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Testing the waters - How to find a USA Trains Big Boy?


yvesvidal
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Folks,

 

Since I sold my Sunset Big Boy in O scale, I have been thinking about a replacement. And I discovered the USA Trains Big Boy engine which was produced a few years ago.

I have been reading this forum and the many experiences members of this group have had with the USA Trains Big Boy. Some are positive but unfortunately, a lot of them have been a struggle to repair engines damaged during shipping or by previous owners.

 

I understand that this model may never been produced again as the market may be saturated with the MTH and the Accucraft (for the very wealthy) models.

 

So my question is very simple: How and where can I get a USA Trains Big Boy in running condition? I do not mind some light cosmetic issues that can be fixed relatively easily, but would definitely prefer an engine that is capable of running and which has all its original electronics on board.

 

Any pointers would be welcome. I am seeing two of them on E-Bay today (one from a train collector, the other one from a Garden Supply shop ???). However, I would prefer something from members of this forum that can give me more information about their model.

 

I thank you in advance.

Yves

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Hi there, 

 

The Big Boy as a model continues to be one of the most popular steam models from what I have seen as a Dealer.  For what it's worth I think USA will continue to produce them, even if there is an extended period of time of out of stock on some models that might be due to the investment costs of the new FEF.

 

I would contact Charles Ro (USA Trains directly) 781-321-0090 and see what they have in stock and order direct from them.  If your question is about wanting to buy used to save money then that is another thing.

 

I think your caution on who to purchase from is well founded and especially considering how much they cost.  I'm not aware of anyone selling a USA Big Boy on this forum that I'm aware of (as of right now) and honestly if you are willing to spend the full selling price I would just buy from Charles Ro/USA Trains directly.  You really shouldnt have any problems with buying new direct from USA.

 

Remember the one instance you are talking about where the user on this forum struggled to repair serious damage (believe you are talking about Ben's situation), that isn't entirely clear if the engine had that damage before being sent and that was purchased/obtained at a heavy discount (as I recall).  So that was not the normal purchase scenario.   If you buy a new model from USA Trains directly and you have problems with damage, just call them up and they will get you taken care of (this is another reason to buy direct from them).  The way these engines are packaged it should be just about impossible for them to be damaged in shipping unless the shipper destroys the case.

 

 

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So you are aware, the biggest potential issues you may have with a USA Big Boy will be:

  • Wheel power pickups causing shorts:  (Great writeup by Chuck) 
  • And engine shorting out the layout (due to die cast parts of body touching driver rims/flanges and/or made worse by the above issue.)

 

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