Unbelievable. It’s very odd to me that most model railroaders are into military modeling , military history and often, gun ownership/collecting, it’s almost like we get a complete package when we dive into one of those hobbies, lol. I’m impressed how that decoder works so well after just dropping it in! And it sounds great!! I’ll be following your lead from what you did here. And I dig those passenger cars! I have the same type (mine are all the older Blueprint Series heavyweights) running behind UP steamers. Putting those Blueprint series cars was challenging for me, lol.
The Athearn Genesis fef class locomotive model is very attractive and well detailed, I hope to purchase a model for myself later on in the future after I obtain more $$ to dish out for the model.
Wow man.That Athearn unit is nice, but with that wow sound decoder, its just the ultimate.I thought I would try a wow sound in one of my Rivarossi big boys.It has the motor in the boiler, model.It would be thirty years old.Oh man, it is a wow, alright.The slow speed is phinominal,& the sounds are pretty damn good. I was hooked on the ESU decoders, but now, I am going TCS for my steamers. I have the same model FEF3, & I repowered it, as well.I used a Mashima motor with a Kato flywheel, & a very short driveshaft. It has a LaisDCC non sound decoder, & that just runs so awsome. I have converted all my Rivarossi BBs & that FEF3 with tender pickups.The Rivarossi locos, of that era, were ahead of their time for details,as they can still stand up to most stuff, today. Thanks for the vid, cheers. Michael NZ
Nice, I have the same engine, but I got mine with the soundtraxx Tsunami 2 in it. It came with athearn dual cube speakers. The manual said another set of speakers could be added, so I added another one and it sounds good and loud. I prefer the tsunami 2 over wowsound though.
That Athearn is really pretty, congrats! In the running section it almost looks like the rod screws are loose on it, is it meant to be as such? The rivarossi project is really really impressive, without deflectors it looks fantastic! Thanks for highlighting how good that tooling has held up, rivarossi stuff was truly the best of the time. Looking forward to more!
Thank you very much! I'm very glad to have a modern (and running) FEF join the Rivarossi and hopefully can get the motor sorted. They'll look great together I think. I noticed that too, it seems to me that the rods have a lot of 'slop' allowing for the model to negotiate tighter radius curves. The main rods are a single piece, unlike the Rivarossi which has them segmented instead. Looking closely at photos of other Athearn FEFs, this seems to be how they all are. I don't mind so much, as I can't really tell unless it's on the workbench. Thank you again for watching!
HA I forgot those were there! Not going to discount ownership, but both my wife and I collect nendoroids and are Holo fans. There's a Korone Pop Up Parade figure on a shelf just out of view too. I agree. I have a decent mix of manufacturers, but most of my steam is now either Athearn or Broadway Limited. I was so impressed with my Athearn 4018 that I figured if the FEF was anything like that I'd be happy. To be honest if the Trix FEF was more available and a little less expensive I may have gone for that one out of sheer curiosity.
@YardSounds Awesome! Hey it's always good to find someone else who fell down the rabbit hole 🤣 I mostly have a few from Konosuba, Kancolle/Azur Lane, but finally ordered Suisei last month. Trix and BLI have always had the best UP heavy steam models to me, just haven't been able to pull the trigger on grabbing one yet. Really hope they consider the DCC ready option from that last survey, I'll gladly buy the fleet I've been missing.
@@SCL3618 @SCL3618 if BLI would offer a DCC ready version I'd be all over that. I've never been able to get the slow speed performance I really want out of stock BLI, and one of my goals is to do a Cheyenne engine terminal, either as a UP layout centerpiece or a module, and I kind of need slower than BLI has been able to give me with the stock Paragon decoders. Even with all my CV adjustments I can't seem to get them under a scale 4 or 5mph on 1/128 speed steps 😐 Most of my stuff is actually Arpeggio of Blue Steel, which rides a fine line between very expensive or fairly cheap. I do have a Laffey nend on preorder, but Azur figures have generally been out of my price range, or they're huge lol (I'd love a Honolulu though) It's funny, as I was typing this comment I just received a delivery of Sana birthday merch and a Gura rice bowl. I wasn't expecting that for another month. Serendipitous!
@@yardsounds90 Here's hoping they will actually give that survey some thought, there's money waiting on the table for them lol. Oh sweet! Man Arpeggio takes me back, one of the first few series I watched back in undergrad, but never got much merch beyond the I-401 shirt and a Takao 1/700 ship model. Regret not snagging the figures! Hey an unexpected merch drop is always a plus.
I'm adding this comment as I watched your video talking about you remotering that you did not like the mabucci motor I would suggest you go with the mabucci FK 180 SH I run that in all my engines and some of my Hudson's will go 110 mph on my layout on my speedometer in HO scale. I do agree some of their other motors are entirely too slow! Stephen Iwaniszek and I am on RUclips as well under this name
Thanks for the heads up! I generally keep the boxes as the best storage solution if it isn't too unwieldy and wasn't going to toss any of the Athearn boxes I have
That's an excellent question, I think it ultimately boils down to what features you want and what you are willing to spend. In 1:87, I'd say probably avoid MTH (carries too much of it's O gauge big brother's toy-like qualities) and Rivarossi (best price, but the molds are now 50 years old, and I believe their 4014 comes with a coal tender). That would leave Broadway Limited, Athearn Genesis, and Marklin/Trix. I do not have any experience with the Marklin/Trix Big Boy, but from what I understand they make a very fine model with some incredible detail like the 4014 shield on the cab floor. Broadway Limited, like the Marklin/Trix model, is diecast and is a great puller, and now comes either equipped with BLI's own sound decoder, or without. Athearn Genesis is plastic, but I always thought that the plastic boiler offered slightly sharper details, and it will pull fine as it has traction tires but I know many do not care for that. The Athearn will also have lit numberboards and firebox flicker, but the BLI will have lit class lights. The Athearn doesn't come with smoke, but the BLI (and MTH) does on their sound-equipped model (not on the sound-ready version). Smoke can be added with Seuthe units to the Marklin/Trix and Athearn models respectively. I think the Athearn model has an incorrect tender, at least some of the detail is wrong, but I haven't looked closely. My Athearn Big Boy is coal fired. I believe BLI and Marklin/Trix have the right tender. And I would also mention that none of the higher priced models have the steam chest covers in the silver color 4014 has, but the cheaper Rivarossi does. If I was in the market right now for a 4014, I would go for the cheaper DCC-ready (Stealth) version of the Broadway Limited example and put my own decoder of choice in there and make any small detail changes necessary. The Marklin/Trix would be next, but I believe they are close to $1000 US new. Hope this is helpful!
I believe it should, try running the model and hitting the emergency stop button on your controller. I think Soundtraxx may have the mars light to operate while the locomotive is in an emergency stop. Other than that, function 6 is labeled as 'effect light' in the manual, it may be that as well. Good luck!
![Review: Broadway Limited Class FEF-3 UP# 844 [HO SCALE]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EeUGBeULWPQ/mqdefault.jpg)
Unbelievable. It’s very odd to me that most model railroaders are into military modeling , military history and often, gun ownership/collecting, it’s almost like we get a complete package when we dive into one of those hobbies, lol.
I’m impressed how that decoder works so well after just dropping it in! And it sounds great!! I’ll be following your lead from what you did here. And I dig those passenger cars! I have the same type (mine are all the older Blueprint Series heavyweights) running behind UP steamers. Putting those Blueprint series cars was challenging for me, lol.
The Athearn Genesis fef class locomotive model is very attractive and well detailed, I hope to purchase a model for myself later on in the future after I obtain more $$ to dish out for the model.
Wow man.That Athearn unit is nice, but with that wow sound decoder, its just the ultimate.I thought I would try a wow sound in one of my Rivarossi big boys.It has the motor in the boiler, model.It would be thirty years old.Oh man, it is a wow, alright.The slow speed is phinominal,& the sounds are pretty damn good. I was hooked on the ESU decoders, but now, I am going TCS for my steamers. I have the same model FEF3, & I repowered it, as well.I used a Mashima motor with a Kato flywheel, & a very short driveshaft. It has a LaisDCC non sound decoder, & that just runs so awsome. I have converted all my Rivarossi BBs & that FEF3 with tender pickups.The Rivarossi locos, of that era, were ahead of their time for details,as they can still stand up to most stuff, today. Thanks for the vid, cheers. Michael NZ
Nice, I have the same engine, but I got mine with the soundtraxx Tsunami 2 in it. It came with athearn dual cube speakers. The manual said another set of speakers could be added, so I added another one and it sounds good and loud. I prefer the tsunami 2 over wowsound though.
I like your house!
That Athearn is really pretty, congrats! In the running section it almost looks like the rod screws are loose on it, is it meant to be as such?
The rivarossi project is really really impressive, without deflectors it looks fantastic! Thanks for highlighting how good that tooling has held up, rivarossi stuff was truly the best of the time.
Looking forward to more!
Thank you very much! I'm very glad to have a modern (and running) FEF join the Rivarossi and hopefully can get the motor sorted. They'll look great together I think.
I noticed that too, it seems to me that the rods have a lot of 'slop' allowing for the model to negotiate tighter radius curves. The main rods are a single piece, unlike the Rivarossi which has them segmented instead. Looking closely at photos of other Athearn FEFs, this seems to be how they all are. I don't mind so much, as I can't really tell unless it's on the workbench.
Thank you again for watching!
Really great. A steam locomotive with wagons, like in the old days. Can I ride with you ? 🚂😄Thank you 🙋
Good video! Glad to see they've somewhat upped their game on these FEF's.. Also big kudos for the Holo Nendoroids hanging out on the shelf 😂
HA I forgot those were there! Not going to discount ownership, but both my wife and I collect nendoroids and are Holo fans. There's a Korone Pop Up Parade figure on a shelf just out of view too.
I agree. I have a decent mix of manufacturers, but most of my steam is now either Athearn or Broadway Limited. I was so impressed with my Athearn 4018 that I figured if the FEF was anything like that I'd be happy. To be honest if the Trix FEF was more available and a little less expensive I may have gone for that one out of sheer curiosity.
@YardSounds Awesome! Hey it's always good to find someone else who fell down the rabbit hole 🤣 I
mostly have a few from Konosuba, Kancolle/Azur Lane, but finally ordered Suisei last month. Trix and BLI have always had the best UP heavy steam models to me, just haven't been able to pull the trigger on grabbing one yet. Really hope they consider the DCC ready option from that last survey, I'll gladly buy the fleet I've been missing.
@@SCL3618 @SCL3618 if BLI would offer a DCC ready version I'd be all over that. I've never been able to get the slow speed performance I really want out of stock BLI, and one of my goals is to do a Cheyenne engine terminal, either as a UP layout centerpiece or a module, and I kind of need slower than BLI has been able to give me with the stock Paragon decoders. Even with all my CV adjustments I can't seem to get them under a scale 4 or 5mph on 1/128 speed steps 😐
Most of my stuff is actually Arpeggio of Blue Steel, which rides a fine line between very expensive or fairly cheap. I do have a Laffey nend on preorder, but Azur figures have generally been out of my price range, or they're huge lol (I'd love a Honolulu though)
It's funny, as I was typing this comment I just received a delivery of Sana birthday merch and a Gura rice bowl. I wasn't expecting that for another month. Serendipitous!
@@yardsounds90 Here's hoping they will actually give that survey some thought, there's money waiting on the table for them lol. Oh sweet! Man Arpeggio takes me back, one of the first few series I watched back in undergrad, but never got much merch beyond the I-401 shirt and a Takao 1/700 ship model. Regret not snagging the figures! Hey an unexpected merch drop is always a plus.
I'm adding this comment as I watched your video talking about you remotering that you did not like the mabucci motor I would suggest you go with the mabucci FK 180 SH I run that in all my engines and some of my Hudson's will go 110 mph on my layout on my speedometer in HO scale. I do agree some of their other motors are entirely too slow! Stephen Iwaniszek and I am on RUclips as well under this name
Save those boxes and trains .those will be a one run only with those promontory boxes .I have the n scale promontory big boy
Thanks for the heads up! I generally keep the boxes as the best storage solution if it isn't too unwieldy and wasn't going to toss any of the Athearn boxes I have
As a European I was wondering: which American company does produce the best big boys? Especially the 4014?
That's an excellent question, I think it ultimately boils down to what features you want and what you are willing to spend. In 1:87, I'd say probably avoid MTH (carries too much of it's O gauge big brother's toy-like qualities) and Rivarossi (best price, but the molds are now 50 years old, and I believe their 4014 comes with a coal tender).
That would leave Broadway Limited, Athearn Genesis, and Marklin/Trix. I do not have any experience with the Marklin/Trix Big Boy, but from what I understand they make a very fine model with some incredible detail like the 4014 shield on the cab floor. Broadway Limited, like the Marklin/Trix model, is diecast and is a great puller, and now comes either equipped with BLI's own sound decoder, or without.
Athearn Genesis is plastic, but I always thought that the plastic boiler offered slightly sharper details, and it will pull fine as it has traction tires but I know many do not care for that. The Athearn will also have lit numberboards and firebox flicker, but the BLI will have lit class lights. The Athearn doesn't come with smoke, but the BLI (and MTH) does on their sound-equipped model (not on the sound-ready version). Smoke can be added with Seuthe units to the Marklin/Trix and Athearn models respectively.
I think the Athearn model has an incorrect tender, at least some of the detail is wrong, but I haven't looked closely. My Athearn Big Boy is coal fired. I believe BLI and Marklin/Trix have the right tender. And I would also mention that none of the higher priced models have the steam chest covers in the silver color 4014 has, but the cheaper Rivarossi does.
If I was in the market right now for a 4014, I would go for the cheaper DCC-ready (Stealth) version of the Broadway Limited example and put my own decoder of choice in there and make any small detail changes necessary. The Marklin/Trix would be next, but I believe they are close to $1000 US new. Hope this is helpful!
picked up #835 about a week ago. with the factory tsunami2. is the mars light supposed to work?
I believe it should, try running the model and hitting the emergency stop button on your controller. I think Soundtraxx may have the mars light to operate while the locomotive is in an emergency stop. Other than that, function 6 is labeled as 'effect light' in the manual, it may be that as well. Good luck!
@@yardsounds90 ill try those. Thanks for the help