Broadway Limited Imports Paragon 3 Big Boy Trouble URGENT

I don't have any idea what's causing the problem with your BLI Big Boy. The only advice I can give you, from my point of view as a collector anyway, is don't fool with it. For something this big, complex, and expensive, I would put it in a box and send it back to the factory and tell them to go right through it. Even if I had to send it back five times and scream at them on the telephone like a crazy man every morning until they got it right that's what I would do.

I know, there are a lot of very talented and knowledgeable people on this site who could whip your loco into into shape, with little more than a screwdriver and some light lubricant, and get it running better than it ever did from the factory; that's not the route I would take. I'm sure others would, but not me.

Actually, from my point of view, your very lucky to own one. I’ve been looking for an HO Scale BLI Big Boy 4-8-8-4 Steam Loco with steam whistle and Paragon 3 for a long time. There just not out there, even for crazy money - not even in Canada. I can't believe I let this thing slip by me. I've made repeated calls to BLI to find out if I can still get one, or if it has it reached the end of the production run and has been discounted, but never got a straight answer. It says on their website they still can be ordered through a dealer, but that doesn't appear to be true. I had thought a used one, not tampered with and still in the box with everything that came with it, would surface by now, but that hasn't happened yet either. A lot of guys buy these monsters then end up selling it because they can’t get it to run on their layout. So I don’t know what to think. I guess I'll just have to keep looking.

Okay, I took the plunge. I bought the MTH HO scale re-popped version of their Big Boy - 80-3287-1 with Proto3 DCC & Sound, Smoke and Steam Whistle. I guess they're trying to steal their competitor's thunder. Hey, why not? If they can come up with a more realistic execution. It raises the bar for all the manufactures and keeps the standards high. I really wanted to go with BLI, but I was assured by the Rep/store owner, in very frank terms, MTH went back to the drawing board and fixed all the problems customers were bitching about their version of the prototype. Frankly, other than having insane pulling power, although not necessarily a given for every locomotive, it had a growing reputation for being a dog. Supposedly, that's all in the past. This new production run represents the best efforts of MTH to bring to the market the best version of their Big Boy in its most refined form. We'll see... For a little over $600 they better have.

TheDarkNarps, I found the MTH Big Boy on my front steps today and I'm not a happy camper. It had been delivered a full two days ahead of the date and time I was told would be the earliest possible time to expect it. The package was left out in the open during a driving rain storm without notification and looked like a soggy bag of Chinese noodles tossed on a garbage heap. I brought it inside and as I started to cut open the box chunks of water-soaked cardboard started to disintegrate in my hands. I was furious and expecting the worst, but as I got deeper inside I found a large dry layer of packing peanuts. The locomotive was found half way down in its box wrapped in a sealed heavy plastic bag and cushioned in several layers of bubble wrap. Crisis averted.
The locomotive and the box it came in (which is just as important to me) was undamaged and in pristine condition. This is a beautiful prototype of a Big Boy. It comes per-assembled in a long box and is heavy. I haven't built a dedicated line of track yet on my layout that I would consider to be safe to run big steamers on; and I own a lot of them, some of them even bigger then a Big Boy (I own a Yellowstone, Triplex “Russian”, 2-10-2 “USRA", ect.). So I'm in no hurry to risk dropping this thing on the floor. It's suppose to run on 18" loops, but I don't buy it. The most important thing to me right now is that I have one in my roster. When I do have a safe track run dedicated to big steamers I will show them running in all their glory.

Hey, nothing wrong with that. I own an Athearn “Big Boy”#4009. I don't really need another “Big Boy” on my roster, but I'll never get rid of it. The sound that thing makes is like Moses damning the Israelites from the mountain. It's one of the things that hooked me on DCC; but the BLI GE AC6000 Diesel locomotive (DCC & Sound) Union Pacific #7500 was what clinched it. I wasn't even thinking about Diesels. They all look the same to me. I own very few of them. When I heard the startup sequence, the throaty rumble it makes, the blast of the Diesel horn, and those ditch light flashing, I had to own one. I know it's all subjective, but sometimes it's not all about money or prestige, sometimes it's just something that grabs you. Here's another example. I own an Athearn Genesis EMD GP9 Diesel locomotive (DCC & Tsunami2 Sound) Spokane, Portland & Seattle #150. It's a prototype of an early Diesel that doesn't really have much going on that would blow up anyone's skirt. There are a lot of far better Diesels you can buy. I bought it as a test mule to check clearances on tight loops, but I wouldn't part with it. Whatever makes you happy and can afford is what's important, not what somebody else has.