Well I am just going to have to get one with sound installed. Can not have a Big Boy without Big Sound! So I put off retirement for another year to pay for it.....
Well it says that Kato will be putting a Soundtrax sound in thiers. I guess ESU did not have a sample of the Big Boy in their archive. And Broadway limited is also making Big Boy's.
I don't believe this has anything to do with pulling power. It is the simpler, more elegant, solution to having all 16 drivers powered. Why do you think they did this for "pulling power?"
Agreed, each 8 wheel driven truck having its own motor may allow them to have a single part (qty 2) rather than two different parts. And the weight directly on the drivers may provide better traction.
Many N scale locomotives (articulated steam and diesel) have used a singe motor to power two drive units/trucks. I just assumed here must be something to the "more weight over more motors" scheme. But this could well be another example of why no one pays me to design model trains for a living!
I certainly trust Kato over my own instincts. Especially since my instincts are probably unduly influenced by the only other two-motor N locomotive I've encountered, which was Bachmann's old DD40. Even if the motor setup was the least of that locomotive's problems!
Some interesting points to me: Minimum radius 11" (fine my me) Coreless motors, probably should not run on pseudo DC (address zero) via DCC. (also fine by me). Available in DC, DCC, and DCC w/sound. Decorated as the restored touring version (so it will be prototypical while pulling intermodal container cars!) What was the diesel in the consist during the tour? Is it available?
The diesel from the 2021 Midwest tour was an SD70M without flared radiators. It carries road number 4015 (to match Big Boy 4014). You could custom paint or renumber a Kato SD70M to match. The 'excursion' 4015 has silver trucks to match the passenger cars and water tenders, so you would have to repaint the truck sideframes on the Kato model. It also has a green anti-glare patch on the top of the nose (like the E units have), rather than a regular grey one. As far as I know, nobody has done this locomotive in N scale. Athearn is making it for the upcoming HO run though. I think these changes had been made midway though the tour though. I saw the train in August in Illinois, but there are some photos online showing the locomotive in July without the 'retro' repainted parts. Depending on which tour you are modeling, you may only need to renumber the model.
Normally I don't do steam, but I broke the ice a while back with the Kato Daylight GS-4 plus a set of Daylight cars (I felt I could justify it on my somewhat modern layout). So, this is going to be extremely tempting!
Any ideas/guesses as to the street price? MSRP is $399/$499/$599 for DC/DCC/DCC with sound, respectively.
If you look at the technical diagram I see a set of those dreaded traction tires on each engine. I hope they have come up with a better material that doesn’t crack and eventually fall off somewhere on your track.
Just received an email from Train World this morning showing pre-order prices of $279/$349/$499, respectively. Expensive but not as bad as I thought. Time to make a cardboard sign and stand on a busy intersection. Big Boy-less Model Railroader I Want To Be The Hit Of My Club Please Help! Any Spare Change Accepted