ft. diameter, the overhang of the Big Boy is quite large and anyone seeking to laydown track for the engine will have to abandon what might be normal track space for curves.
The quality of workmanship is unsurpassed with any other G scale model except, perhaps, so-called museum grade models. Once you own one or see one close up and in operation, the initial price of the Big Boy becomes unimportant. So, Stacy, when the time arrives it would be my recommendation to buy one. You’ll never regret it.
Bob