I love that you touch on the fact that everyone has a different view about model railroading. I'm a hyper-realistic modeler where my friend just has a little oval on his living room floor, he has a big boy, I have the entirety of the alleghany fleet that the C&O rostered. It's down to preference and what you can afford. And as long as your having fun that's what counts.
Hi Jim, I recommend you to come on by to Johnson City, TN to see the worlds largest HON3 layout of the Tweetsie, ET&WNC, at the Johnson City Railroad Experience in downtown Johnson City. They have opened to the public back on Oct 3rd, with the Grand Opening ceremony sometime this month.
Canadian HO modeler here. I do model Canadian railroads mostly but I collect Union Pacific just because of there massive locomotive power and Like you was always facinated by them. I have yet to add a big boy to the collection but you better beleive its comming. I'm looking at getting a Broadway limited as well (paragon 4 now). In canada we dont often see HO big boys really and thats often related to their high price tag and if some one has one it often stays home cause of its cumbersome size. Its safe to say I'll be the only one regularly running a 4000 class at my club. Besides I already run a Veranda turbine (with a 35 car long reefer train mind you) and BLI greyhound FEF with a massive Passenger train on by weekly basis. I love UPs trains! Great video my friend!
Most of my large steamers are models of some that still exist. (with the exception of a NYC Hudson and B&A Berkshire.) NKP 759, 779, and 765 (of course). There's also my ATSF 2903, the biggest, heaviest 4-8-4 ever built. But I didn't have a Big Boy. When UP announced they were looking to re-acquire and restore to operation a preserved Big Boy, I decided that it was time that one joined my roster of 3-rail 'O' steam. Eventually I found a MTH Premier version at the big York show in PA at a bit of a discount...just short of a grand, which if you're familiar with 3-rail 'O' pricing you'd probably agree is a bit of a discount. By sheer coincidence this model was of #4014...a couple of months before UP picked the 4014 in CA. With the restoration in the home stretch, I became aware that MTH was going to produce a commemorative oil-burning version of the 4014 just like the resurrected prototype -- complete with the fresh-from-the-shops shiny paint job. Well, now that the real 4014 was going to be a shiny oil-burner, I had to have that one too. So I pulled the trigger. Upon delivery, now I had _two_ Big Boys, both #4014. One a coal burner, the other a shiny 'restoration' oil burner. In O scale. "Whew" said my wallet. Oh, no...that wasn't enough, was it? I now also have an C&O Allegheny, a N&W Class A, and with UP 3985 being restored to operation at the RRHMA...well, I had to have one of those too. Some somebody wasn't kidding when they said articulateds are addictive... .. .. .. (goes to put in a pre-order on a UP FEF)
As a kid I had a tape with a documentary called _Ultimate Trains,_ which featured footage from the Last of the Giants about Big Boy. I, as many other kids, loved Big Boy because it was... big. Just like how I loved Titanic because it was... well... big. So far I've never owned a model of one, and for my own reasons I have no real justification to, given the short trains I'm limited to running. While I have no dislike towards the locomotive, my interest in it nowadays isn't as great because of how mainstream it's become in foamer circles. However, if I saw the 4014 in person I'd be as impressed as anyone. It is an awesome locomotive by any means, in real life or model form of any scale.
The big boy is one engine I do but don’t have, I have a big boy, but I’d love to get my hands on a BLI 4014 from the Texas trip I saw it on, but one engine I MUST collect at some point would be a Shay, they’ve got to be my favorite just bc of they’re origin and how they operate
I ised to have a cd with last of the giants and like you it started my liking towards big boy, but when 4014 came back to operation and everyone kept talking about it, it made me loose intrest in the engine
I love that you touch on the fact that everyone has a different view about model railroading. I'm a hyper-realistic modeler where my friend just has a little oval on his living room floor, he has a big boy, I have the entirety of the alleghany fleet that the C&O rostered. It's down to preference and what you can afford. And as long as your having fun that's what counts.
Hi Jim, I recommend you to come on by to Johnson City, TN to see the worlds largest HON3 layout of the Tweetsie, ET&WNC, at the Johnson City Railroad Experience in downtown Johnson City. They have opened to the public back on Oct 3rd, with the Grand Opening ceremony sometime this month.
Watching this after T&M is such whiplash 😭 Beautiful video!
Canadian HO modeler here.
I do model Canadian railroads mostly but I collect Union Pacific just because of there massive locomotive power and Like you was always facinated by them.
I have yet to add a big boy to the collection but you better beleive its comming. I'm looking at getting a Broadway limited as well (paragon 4 now).
In canada we dont often see HO big boys really and thats often related to their high price tag and if some one has one it often stays home cause of its cumbersome size.
Its safe to say I'll be the only one regularly running a 4000 class at my club. Besides I already run a Veranda turbine (with a 35 car long reefer train mind you) and BLI greyhound FEF with a massive Passenger train on by weekly basis.
I love UPs trains! Great video my friend!
I think my club is the only one where no one owns a Big Boy but I'm trying to fix that
I love the model of the UP Big Boy!
The BigBoy is my absolute favorite steam locomotive
Most of my large steamers are models of some that still exist. (with the exception of a NYC Hudson and B&A Berkshire.) NKP 759, 779, and 765 (of course). There's also my ATSF 2903, the biggest, heaviest 4-8-4 ever built.
But I didn't have a Big Boy.
When UP announced they were looking to re-acquire and restore to operation a preserved Big Boy, I decided that it was time that one joined my roster of 3-rail 'O' steam. Eventually I found a MTH Premier version at the big York show in PA at a bit of a discount...just short of a grand, which if you're familiar with 3-rail 'O' pricing you'd probably agree is a bit of a discount. By sheer coincidence this model was of #4014...a couple of months before UP picked the 4014 in CA.
With the restoration in the home stretch, I became aware that MTH was going to produce a commemorative oil-burning version of the 4014 just like the resurrected prototype -- complete with the fresh-from-the-shops shiny paint job. Well, now that the real 4014 was going to be a shiny oil-burner, I had to have that one too. So I pulled the trigger. Upon delivery, now I had _two_ Big Boys, both #4014. One a coal burner, the other a shiny 'restoration' oil burner. In O scale. "Whew" said my wallet.
Oh, no...that wasn't enough, was it? I now also have an C&O Allegheny, a N&W Class A, and with UP 3985 being restored to operation at the RRHMA...well, I had to have one of those too.
Some somebody wasn't kidding when they said articulateds are addictive...
..
..
..
(goes to put in a pre-order on a UP FEF)
As a kid I had a tape with a documentary called _Ultimate Trains,_ which featured footage from the Last of the Giants about Big Boy. I, as many other kids, loved Big Boy because it was... big. Just like how I loved Titanic because it was... well... big.
So far I've never owned a model of one, and for my own reasons I have no real justification to, given the short trains I'm limited to running.
While I have no dislike towards the locomotive, my interest in it nowadays isn't as great because of how mainstream it's become in foamer circles. However, if I saw the 4014 in person I'd be as impressed as anyone. It is an awesome locomotive by any means, in real life or model form of any scale.
The big boy is one engine I do but don’t have, I have a big boy, but I’d love to get my hands on a BLI 4014 from the Texas trip I saw it on, but one engine I MUST collect at some point would be a Shay, they’ve got to be my favorite just bc of they’re origin and how they operate
i want one its one of my favorite steam engines but the price of a g scale big boy is crazy expensive lol
I ised to have a cd with last of the giants and like you it started my liking towards big boy, but when 4014 came back to operation and everyone kept talking about it, it made me loose intrest in the engine