Broadway Limited N Scale Big Boy With SMOKE Video!

TrainWorld Jan 13, 2023

  1. C&O_MountainMan

    C&O_MountainMan TrainBoard Member

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    Yes, I have one, a C&O H-4 from 2010, bought from Ebay last October. My point still remains that recent restoration of other significant steam engines does not always result in production. Not in N scale, anyway.

    EDIT: Which is a pity, I don’t want the motive power for my layout to have to rely entirely on pieces that are approaching a decade and a half old right now, and my layout perhaps not ready to run trains on for another year.
    Also have on my steam roster:

    Bachmann C&O Heavy 4-8-2, also 2010-ish, also an Ebay purchase.

    Athearn Clinchfield Challenger #675 bought new in 2015, from what the most recent run was at the time.

    Bachmann C&O Consolidation bought around the same time (before they began putting sound in), and it’s suffering.

    My only “still new, bought new” steam piece is a Bachmann C&O Kanawha bought fresh at Christmastime 2021.

    The BLI light Mikados come in C&O roadnames, but the only C&O Mikes of that form were bought from the Pere Marquette, and the C&O kept those up in Michigan, from what I can glean. The Mikes the C&O ran in the WV mountains were all of the “flying pumps” type.

    NOTE: I don’t think Bachmann did any of those 2-6-6-2s in B&O. C&O, NKP, and W&LE were it, I believe.
     
    Last edited: Jan 23, 2023
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  2. C&O_MountainMan

    C&O_MountainMan TrainBoard Member

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    This, I wholeheartedly agree with. The vast majority of new N scale variety is coming from BLI. I hope their business model succeeds. I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but they’re the ones putting the most new N Scale on the table.

    And I hope everyone’s Big Boy offerings sell resoundingly well, Kato, BLI, and Athearn , too (if they’re continuing on with them) and make the companies profitable to branch out into more stuff, or even freshen up old lines.
     
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  3. Calzephyr

    Calzephyr TrainBoard Supporter

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    Glad you were able to get the C&O H4 in N scale. They did not last long in the retail/etail landscape. The original Bachmann Spectrum MM 2-6-6-2 used the long coal tenders... whereas the H4 version used VC1200 (Vanderbilt tender). I opted not to buy because it was too road specific. I wanted to do a western railroad version.
     
  4. C&O_MountainMan

    C&O_MountainMan TrainBoard Member

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    I tell, ya, they STILL don’t last long, and command a decent premium on Ebay. I’ve seen one show up since I bought mine. The USRAs are common. The C&O Heavy Mountains are rarer, I have seen none since buying in March, and only one prior to that.

    I suppose that if the right (or close enough) chassis/driver/valve gear come along, that we fans of “less than the most popular” railroads, or of niche motive power, can try to undertake 3D printing to generate what is needed to close the gap.
     
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  5. C&O_MountainMan

    C&O_MountainMan TrainBoard Member

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    Incidentally, I asked Bachmann (email) some months ago, if the restoration of 1309 was spurring enough customer interest to prompt them to consider another run of 2-6-6-2s in N scale.

    Never heard back.
     
  6. Hoghead2

    Hoghead2 TrainBoard Member

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    Ah, that might explain it. In the UK we have the Flying Scotsman as the one steamer everyone knows. Inevitably , when I was a kid, someone bought me a model of it. But- isn't it only the 'hardcore' who'll pay $300 plus for a model steamer (or whatever it will be) ? Surely no-one buys expensive n scale models based on mass appeal, but they must be perceived as doing so by the companies releasing them! Will there be dozens of discounted Big Boys on Ebay next Christmas?
     
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  7. C&O_MountainMan

    C&O_MountainMan TrainBoard Member

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    Excellent questions and points.

    When I think of “hard core” vs. “casual”, I’m thinking of people already into the N scale realm, for both groups. The Big Boy maybe doesn’t pull in new N scalers off the street, but has enough name & sight recognition (and short-terms current visibility) to open the wallets of Some n scalers who haven’t dived in with that kind of money yet.

    (One has to be somewhat hard core about trains, compared to the general public, to go much beyond a starter set.)

    But, perhaps the target of the Big Boy is “mass appeal among the hard core” - drawing on that same short-term burst of appeal/notoriety/etc., to get adherents of the “It’s gotta be my roadname or nope” philosophy to cross over and plunk down.

    I’m semi hard core in that respect: modeling the C&O, but stretched my boundaries to get a Clinchfield Challenger (saw one photo in the C&O Historic Society archives of one double-heading with a C&O 2-8-4, and claimed historic justification.)

    I would also break down for other road names that crisscrossed WV and shared settings with the C&O, but I’m fussy on that: A N&W Class A? In a heartbeat. A Y6b? No. Not yet, anyway. B&O EM-1?

    If I thought I would see an Allegheny and a J3-a, none if those crossovers (breakdowns) would occur.

    Maybe that’s how the Big Boys sell: mass appeal among otherwise roadname-exclusive types.
     
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  8. OC Engineer JD

    OC Engineer JD Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

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    Years ago while at the KC N scale convention, Scaletrains, a then new company, was displaying their new UP gas turbine locomotives. Looking at them, I was amazed at the detailing on these beautiful models, and wasn’t even a UP modeler. I’m now up to 5 turbines, 3 challengers, and now 2 Bigboys. (Already have an Athearn)
    So I think, some manufacturers are producing models so detailed and nice, even if you model something else, you don’t mind getting one because they are like miniature master pieces.
    All I can say is, right now, in any scale, we are getting some of the best looking, sounding, and running models ever. And that’s a good thing! :)
     
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  9. 308GTSi

    308GTSi TrainBoard Member

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    A particular loco number can add a lot of value. The UP book "History of the Union Pacific Railroad in Cheyenne" by Robert Darwin was originally printed in 1987 and it features 4014 on the dust jacket. Nobody knew 4014 may be restored decades later.
    As soon as UP announced 4014 was to be restored the second hand value of that book went way up (as if it wasn't dear enough already) Cheyenne 4014.JPG
    N scale locos 4014, 3985 and 844 can all be run with modern diesels, SD70's & ES44's. Those particular steam locos may appeal to many UP modellers even if they are modelling only the diesel era.
    So then manufacturers can add different road numbers and minor details to please the UP modellers who typically run steam locos .... the total of potential customers grows.

    I'm a bit surprised Bachman didn't also make the Northern Pacific, SP and DM&IR Yellowstone's considering they had mechanical part production up and running from the B&O loco. The rest is dies for body work & detail ....... I'm not saying that is easy of course.
    Just a side note .... I've been to look at a couple of the DM&IR's and for a little while I couldn't figure out what was odd about them. Then I realised the DM&IR's had welded tenders which is raaaaaaaaaaaaare ! They may look a little odd in N being so plain , they may look a a little "cheap" to the untrained eye.
     
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