Big Boys, Big Boys and....Big Boys!

[flight2000]

Don't shoot the messanger, but I just saw that Lombard Hobby in Chicago has the latest Big Boys at $329.99.... 

http://www.lombardhobby.com/SearchResults.asp?Search=big+boy

Still wish I hadn't sold my Challenger's.  Seeing these again almost makes me want to go steam... 

Brian

[SkipGear]

For those of you that are on the fence, I suggest you decide now. I checked Horizon's distributor site last night and they are out of stock on all numbers with no arrival date for any more.

Bob,
 The screw in the stack annoys me also. It will be addressed. I can deal with the double articulation as it is a comprise that will help me although my layout is being built to accomodate a Key Allegheny which is modeled with a fixed rear engine and swiveling front engine. I still need to set down and play with the decoder setup. I like the modifications John did so I will start there.

[sizemore]

Has anyone lowered the pilot (not the whole peice, just the "cow catcher")? I think it could be lowered by shimming, just wondering if anyone else has tackled this improvement.

The S.

[Nato]

          Aynbody that has owned a S*** Pot of old Rivarossi Challengers and Big Boys like I did is fimillar with the old Screw in the Stack. It would appear to be the standard location for attaching the boiler to the mechnism. The Rivarossi screws are Flat Black,but showed up like a sore thumb on the incorrectly aluminum (silver) painted smoke box and double stack. Pinting the inside of the stacks black, or better yet repainting the entire smokebox to a better gray (Sp Lettering?) helped hide them, but I agree with Bob,it is bothersome. Yes the Cab Overhang that Bob mentions catches on one of my tunnels when backing up. They are nice models,,but the whistle is definately not a BB ,FEF,or Challenger whistle. Nate Goodman (Nato).

[jdcolombo]

For those of you that are on the fence, I suggest you decide now. I checked Horizon's distributor site last night and they are out of stock on all numbers with no arrival date for any more.

Bob,
 The screw in the stack annoys me also. It will be addressed. I can deal with the double articulation as it is a comprise that will help me although my layout is being built to accomodate a Key Allegheny which is modeled with a fixed rear engine and swiveling front engine. I still need to set down and play with the decoder setup. I like the modifications John did so I will start there.

I did some more tweaking, and here's where I ended up CV-wise (anything not on this list is factory default)

CV2 - 0
CV3 - 40
CV4 - 20
CV112 - 83 (sets articulated sound mode with "slow slip" to make the engines go in and out of sync slowly)
CV115 - 1 (different whistle; the "steamboat" whistle just doesn't do it for me with the small speaker in this engine)
CV116 - 122 (chuff rate)
CV128 - 192 (master volume; factory default)
CV129 - 225 (whistle volume)
CV130 - 30 (bell volume)
CV131 - 25 (exhaust volume)
CV132 - 48 (air pump volume; factory default)
CV133 - 8 (dynamo volume)
CV153 - 7 (enables user eq curve)
CV154 - 0
CV155 - 0
CV156 - 230
CV157 - 220
CV158 - 220
CV159 - 128 (factory default)
CV160 - 128 (factory default)
CV209 - 50
CV210 - 25

I haven't played around with the DDE sound effects yet, but probably will at some point.  I don't know why Athearn used such a dinky speaker given the size of the tender; I can't believe that engineering this to use a 14 x 25 or 16 x 30mm oval in an internal sealed enclosure would have been that difficult.  Speaker replacement is on my to-do list, but the sound is good enough now that such a project can be put off.  Still, it drives me nuts.  Doesn't anyone in the model train industry have a home stereo?  Bigger really is better on this front, and sealed boxes, folks, unless you're going to engineer a bass-reflex system, which would be mostly useless for the size of speakers we deal with (not so useless in HO).

John C.

[robert3985]

...Doesn't anyone in the model train industry have a home stereo?  Bigger really is better on this front, and sealed boxes, folks, unless you're going to engineer a bass-reflex system, which would be mostly useless for the size of speakers we deal with (not so useless in HO).

John C.

I agree.  Sealed speaker enclosures make a huge difference, even with small speakers.  A larger oval speaker is also on my to-do list for BB's and Challengers as well as my brass FEF's.  I get into every Athearn BB and Challenger tender I own to get at the drawbar to modify it and shorten it, so I'm pretty familiar with what's inside.  Personally, I think the Sountraxx Tsunami is way bigger than it has to be, but I suppose it was designed that way to fit the envelope of the previous POS MRC decoder.  I have one MRC equipped Challenger and I think I'm gonna try an ESU Loksound (much smaller than the Tsunami) because I'm curious, as well as liking the diesel ESU's decoders I've got.  That'll for sure allow a much bigger speaker and enclosure, and I don't doubt it'll improve the sound very noticeably.

[robert3985]

Bob, all N scale steam (apart from some brass) has both driver sets on articulateds swivel like a diesel locomotive to allow them to traverse tighter turns. Just a sales thing....

Yeah, I know.  I got spoiled with brass Big Boys as far as looks were concerned, although I never could get them to pull more than 18 cars and a caboose...but, they were articulated correctly and look markedly different than plastic articulateds when traversing turnouts and even broad curves.

Although I haven't seriously considered modifying an Athearn BB or Challenger by locking the rear engine in place and rebuilding the front engine and chassis innards, my mind continually thinks about it while I'm drawing in my studio.  One day I'll probably jump into it to see if it's too difficult a thing.  Some of Jason's (Superturbine's) projects have inspired me to think it is probably feasible.

[jdcolombo]

I agree.  Sealed speaker enclosures make a huge difference, even with small speakers.  A larger oval speaker is also on my to-do list for BB's and Challengers as well as my brass FEF's.  I get into every Athearn BB and Challenger tender I own to get at the drawbar to modify it and shorten it, so I'm pretty familiar with what's inside.  Personally, I think the Sountraxx Tsunami is way bigger than it has to be, but I suppose it was designed that way to fit the envelope of the previous POS MRC decoder.  I have one MRC equipped Challenger and I think I'm gonna try an ESU Loksound (much smaller than the Tsunami) because I'm curious, as well as liking the diesel ESU's decoders I've got.  That'll for sure allow a much bigger speaker and enclosure, and I don't doubt it'll improve the sound very noticeably.

I replaced the MRC in my Clinchfield Challenger from the original run with a TSU-750, which isn't much bigger than a LokSound micro and has all the same sound effects as the new boards.  That left plenty of room for a 16 x 35mm oval speaker in a sealed enclosure made out of 1mm lead sheet, firing up at the coal load.  I think the Challenger sounds pretty good . . .  Looking at the drawing of the tender parts for the BB, I think you could cut off the central support post that the TSU board is screwed on to, put in a 14 x 25mm in a sealed enclosure, and then let the board just sit just above, supported at each end by the tender shell support posts.  I'll need to do some measuring, but it looks like it should fit.  If you go with an aftermarket like the ESU or TSU-750, there's a ton of room, though you might have to eliminate one or more of the interior posts.

John C.

[peteski]

Another odd thing about this model is that the sideframes of the centipede part of the tender is painter glossy black while the rest of the model is satin/flat black. The gloss black looks really out of place.  I think that the sideframes are part of a larger metal casting (the tender floor?) and that casting was painted glossy, instead of satin.

[SkipGear]

Sooo. Did anybody get the e-mail today from Athearn advertising "N Scale Big Boys - NOW IN STOCK!".

I think they are day late and a dollar short, every road is sold out. There are going to be some unhappy people that weren't paying attention when they get this e-mail.

[peteski]

Tonight I took my Big Boy for a spin on my friend's layout.  I haven't tweaked the sound yet but when I do, I'll try jdcolombo's settings.  It sounded ok using the factory settings (except the chuffs were way off from being synchronized with the drivers).  The loco ran well except it didn't like couple of switches in one of the yards. It had not problems on lots of similar switches elsewhere on the layout (Atlas C55). I'm pretty sure it is imperfect trackwork. 

I muted the sound for a while (got tired of all that chuffing) and I couldn't believe how quiet this model is! The motor and gears barely make any noise!  It is much quieter than any other steam or diesel models on the layout.  It was stealthily gliding through the layout. 

I also can't believe that Athearn used those lemon yellow LEDs for headlights!  Similar to what Kato used in their early locos (and for some unexplained reasons, in their GG1s).  There are plenty of warm-white LEDs available out there so there should be no reason to use those yellow LEDs for headlights.  Come on Athearn, get with the times!

[delamaize]

Bob, all N scale steam (apart from some brass) has both driver sets on articulateds swivel like a diesel locomotive to allow them to traverse tighter turns. Just a sales thing....

you'd be hard pressed to find any prototype articulate in N scale that could be properly articulated, and still clear comon radi. I can think of One, the Skookum. She was a 2-4-4-2, a petite little thing, I'd be willing to bet that a model of her could be articuated properly, and still clear down to 11".

[robert3985]

you'd be hard pressed to find any prototype articulate in N scale that could be properly articulated, and still clear comon radi. I can think of One, the Skookum. She was a 2-4-4-2, a petite little thing, I'd be willing to bet that a model of her could be articuated properly, and still clear down to 11".

That's a myth.  There are all kinds of prototypically articulated locomotives that will run on layouts with common radiuses.  My brass Big Boys ran just fine on mine, but wouldn't pull worth crap.  I've got a 24" minimum mainline radius, but they'd run just fine through branchline 18" radii  too.  No problems with #6 turnouts either.

Of course, the definition of "comon radi" might be different than mine, but I got mine when I was deep into Ntrak...and Ntrak's minimum mainline radius is 24".  Been a while, but I believe that branchline Ntrak minimum radius is 18" and everybody's articulated brass locomotives ran just fine through everything.  We had Big Boys, Challengers, and Cab Forwards running all the time with no probs.

However, if you're considering a 11" radius or below to be common, then yeah...they might not run too well.  I figure that if you're planning on running an articulated, large steam engine, you should have at least an 18" minimum radius...or better...a 24" min...even if it's got the funky double articulated engines like the Athearn models do.

It just looks so much better!