The unmistakable thunder of the massive Union Pacific Big Boy locomotive captivated the Nation last August when locomotive #4014 took to the rails once more, starting the Heartland Tour. That special train followed a route covering 14 of the 23 states served by the Union Pacific. Many news channels both national and local, normally cool toward railroad news, covered the start of that epic journey. No wonder! Aside from the massive Chesapeake & Ohio class H-8, 2-6-6-6 locomotives, the UP 4-8-8-4 Big Boy had few peers.

Noted author Robert A. LeMassena highlighted some of the distinguishing characteristics of the legendary UP locomotives in his definitive two-volume Articulated Steam Locomotives of North America – a series that remains paramount for full understanding of such designs: Their huge boilers provided enormous quantities of steam, and the four-wheel leading truck provided the lateral stability for high-speed operation. The Big Boy was designed with high steam pressure and a large firebox grate area which was surpassed by only a few other locomotives. Four exhaust nozzles within the single smokestack housing maximized draft. To fully maximize utilization of the 25 Big Boy locomotives, the railroad made various roadway improvements and improved clearances in certain locations. American Locomotive Works built the entire fleet of Big Boy locomotives.

Now Broadway Limited has taken massive steps forward in model building and manufacturing with the latest release of this signature prototype – both in HO and N scale. This new release offers several paint and numbering schemes, correct for various periods of their mainline use as well as excursion service and fantasy paint schemes.

Noteworthy features include:

All-new sound and control system

Synchronized puffing smoke and chuff-chuff sound

Varying puffing smoke intensity and timing

Separate whistle smoke feature – the effect of steam from the whistle

Integral DCC decoder with back EMF for industry-best slow speed

Operates in DC and DCC modes

Precision drive mechanism

5-pole can motor with skew wound armature

Die cast boiler, tender body and chassis

Premium painting and lettering; accurate details for each road number

Prototypical light operation

Factory installed locomotive crew

Optional smoke hood and optional from coupler

Two after-cooler variations for class 1 and 2; accurate tender detail for each

Many separately applied details

Recommended minimum radius: 18 inch

Accurate prototypical sound for the commanding Union Pacific Big Boys!

Frank Wrabel

modeltrainstuff.com