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USA Trains to re-run Big Boy and Hudson Locomotives


Razor_Antilles
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I was speaking with an owner/manager of a brick-and-mortar hobby shop I frequent not far from work and he told me that USA Trains is re-running the Big Boys and the Hudsons. The USAT website has been changed on the Big Boy and Hudson pages to reflect this, with nothing more than "we're going to make more, they're coming soon".

Firstly, this is both exciting to hear, but also creates a lot of skepticism: is USA Trains ACTUALLY re-running them, or just thinking really hard about it?

Secondly, can they actually bring these to market in a reasonable amount of time, meaning within the next year or two? If they got all their molds back, the answer theoretically -could- be yes? The guy I spoke to said they already had some Big Boys in stock, which sounds waaaaaaaaay too good to be true. But, he's also a vendor, so... maybe he has an inside track on this? Honestly hard to say. 4014's successful rebirth will pre-sell just about every G scale 4-8-8-4 USAT could make (for those who have the money and the space to run/display it).

Thirdly, will they fix any known issues with these locomotives? I remember reading that a lot of Big Boys had problems with shorting, but I have no idea what sort of troubles the Hudsons had; mine is so old it predates factory sound installation, but it runs like a champ.

I'm hoping more information will be available at ECLSTS this year.

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Not sure we will be able to do anything but guess as far as dates but they may be close enough now to the completion of the FEF that they formally queued up the next production runs and have decided to do both steamers.  It is good news to see them announcing the Hudsons already.  I wouldn't think significant effort on the Big Boys or Hudsons will be made until the FEFs are done and shipped to the US.  My guess would be a couple of years before we would see them.

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Well now that is good news!

Seems USA T has a pretty full plate as they're supposed to be making new S4's, F7's, SD40-2's with updated drives and more figuring all the Ultimate Series rolling stock that is depleted.

I wish they'd make a Dreyfuss Hudson and a DDA40X :Smiling_Face_Emoji_large(24x24):

 

 

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Well, I am far more skeptical. I have had heavyweights on order for nearly 3 years. In 2018 they announced they were making more intermodals...still nothing. The only G that has been produced in at least 5 years is 70ton hoppers, only 2 new paint schemes, and streamlined passenger cars limited run. I wish they would be making more items, tired of buying on ebay. 2 years ago they said they would not make Hudson or Big Boys again not sure what to believe. I hope I am wrong...I really do.

Brian

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