This was a awesome review and your response to rickdee67 was spot on and I read it before watching the video and thought the only thing not covered was the Don’t put it on a powered track and you and BLI addressed that in the opening of the box. You covered everything and, like you, I Love these Paragon 4 Big Boys, so much so that I found and purchased all 5 of the real schemes from 2022 and pre ordered the 2024 releases and I just got those 5 a couple of days ago. I wish they would have made a 4014 model as it was built with the coal tender. Planning to build Cheyenne yard in 1953 so I needed some Big Boys. Great review.
Thank you so much! I try to be thorough in my videos. I think it is critical to be careful when placing a locomotive on a powered track. Anything can go wrong very quickly. I love BLI big boys over anything on the market except for Trix. I have not seen a Trix model up close and personal in person or heard on run. Hopefully on the next run BLI will produce the Big Boy you want. That’s a good amount of big boys you got. I hope to see you rendition of the Cheyenne yard in future. Thank you very much for watching!
BLI did come out with a unlettered version/coal tender of the original order of Big Boys in this 2024 run. You could letter up 4014 using one of these.
@@gilbertporter4992 Gilbert, thanks for the idea but I don’t have faith in my skills to do that well enough. I did consider paying someone to do it but I wouldn’t even know which decals would match the others.
I couldn't have said it better myself! I got mine in the no sound variant, and I was ultra impressed with the detail. I just have one question.. With the Big Boy decals, how do you apply them properly? Are they stickers? I have the decals with my model, but I didn't want to try to put them on without asking someone who is more experienced in the correct way how to do it. And side note, you got me on using gloves for handling train models. I noticed you do it in other videos and thought it was an excellent idea. Especially when it comes to stray fingerprints! Thank you for the review!
Glad you were happy with your model! They are great! As for the decals I would recommend watching a video that includes the use of Micro Sol and Micro Set in the application of decals. Another tip I’d like to recommend is cutting the decals closest to the actual letters as possible so that the backing on the decal is not so apparent on the boiler door. Do this also so that the decal fits on the boiler door. That’s pretty cool that you adopted the usage of gloves. Using gloves to handle any sort of model is a good idea. I hate seeing fingerprints on models and it also makes it harder to weather them in the future. Thank you so much for watching my video!
@@angelakaichen9192 we hope that ScaleTrains brings a 4014 BigBoy in H0 in the next years. Then we will sell our BigBoys we have right now and buy ScaleTrains as they are known to mostly bring great quality and exceptional details other manufacturers don’t.
I’m seeing modelers are expressing negative thoughts about BLI locomotives. I just bought a BLI dcc/sound and so far it’s been very good. What is it about BLI that has drawn criticism? Have they addressed it? This GORGEOUS and I need one!
Modelers have had issues with the smoke units either malfunctioning or getting hot enough to melt the boiler near the smoke stack. The models that are brass hybrids or die-cast don’t have that issue. Other folks have had issues with the decoders, primarily Paragon 3. Paragon 3 hasn’t been the most reliable decoders. Folks have also reported that they do not like the sound from the decoders. Some models have been delivered with issues regarding broken details and chipped paint. Like any other manufacturer, BLI has had its issues. I myself have not had a faulty model. I recommend picking one of these up. They are worth it. Thank you for watching my video!
I happened to purchase a BLI Paragon 3 C&O J3A last year around January. The smoke unit would not turn off when the function was pressed so I had it shipped back to Broadway for repairs. When it came back, it must have been turned the wrong way during shipping and smoke oil spilled all over the locomotive and burned up the decoder. Since then I had a good friend repair it, replaced the decoder with a Tsunami Steam 2 and disconnected the smoke unit, it's my best puller and best looking unit I have.
@@kamokev_92 oh man that sucks. Glad you have it working though. I have a BLI engine that I’d like to put a Tsunami or Lok sound decoder in. Other than the faulty electronics in some of them they’re really good looking engines.
@modelrailroadingthesouthwest it's one of the best things you can do, I would've loved putting a Loksound in it but maybe down the road. The quality is definitely second to none on looks with BLI but absolutely watch out for the decoders brother!
I like the BLI steam locos a lot, I like that the most of them are from metal and got smoke units as a standard. What is the weak side of BLI models are the sounds. They use probably the limited set of sounds which they use in their models. From that reason this Big Boys sound practically identical to FEF-3. That decal with "Big boy" title on the front of the smoke stack comes from factory or you have to apply it? There is a visible surrounding of the decal around the letters. Maybe it's so noticable only in video. Otherwise great model for sure... 😊
I agree it’s a great model. I can agree that the sounds can somewhat be improved. I think the whistle can be slightly improved. The decals were supplied with the model for user application. I unfortunately did not cut the decal close enough to the letters. I was worried that it would ruin the decal if I cut to close as it is so small. You can only see the decal at a couple angles. It just so happened that I caught that angle when recording the sounds. That is one thing that wished that BLI had done is have the decal applied at the factory so that the decal edges would not be visible. Thank you for watching!
ScaleTrains verso might be the ex-MTH tooled one, and they might not improve upon the tooling as it would be too expensive. I wondered the same about the J class. They said the tooling would not change extend for the decoder and mechanical stuff which has been improved upon.
I was told by ScaleTrains that the tooling would have to be changed slightly because the length of the model is too short in comparison to the prototype. I’m not sure how much of a difference there will be. I’m not holding my breath thinking that it’s going to be an extremely improved model.
Say a prayer and place it on the track. Just kiddin, I would make sure that all the wheels are straight and try to carefully place the locomotive on the track so that the wheels don’t short out. I’ve placed it on the track with track power on before and have not had a problem. I would just be very careful. Thank you for watching and the compliment!
is it just me or dose it almost sound the same as the FEF-3 form BLI. the whistle sound the exactly as the fef-3. dose the big boy and the FEF-3 share the same whistle?.
From the best of my knowledge all the locomotives in the 3000, 4000, and 800 classes had the same Hancock whistles. These were three chime whistles. I’ve also read that there could be slight sound variations due to wear and pressure differences. Way back before while 4014 was being restored 844 was wearing 4014s whistle.
Very impressive and handsome model of the UP "big boy", this is an iconic locomotive and one of my personal favorite types of articulated steam power and UP 4014 is apart of the UP steam heritage fleet. I really want to own one of these big boy models for myself in the future, but first I need to earn more extra income as modern locomotives are extremely expensive $$ 💰💰.
These things are super expensive. They are getting harder and harder to be able to afford them. When you do get one, you won’t be disappointed! Thank you for watching!
Oh nice! I agree, the instructions can be vague. I try to lubricate the rods and axle bearings and anything else the moves. I’m careful not to over lubricate so that it doesn’t turn into an oily mess. Thank you for watching!
I agree with you. The Legacy sounds are amazing. I have a few O scale pieces which are MTH. I want to get some Lionel models. I’d like to get a Vision Line Big Boy. They sound so good! Thank you for watching!
I've seen a number of these videos recently, I'm guessing pre-orders are all getting fulfilled for this? Lovely looking loco too. That said "To prevent damage make sure you put this on the track before powering the track"?? Is that really a thing? Due to DCC always being "on", or the potential to possibly short something? Also I love how it says "this is not intended for anyone under 14 years old", basically saying "hey this is not a toy damn it! Don't ruin this by letting a little kid crash it"
They were delivered to dealers about two weeks ago. They are in stock at several online retailers. Yes the warning about placing the locomotive on a powered track could be detrimental to these models. They can definitely short out and destroy the decoder. I have forgotten to cut the track power while placing a locomotive on the track and I have had the DCC controller go into fault mode. Better to be safe than sorry. lol that’s so true about the giving this to a kid. I have seen bad stuff happen when people give these expensive models a kid. Not good lol. Thank you so much for watching!
@@modelrailroadingthesouthwest Thanks for the info about the decoder, as someone who's been into nothing but DC all this time, having the track power off is a no brainer because "I don't want my loco moving when I'm trying to align it" and less about "frying electronics in the thing" I guess it can be overlooked as to whether or not you're placing on a powered track simply because of the way DCC works and if you tried to put the loco on it wouldn't run away from you, so you might not even know the power is on.
Same sound file for every BLI big steam engines; Man, you think these guys would spend a little bit more effort on making their products. I will wait for Scale Train version of this.
To be fair I love Scale Trains and their models they do great work, but they failed big time in my opinion at their first time at a steam locomotive. They did the J Class wrong. I understand it's old MTH tooling, but it looks cheap and doesn't look right. The passenger cars don't either. I wont be buying either from Scale Trains. I really don't think its worth the price either. Sounds are spot on. When it comes to the SD70M 4015 I can't find one in HO Scale anywhere I just bought a UP SD70M and remembered it to 4015.
I haven’t paid too much attention to the ScaleTrains J Class. That’s unfortunate that it wasn’t done correctly. I read some comments on the drivers not looking right. I only saw the locomotive and passenger cars in person at the Rocky Mountain Train Show for a brief moment. I hope they do the Big Boy justice and do it right. I’m hoping they do something innovative with it or something to make it better than their competitors. 4015 has become some sort of a unicorn. I made a mistake by holding off to buy it when it was first delivered. They sold incredibly fast. I should have bought it when i had the chance. I hope to find one in the future, but I’m not holding my breath. I’ve been thinking of doing the same to a regular SD70M. One thing I have learned over the years is that if you see something you want, just buy or you’ll regret it. Thank you for watching! I really appreciate it!
![KRK - ชนิสรา Ft.WanMai , N/A [Official MV] Prod. By Sakarin](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/C-WMwwYobcU/mqdefault.jpg)
This was a awesome review and your response to rickdee67 was spot on and I read it before watching the video and thought the only thing not covered was the Don’t put it on a powered track and you and BLI addressed that in the opening of the box. You covered everything and, like you, I Love these Paragon 4 Big Boys, so much so that I found and purchased all 5 of the real schemes from 2022 and pre ordered the 2024 releases and I just got those 5 a couple of days ago. I wish they would have made a 4014 model as it was built with the coal tender. Planning to build Cheyenne yard in 1953 so I needed some Big Boys. Great review.
Thank you so much! I try to be thorough in my videos. I think it is critical to be careful when placing a locomotive on a powered track. Anything can go wrong very quickly. I love BLI big boys over anything on the market except for Trix. I have not seen a Trix model up close and personal in person or heard on run. Hopefully on the next run BLI will produce the Big Boy you want. That’s a good amount of big boys you got. I hope to see you rendition of the Cheyenne yard in future. Thank you very much for watching!
@@modelrailroadingthesouthwest Thanks for doing the review.
BLI did come out with a unlettered version/coal tender of the original order of Big Boys in this 2024 run. You could letter up 4014 using one of these.
@@gilbertporter4992 Gilbert, thanks for the idea but I don’t have faith in my skills to do that well enough. I did consider paying someone to do it but I wouldn’t even know which decals would match the others.
Beautiful! Absolutely beautiful!
Thank you! I love this model!
@ same!
I couldn't have said it better myself! I got mine in the no sound variant, and I was ultra impressed with the detail. I just have one question.. With the Big Boy decals, how do you apply them properly? Are they stickers? I have the decals with my model, but I didn't want to try to put them on without asking someone who is more experienced in the correct way how to do it.
And side note, you got me on using gloves for handling train models. I noticed you do it in other videos and thought it was an excellent idea. Especially when it comes to stray fingerprints! Thank you for the review!
Glad you were happy with your model! They are great! As for the decals I would recommend watching a video that includes the use of Micro Sol and Micro Set in the application of decals. Another tip I’d like to recommend is cutting the decals closest to the actual letters as possible so that the backing on the decal is not so apparent on the boiler door. Do this also so that the decal fits on the boiler door.
That’s pretty cool that you adopted the usage of gloves. Using gloves to handle any sort of model is a good idea. I hate seeing fingerprints on models and it also makes it harder to weather them in the future. Thank you so much for watching my video!
@@modelrailroadingthesouthwest thank you for that advice on the decals! I was able to find plenty of good resources on TH-cam 👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾
As soon as Scaletrains brings 4014 I will sell my Trix one and buy this one
I’m with you on that!
what do you mean by that?
@@angelakaichen9192 we hope that ScaleTrains brings a 4014 BigBoy in H0 in the next years. Then we will sell our BigBoys we have right now and buy ScaleTrains as they are known to mostly bring great quality and exceptional details other manufacturers don’t.
I’m seeing modelers are expressing negative thoughts about BLI locomotives. I just bought a BLI dcc/sound and so far it’s been very good. What is it about BLI that has drawn criticism? Have they addressed it? This GORGEOUS and I need one!
Modelers have had issues with the smoke units either malfunctioning or getting hot enough to melt the boiler near the smoke stack. The models that are brass hybrids or die-cast don’t have that issue. Other folks have had issues with the decoders, primarily Paragon 3. Paragon 3 hasn’t been the most reliable decoders. Folks have also reported that they do not like the sound from the decoders. Some models have been delivered with issues regarding broken details and chipped paint. Like any other manufacturer, BLI has had its issues. I myself have not had a faulty model. I recommend picking one of these up. They are worth it. Thank you for watching my video!
I happened to purchase a BLI Paragon 3 C&O J3A last year around January. The smoke unit would not turn off when the function was pressed so I had it shipped back to Broadway for repairs. When it came back, it must have been turned the wrong way during shipping and smoke oil spilled all over the locomotive and burned up the decoder. Since then I had a good friend repair it, replaced the decoder with a Tsunami Steam 2 and disconnected the smoke unit, it's my best puller and best looking unit I have.
@@kamokev_92 everything they build is beautiful!
@@kamokev_92 oh man that sucks. Glad you have it working though. I have a BLI engine that I’d like to put a Tsunami or Lok sound decoder in. Other than the faulty electronics in some of them they’re really good looking engines.
@modelrailroadingthesouthwest it's one of the best things you can do, I would've loved putting a Loksound in it but maybe down the road. The quality is definitely second to none on looks with BLI but absolutely watch out for the decoders brother!
Hello, may I noticed there is a missing part next to the five bell?
Hmm what do you think is missing?
I like the BLI steam locos a lot, I like that the most of them are from metal and got smoke units as a standard. What is the weak side of BLI models are the sounds. They use probably the limited set of sounds which they use in their models. From that reason this Big Boys sound practically identical to FEF-3. That decal with "Big boy" title on the front of the smoke stack comes from factory or you have to apply it? There is a visible surrounding of the decal around the letters. Maybe it's so noticable only in video. Otherwise great model for sure... 😊
I agree it’s a great model. I can agree that the sounds can somewhat be improved. I think the whistle can be slightly improved. The decals were supplied with the model for user application. I unfortunately did not cut the decal close enough to the letters. I was worried that it would ruin the decal if I cut to close as it is so small. You can only see the decal at a couple angles. It just so happened that I caught that angle when recording the sounds. That is one thing that wished that BLI had done is have the decal applied at the factory so that the decal edges would not be visible. Thank you for watching!
Ahh OK, then. The modeler can then decide if he wants it or not. There are also solutions which can you buy in case you want to remove it.
@@MaxSupercars I might remove the decal later. It’s not very noticeable, but it might bother me later.
Hi TJ & it's is Randy and i like yours video is cool & Thanks TJ & Friends & Randy
Hey Randy thank you for watching!
At 2:53, is that a production Coe in blue lettering in the box? Can you get a closer look as to what it says?
It’s a build date of March 9, 2024.
ScaleTrains verso might be the ex-MTH tooled one, and they might not improve upon the tooling as it would be too expensive. I wondered the same about the J class. They said the tooling would not change extend for the decoder and mechanical stuff which has been improved upon.
I was told by ScaleTrains that the tooling would have to be changed slightly because the length of the model is too short in comparison to the prototype. I’m not sure how much of a difference there will be. I’m not holding my breath thinking that it’s going to be an extremely improved model.
Trying to find one
@@jammeywalker2578 they are great models! I hope you find one!
Great review! Any thoughts about putting the loco on the track when the power is on. . . Running it a local club?
Say a prayer and place it on the track. Just kiddin, I would make sure that all the wheels are straight and try to carefully place the locomotive on the track so that the wheels don’t short out. I’ve placed it on the track with track power on before and have not had a problem. I would just be very careful. Thank you for watching and the compliment!
is it just me or dose it almost sound the same as the FEF-3 form BLI. the whistle sound the exactly as the fef-3. dose the big boy and the FEF-3 share the same whistle?.
From the best of my knowledge all the locomotives in the 3000, 4000, and 800 classes had the same Hancock whistles. These were three chime whistles. I’ve also read that there could be slight sound variations due to wear and pressure differences. Way back before while 4014 was being restored 844 was wearing 4014s whistle.
Very impressive and handsome model of the UP "big boy", this is an iconic locomotive and one of my personal favorite types of articulated steam power and UP 4014 is apart of the UP steam heritage fleet. I really want to own one of these big boy models for myself in the future, but first I need to earn more extra income as modern locomotives are extremely expensive $$ 💰💰.
These things are super expensive. They are getting harder and harder to be able to afford them. When you do get one, you won’t be disappointed! Thank you for watching!
I bought the matte-black and glossy 4014's. Absolutely love em!
That’s sick man! These BLI big boys are great! Thank you for watching!
Veramente eccezionale sono un appassionato di questo modello ne ho diverse compreso una in scala 0 è veramente stupenda 😊😊👍
They are amazing locomotives! I would love an O scale version! Thank you for watching!
I got mine a few days ago. Only thing I don't like is no lubrication instructions and the instructions you do get are kinda vague.
Oh nice! I agree, the instructions can be vague. I try to lubricate the rods and axle bearings and anything else the moves. I’m careful not to over lubricate so that it doesn’t turn into an oily mess. Thank you for watching!
Looks outstanding! I’m currently saving up for one; just got a few more weeks of working at Chick-Fil-A before I can get one. 😂
It’s a gorgeous model! You’ll love it once you get one! That’s the only had part about model railroading, saving up money lol. Thank you for watching!
Very authentic but my wife dislikes the noise . I agree .
That’s unfortunate. They can be very loud, but you can adjust the volume so that it’s not too loud. Thank you for watching!
Now they need to come out with a version with 3 dynamos and PTC...
I was just watching a video showing the three dynamos and the PTC on the tender. That would be cool.
I like HO but I can’t never give up O scale. I scale is so much more money but you cannot beat the sound of a Lionel legacy locomotive.
I agree with you. The Legacy sounds are amazing. I have a few O scale pieces which are MTH. I want to get some Lionel models. I’d like to get a Vision Line Big Boy. They sound so good! Thank you for watching!
Just wanna get an oil tender and a coal tender version of these big boys🎉
Definitely! These are great. I have 4023 which has the coal tender. The coal tender looks great with the coal load. Thank you for watching!
@@modelrailroadingthesouthwest also from broadway limited?
@@swf9358 yeah I have a review of it on my channel too.
Very cool and wonderful train
Thank you for the compliment! Thank you for watching!
@@modelrailroadingthesouthwest your welcome
I've seen a number of these videos recently, I'm guessing pre-orders are all getting fulfilled for this? Lovely looking loco too. That said "To prevent damage make sure you put this on the track before powering the track"?? Is that really a thing? Due to DCC always being "on", or the potential to possibly short something? Also I love how it says "this is not intended for anyone under 14 years old", basically saying "hey this is not a toy damn it! Don't ruin this by letting a little kid crash it"
They were delivered to dealers about two weeks ago. They are in stock at several online retailers. Yes the warning about placing the locomotive on a powered track could be detrimental to these models. They can definitely short out and destroy the decoder. I have forgotten to cut the track power while placing a locomotive on the track and I have had the DCC controller go into fault mode. Better to be safe than sorry. lol that’s so true about the giving this to a kid. I have seen bad stuff happen when people give these expensive models a kid. Not good lol. Thank you so much for watching!
@@modelrailroadingthesouthwest Thanks for the info about the decoder, as someone who's been into nothing but DC all this time, having the track power off is a no brainer because "I don't want my loco moving when I'm trying to align it" and less about "frying electronics in the thing" I guess it can be overlooked as to whether or not you're placing on a powered track simply because of the way DCC works and if you tried to put the loco on it wouldn't run away from you, so you might not even know the power is on.
@@Mike__B that’s true and you wouldn’t know especially if you have a silent decoder or have the sound muted on the decoder.
Black cars: NUH UH / Black Trains: YUH UH
Lol for sure!
Same sound file for every BLI big steam engines; Man, you think these guys would spend a little bit more effort on making their products. I will wait for Scale Train version of this.
Hopefully ScaleTrains nails the Big Boy. A Lok sound decoder will be a definite selling point for ScaleTrains. Thank you for watching!
To be fair I love Scale Trains and their models they do great work, but they failed big time in my opinion at their first time at a steam locomotive. They did the J Class wrong. I understand it's old MTH tooling, but it looks cheap and doesn't look right. The passenger cars don't either. I wont be buying either from Scale Trains. I really don't think its worth the price either. Sounds are spot on. When it comes to the SD70M 4015 I can't find one in HO Scale anywhere I just bought a UP SD70M and remembered it to 4015.
I haven’t paid too much attention to the ScaleTrains J Class. That’s unfortunate that it wasn’t done correctly. I read some comments on the drivers not looking right. I only saw the locomotive and passenger cars in person at the Rocky Mountain Train Show for a brief moment. I hope they do the Big Boy justice and do it right. I’m hoping they do something innovative with it or something to make it better than their competitors. 4015 has become some sort of a unicorn. I made a mistake by holding off to buy it when it was first delivered. They sold incredibly fast. I should have bought it when i had the chance. I hope to find one in the future, but I’m not holding my breath. I’ve been thinking of doing the same to a regular SD70M. One thing I have learned over the years is that if you see something you want, just buy or you’ll regret it. Thank you for watching! I really appreciate it!
Do you still need a legit Athearn SD70M 4015?