New Legacy Big Boy 4005 arrived - 2031262 - smokes like crazy!

Here is the correct link.

I for one am excited to see the smoke performance for the better.  Enjoy your new Big Boy.  I have the VL model and I love it!

Have run the BB with the smoke unit on and touched the hull surrounding the stacks - right at room temp; I think I will need a bigger bottle of smoke fluid.  Have also noticed very smooth running under speed step 10; I would be curious to see if a capacitor was added to keep the motor smooth as was in my Lionel E6.

Checked the parts website - none for the EM-1 and the new Big Boys yet.

I would hope that that's standard now.  I had my VL BB repaired and Lionel forgot to add the cap.  Thanks to a thread here I knew what the issue was and added it myself.  Smooth runner now.

Ha, Marty E, I went thru the same thing with my VL Big Boy repair a few years ago; had to have the RCMC replaced along with smoke unit rebuilds; afterward, there was no smooth operation below speed step 17.  However, I added the cap too and that smoothed out low speed.  Another member, Sinclair, went thru the same thing with a new RCMC for his VL BB and added the cap himself. 

Had a lot of help from the forum; priceless!

Rick - any pictures of that bad boy? I don't plan on buying a Big Boy, unless Lionel made one in a Polar RR or PE livery but I do enjoy hearing that throaty whistle.

Is this the Big Boy from a recent catalog? If so, what is the difference between it and the VL model? 

Hi Paul, there are a few differences between the VL BB and the Legacy BB: there is no alternating smoke out of the 2 stacks, there is no blow down steam smoke, there is no tender mechanism that varies the coal height.  Other than those, everything else is the same: rail sounds, whistle sound track, lights, smoke, whistle smoke, all Command functions.  My Legacy 4005 has blackened drive rods instead of silver.  The Legacy one is from the 2019 V2 catalog and has Blue Tooth.

What sucked me in for the 2014 VL BB was the whistle; the VL was my 3rd Lionel.  Being a rookie, I mismanaged the smoke units and that took out the RCMC and smoke units; got those fixed.  Been waiting since 2017 for another production run.

Here are some videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2ap0c6DWCM    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAhLl0NkrRE   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hlFZjR5Xnc

The topic link got deleted.

@Peter Araujo posted:

The topic link got deleted.

Pete, searched down the link to the post 'Lionel Smoke Output' using those exact words and found it:  this is where Dave indicated that changes were made to smoke output:

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/.../lionel-smoke-output

Have decided to up my formula for supplying fluid to the BB smoke unit; from1 drop of fluid per minute to 2 drops per minute, refill after 10 minutes of smoke time. 

Update: Forgot to mention, I am only experimenting with the above dosage; I have not opened up a smoke unit to check the wick.

Thank you for that video, Rick! I believe that was the best presentation of that awesome model with whistle and smoke effects I've ever seen - truly music to a trainman's ears. 

I noticed the Erie Triplex in the background, and it seems to have a subtle bluish boiler, whereas my earlier Triplex had a brighter blue. Is that the case or was it the lighting? If it was subtler, what year and PS version is it?

Paul

@Paul Kallus posted:

noticed the Erie Triplex in the background, and it seems to have a subtle bluish boiler, whereas my earlier Triplex had a brighter blue. Is that the case or was it the lighting? If it was subtler, what year and PS version is it?

Paul

Hi Paul, I do not know the answers to your questions; maybe some of the other fellas know.