MassiveMotivePower

Thanks for the info Ray. My re-endoctrination to the hobby is well underway. 45 pounds is massive and I can see that trying to handle this without snapping some detail or breaking the pot metal could be tricky. The biggest I have handled up to now are the MTH plastic models. I will have to rethink this some but for the immediate future I will simply display it. I have some excellent news, the area's G scale hobby shop Tammie's was able to order the 4014 road number. I always like to support our local businesses so this worked out all the way around. The new toy is on order! FYI: that MTH Big Boy on eBay closed at a whopping $2300 plus $49 for shipping. Looks like you can about double your money if you so choose. I'm a bit surprised as I thought G scale was such a small segment of the market I didn't think demand would be this great for the Big Boy. Given this I don't feel bad at all for making the jump to the USA Trains metal version. It feels like it is a much better value. http://www.ebay.ca/itm/MTH-4-8-8-4-Big-Boy-Steam-Engine-with-Proto-Sound-2-0-Tender-MINT-Condition-/111560927088?ssPageName=ADME:B:WNA:US:1653 Curtis

Jerry, thanks for the caution. Okay, just how much does the USA Trains Big Boy weigh? This is my first G scale non-plastic model so I'm getting into a new level here. Also, before I get my foot firmly planted between my teeth can someone clarify the relationship between USA Trains and Charles Ro company. It looks like USA trains is the subsidiary and the manufacturer but Charles Ro is the parent company and both are owned by Charles Ro and son. What it really seems like from the posts is that Charles Ro is the actual manufacturer and USA Trains is a marketing name. In either case I'm dealing with the same owners. Do I have this right? Curtis

Chuck and Ray, thanks for letting me know that the brush has a non-rotating construction. That does mean trimming the contact area will work as you have pointed out but it means deconstructing the engine. Another "patch" might be to paint on some liquid tape to the inner tire but I"m not sure how well that would take the brush wear. Chuck has the right approach to fix it by design which for the price it seems like this is what USA Trains should be selling to start with. The fact that that problem made it all the way through prototype and production makes me think they didn't do any run-in testing on their design. It also makes me wonder what else they missed but then you guys probably would have seen it by now. I know this is a small data sample but there really isn't much info out there. This group is clearly an expert user group so I really appreciate your time, experience and opinions. I'll do some calling around tomorrow when everyone is back open for business to see if USA Trains has anything to say about this but I doubt they will admit to the problem or they will be asking for warranty claims. Out of curiosity does anyone know the number of unit USA Trains and MTH have made and what the size of a production run is? Curtis

Thank you Ray for your time and thoughts. I read Chuck's post again and this does look to be a very serious design flaw. Given that the model was introduced in 2007 and Chuck's post is Feb 2014 I'm surprised that this has not been reported more frequently as a systemic reliability issue. Was Chuck just the "lucky" one where all of the tolerances stacked up the wrong way? Looking at the photos in the post the part precision and assembly tolerances are very sloppy and the brushes can be "angled" several thousandths in the wrong direction allowing it to short sooner rather than later. Given there are 16 wheels there are a lot of chances to make this thing wrong. Your suggestion on turning the brushes once they short is a good work around but for such money one would hope the product would be good by design and manufacturing process rather than a customer's skill at making something work inspire of how it was designed and assembled. However I am properly calibrated now and will go into this with my eyes open. Ben, thank you for the clarification on the issues with Charles Ro. Especially on the UPS shipping issue. I understand that the unit you are working on was "Traumatized" and you were purchasing at a salvage price. I am still concerned here as I do believe that a company should stand behind offers made and accepted even if only verbally. If an honest mistake is made both parties can be reasonable about the situation. My expectation is that a purchase made at 100% asking price would provide for a delivery in 100% perfect condition and that would not be too much of an expectation. I have not been able to locate a 4014 elsewhere and because of the restoration I would like to have this number. I realize I am late to this party since the release was 7 years ago. I saw that MTH had released a Big Boy prior but they must have sold out quickly and don't come up for sale much. The only one I've seen is currently on auction at eBay and is up to $1825. This is a lot of money for a plastic model and a lot more than what it retailed for. Don't take that wrong as I have picked up a new MTH Challenger and Triplex while I was "killing time" to see if a Big Boy would show. I do like MTH products but from what I've read here I don't think I will regret buying the larger metal model from USA trains. Since the MTH auction price is already about halfway there I'm willing to make the jump. Honestly I have been waiting about 20 years to get a Big Boy in G scale. In another 20 I may not even be around to enjoy it so I'll take the recommendation and go for this. Thanks to all who have replied to my posting. This was very helpful. Respectfully, Curtis

I am new to this forum but not to G scale. I apologize in advance for any violations of social protocol but this looked like a knowledgable forum to ask the following questions. As a back story I lost interest in G scale many years ago frustrated by the quality and variety of the offerings in American Steam. At that point only LGB (may it rest in peace) offerings were of excellent engineering and production quality but only had a few narrow gauge versions of American Steam. I tried to love the German models which I do like but wanted main line American Steam so I stored everything away and forgot about it. I retired early and have been working my way into the hobby again. I am delighted at all of the new offerings. To the point I am very interested in purchasing one of the USA trains 4014 Big Boys. But from what I read in this forum is that this model has a design/manufacturing flaw that causes it to short out. Although there are extensive details on how to modify the design I really for $3800 expect the thing to actually run without it destroying itself or buying myself hours of repair work on a brand new unit. I am wondering if USA has done anything to correct this design problem? I also would like to know how long this model has been available? Has the shorting problem been there since the beginning and is this an indication of the quality and support of USA Trains as a company? It does not seem the manufacturer stands behind their product if the buyer must fix the design problems. The other concern is that the only place I can see to purchase the 4014 is from Charles Ro. Also per the forum there were some significant customer service issues from this company to points as fundamental as purchasing sufficient shipping insurance and sticking the customer with the loss. USA Trains does not seem to offer this road number anymore directly so I assume it is sold out from the manufacturer. Are there any other dealers to purchase this model and number from or are the above issues not really indicative of Charles Ro? Any advice or information would be appreciated. This would represent a significant purchase and I would like the resources to go toward enjoyment and not hassles and headaches.