I just had a chance to open up my new big boy and MTH really knocked it out of the park! The glossy paint is really a nice touch.
-Mat
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Looks great! What is the mth product number on this version? Do you have any video?
Thanks,
Greg
Got mine on Friday, it's a beast of an engine to handle (engine is VERY heavy, and I had to flip it back and forth a few times while fixing said issue in next sentence). Scared myself because the tender had a rod between the 2 ladders where the drawbar couldn't reach the connector, spent way more time than I want to admit figuring out why I couldn't connect the drawbar before googling an image of the engine and realizing that this plastic rod just needed removing before I could connect the drawbar, I was a much happier camper after that and the 4014 took it's first few laps around the layout. Still have yet to turn the smoke on and play with the whistle steam effect on it
@Steam Loco Greg , the item # should be 20-3775-1 for the latest 4014 w/oil tender release
Forum member Eric’s Trains has a short video here of this engine running.
@SirCaptain posted:Got mine on Friday, it's a beast of an engine to handle (engine is VERY heavy, and I had to flip it back and forth a few times while fixing said issue in next sentence). Scared myself because the tender had a rod between the 2 ladders where the drawbar couldn't reach the connector, spent way more time than I want to admit figuring out why I couldn't connect the drawbar before googling an image of the engine and realizing that this plastic rod just needed removing before I could connect the drawbar, I was a much happier camper after that and the 4014 took it's first few laps around the layout. Still have yet to turn the smoke on and play with the whistle steam effect on it
@Steam Loco Greg , the item # should be 20-3775-1 for the latest 4014 w/oil tender release
Your not the only one that has "gotten". My LHS had a guy return an engine because he couldn't connect the tether. We popped the bar out from the ladders and he was a happy camper.
Does anyone know if this one has better sounds than the 2017 Catalog version? The 2017 model 20-3714-1, sounds like a wounded cow when you blow the whistle! I was hoping for a better sound file to upgrade mine. 
@gunrunnerjohn posted:Does anyone know if this one has better sounds than the 2017 Catalog version? The 2017 model 20-3714-1, sounds like a wounded cow when you blow the whistle! I was hoping for a better sound file to upgrade mine.
This probably has the BEST MTH steam sound file that I've ever heard. They definitely recorded almost everything new off of the real 4014. Definitely worth upgrading!!
Thanks, I downloaded it and I'll give it a go. I was disappointed in the one in my locomotive.
@Steam Loco Greg posted:Looks great! What is the mth product number on this version? Do you have any video?
Thanks,
Greg
Hi Greg.... I'm hoping to record some video of it when I go to the train club later in the week.
Mat
I can assure you this engine has the actual 4014 whistle, bell, air pumps and other auxiliary sounds. I was there when we recorded them in El Paso last Halloween. You can also hear engineer Ed Dickens on the cab chatter. And the PFA for 4014 has the actual sound track of the "meeting of the engines" (with 4-8-4 # 844), which we recorded in Ogden last May, in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Golden Spike. Notice also that the inside of the bell is painted red, like the actual 4014.
Forgot to mention: this model has the inspection lights under the running boards, like the actual 4014.
Beautiful! Have fun.
@rjsmithindy posted:Forum member Eric’s Trains has a short video here of this engine running.
Loco looks nice. That steaming whistle looks sweet the way it ejects smoke in the forward direction. While sitting idle the whistle has a nice stream of steam. However, while Eric was running the loco forward I didnt see much steam effect from the whistle. Maybe my eyes are bad,maybe this is the intention of MTH, ????? Anyone who has one can they verify. Is the whistle and stack steam share the same bowl? Also, I didnt pay much attention to the catalog,but was that loco advertised as a glossy finish? Nice touch.
It sounds like they got a lot of things right with regard to the prototype locomotive.
That prompts a question - have you decided what diesel you will use to shove the Big Boy around the layout? That would also be prototypical. 
Cool engine. Eric's video is the first video that I've seen of an MTH engine with whistle steam effect, despite that feature being around for several years, in the Big Boy at least.
It is great to see Barry Lewis post here! Are you the same Barry Lewis who used to write reviews for OGR? If so, I found your product reviews the best ever, and I have OGR/OSR and CTT issues dating back to the late 1980s! You were objective, honest and strait-forward, giving both praise and criticism in equal measure.
@jini5 posted:Loco looks nice. That steaming whistle looks sweet the way it ejects smoke in the forward direction. While sitting idle the whistle has a nice stream of steam. However, while Eric was running the loco forward I didnt see much steam effect from the whistle. Maybe my eyes are bad,maybe this is the intention of MTH, ????? Anyone who has one can they verify. Is the whistle and stack steam share the same bowl? Also, I didnt pay much attention to the catalog,but was that loco advertised as a glossy finish? Nice touch.
here, I turned the main stack down to low so you can see the whistle steam better
The whistle is right near the main stack so you have to look closer when the engine is moving. If you keep the main stack setting lower, it's easier to see.
Well Paul, you made my day! Thanks so much for the kind words! Yes, I'm the same Barry Lewis who wrote for OGR -- that was a great gig, and I was so lucky to have Marty Fitzhenry to help me test locos on his layout. Then I became the MTH catalog writer (freelance) starting in 2005 -- most fun I've ever had at work, thanks to Andy Edleman, who is an amazing boss.
That sounds like a neat gig, Barry! I appreciated the prototype history MTH included in their catalog descriptions. The history of the real thing is an integral aspect of my interest, and I suspect, many other people's interest, in these rather expensive toys.
Perhaps a review of the MTH Big Boy and the Legacy Big Boy is in order
As I recall, you also wrote articles on how to do, including building a freight vessel and harbor scene. I incorporated ideas from that in my previous layout's industrial harbor.
As promised... here are a couple of videos of the new Big Boy running at the New Jersey Hi Railers!
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@mattrains posted:As promised... here are a couple of videos of the new Big Boy running at the New Jersey Hi Railers!
That's what I'm talking about. I actually seen an awesome amount of smoke from the whistle while rolling down the track with super stack smoke as well. Made up my mind not to get any MTH engines just because I am nervous about parts/repairs. But I think I want on of these now. After all, I am an MTH fan. Maybe time to start shopping! Thanks Matt....nice videos
@jini5 posted:That's what I'm talking about. I actually seen an awesome amount of smoke from the whistle while rolling down the track with super stack smoke as well. Made up my mind not to get any MTH engines just because I am nervous about parts/repairs. But I think I want on of these now. After all, I am an MTH fan. Maybe time to start shopping! Thanks Matt....nice videos
If you want it buy it. Parts can be hard to get for any engine. Life is short. Enjoy what makes you happy.
Hey @mattrains looks like you and I have similar names and similar taste :-)
I hope you're enjoying yours as much as I am mine!
MTH did an awesome job on this Big Boy!
These locomotives look really great! I'm trying to put together a collection of Big Boys with every number available.
That is extremely impressive!
Regarding the whistle sound-I have the older (maybe the first) PS2 version of the Big Boy. The whistle on that one sounds very much like the whistle did on the real 4014 when it was parked at the fair grounds. They had it set up with an air compressor so people could come up and blow the whistle (which I did every year they offered it. The whistle on the PS2 version sounded quite anemic comparted to the one on the new MTH 4014 (as the real one did at the fairgrounds compared to the 4014 when it ran last year).
I always assumed the MTH recorded the PS2 sounds at the fairgrounds but have no idea if this is correct.
A steam whistle being blown on air will never sound as good as it will on steam. Even at the same pressure, there is more energy in the hot steam than there is in compressed air.
@RAK posted:That is extremely impressive!
Regarding the whistle sound-I have the older (maybe the first) PS2 version of the Big Boy. The whistle on that one sounds very much like the whistle did on the real 4014 when it was parked at the fair grounds. They had it set up with an air compressor so people could come up and blow the whistle (which I did every year they offered it. The whistle on the PS2 version sounded quite anemic comparted to the one on the new MTH 4014 (as the real one did at the fairgrounds compared to the 4014 when it ran last year).
I always assumed the MTH recorded the PS2 sounds at the fairgrounds but have no idea if this is correct.
I worked closely with the various Sound Engineers at MTH (the guy/guys that actually went out in the field and recorded locomotive sounds) over the years, and can assure you that no whistles for their steam locomotive models were EVER recorded when the whistle was blown on compressed air. For what it's worth, the whistle on UP FEF3 #844 and Challenger 3985 were the same as used on the 4000 class locomotives, and were reordered by MTH Sound Engineers.
Looks great. I have the first-issue model in 2-rail. Going to load the more recent sound file this weekend and see how she sounds.
Matt/All, thanks for the pics and video. It was so cool I had to order one. Now time to sell off something else. MTH did a great job on this!
The smoke unit on my 1st run big boy is ok at slow speed but as engine speeds up to the 3rd speed step it is barey visible. is there a correction for this.
Well..... unfortunately this one is getting an RMA to head back to MTH. The first problem that popped up was the sounds totally cutting out and then coming back on a few seconds later making ear drum rupturing screeching noises. I performed both feature and full resets and none of that helped. Next I tried to reload the chain file then sound file (I used MTH 20-3775-1) which seemed to cure the problem momentarily. I hooked it up to a passenger train with mostly LED lit cars that any of my other challengers or even 4-8-4's could handle with ease. Unfortunately it seems like the motor might be bad on this one because once I put a load behind it, the motor bogs down and if it starts to go up any sort of incline it just slowed to a crawl, then stopped (with the chuffing noise still slowly happening). I'm hoping that MTH can make right on this and replace it with a new and tested model!
Thanks,
Mat
Sorry to hear yours is going bad! The engine is amazing and has a great smoke unit/secondary whistle smoke, but without opening the engine internals up I can imagine there's 100 and 1 things that could potentially go wrong between assembly, packaging, shipping, and unpacking
@mattrains posted:Unfortunately it seems like the motor might be bad on this one because once I put a load behind it, the motor bogs down and if it starts to go up any sort of incline it just slowed to a crawl, then stopped (with the chuffing noise still slowly happening). I'm hoping that MTH can make right on this and replace it with a new and tested model!
Thanks,
Mat
Yours might be bad. I don't know?
Mine was doing some similar stuff and I had to apply more power to the rails. At first, I thought it would break in and run better. It actually kept getting worse?
I hooked up my Z4000 just so I could see what it was drawing. I saw around 4 amps at 18 volts! Sheesh.
I added more power drops to the rails and raised the track voltage to 22 (full up on the Z4000 handle). It seemed to cure the issues. Power draw went down to 2.5 which seemed more normal. I don't think anyone running Lionel products should attempt this!!! They have 18 volts max.
So??? I don't know if the engine will get worse in the long run? I did not wish to make my dealer suffer here. I figured I'd see what was wrong before I sent mine back.
I realize your decision to add LED lit cars seemed reasonable. I would suggest you don't add any draw to the rails if your power is suspect. I know the club has Z4000s. So you may wish to try what I did?
If MTH has installed some different motor than they used to use, we may have a problem. I believe they have a new soundset that makes the smoke more intense. I was seeing a larger draw with the main stack on full than any other engine I have. Add to that, the motor seemed to want more power than usual.
When forum mod Rich suggested adding pushers to mimic the real thing, he may not have realized this toy engine might be more realistic than other past releases?
Has anyone done a side by side sound test of this MTH BB and the VL BB? A comparison of the two would be pretty neat.
Rod
another thought that you probably tried?
Did you run the engine with the smoke shut off? Does the motor pull better then?
I loaded the new sound set in a Proto3 Big Boy with Whistle steam from a few years ago. It now has an announcement of 'Next Stop Morgan' which is where we seen it driving down the Canyon towards Ogden. My kid is thrilled with the update.
Jim
@Engineer-Joe posted:another thought that you probably tried?
Did you run the engine with the smoke shut off? Does the motor pull better then?
I had already tried everything you mentioned before reaching out for the RMA. Transformer turned all the way up, no cars, no smoke. It's pretty clear that it has a bad motor or bad boards. Hopefully MTH makes good on this, obviously this one escaped QC. Not for nothing but for what these cost, I shouldn't have to tinker with anything!
Mat
@mattrains posted:I had already tried everything you mentioned before reaching out for the RMA. Transformer turned all the way up, no cars, no smoke. It's pretty clear that it has a bad motor or bad boards. Hopefully MTH makes good on this, obviously this one escaped QC. Not for nothing but for what these cost, I shouldn't have to tinker with anything!
Mat
agreed!
@jini5 posted:Loco looks nice. That steaming whistle looks sweet the way it ejects smoke in the forward direction. While sitting idle the whistle has a nice stream of steam. However, while Eric was running the loco forward I didnt see much steam effect from the whistle. Maybe my eyes are bad,maybe this is the intention of MTH, ????? Anyone who has one can they verify. Is the whistle and stack steam share the same bowl? Also, I didnt pay much attention to the catalog,but was that loco advertised as a glossy finish? Nice touch.
@jini5 posted:That's what I'm talking about. I actually seen an awesome amount of smoke from the whistle while rolling down the track with super stack smoke as well. Made up my mind not to get any MTH engines just because I am nervous about parts/repairs. But I think I want on of these now. After all, I am an MTH fan. Maybe time to start shopping! Thanks Matt....nice videos
In my opinion that is the most realistic whistle steam exhaust I have yet to see on an O scale steam locomotive. MTH set up the whistle location and angle as per the prototype and when the engine is running the whistle exhaust blends into the stack exhaust. Well done MTH.
I assume ps2 big boy engines can’t take advantage of this file? I didn’t see a ps2 version of this on mth website.
@Hump Yard Mike posted:I assume ps2 big boy engines can’t take advantage of this file? I didn’t see a ps2 version of this on mth website.
you can't put a larger meg file into a smaller board. I'm guessing you are asking about the new PS3 file?
There are PS2 engine files that had smoking whistle ability. I wonder if a special PS2 file could be written using the program from Silogic?
Can some one please take a photo of the oil burner tender top, I would appreciate it.
@John Pignatelli JR. posted:Can some one please take a photo of the oil burner tender top, I would appreciate it.
This one went on the FEF but all of the MTH UP oil tenders are the same including the Challenger and Big Boy.
Pete
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Thank you Pete, that is just what I needed. I have the BTO 4014 however its a coal burner and I wish to make a oil cover so I can run a modern consist with it.
I can take a better picture if needed. That is an old one I had handy. I thought I was going to have convert a coal tender as well but was able to come by this oil shell. Keep an eye out for Lionel shells too as they can be used with minimal modification.
Pete
