Description
When railfans think of big steam, one locomotive almost always comes to mind. Union Pacific needed an engine that could lift a 3,600-ton train over Sherman Hill and the 1.14% grade between Ogden and Wasatch, Utah, without helpers, and ALCO answered in 1941 with the 4-8-8-4 Big Boy: 132 feet long, sixteen 68-inch drivers, and among the longest, heaviest and most powerful steam locomotives ever built. Twenty-five were delivered in two groups (4000–4019 in 1941, 4020–4024 in 1944), each averaging roughly a million miles in service. With No. 4014 back on the main line and touring the country for America's 250th birthday, the Big Boy is as famous today as it has ever been.
This model represents Class-1 Big Boy No. 4016 as delivered by ALCO in 1941, with the original as-delivered aftercooler arrangement and the 25-C-100 coal tender — the way the first twenty Big Boys looked when they went to work on Sherman Hill.
The Paragon4 version carries BLI's all-new Paragon4 Sound & Control system: synchronized puffing smoke with chuff sound, variable smoke intensity and timing, a separate whistle-smoke effect, an integral dual-mode DCC decoder with Back EMF for the best slow-speed running in DC and DCC, and accurate Union Pacific Big Boy sounds. Headlight, reverse light, cab light, front numberboards and front and rear markers are all separately controllable.
Model features: Heavy diecast boiler, tender body and chassis · Precision drive with 5-pole skew-wound can motor and rubber traction tires · Two aftercooler variations (as-delivered for Class-1, Wilson for Class-2) · Three tender variations (25-C-100, 25-C-400, and the Challenger #3985 excursion tender for the 4014 excursion versions) · Prototypically accurate details for each road number · Separately applied handrails, ladders, piping, cab glass, whistle, brass bell, markers and air tanks · Factory-installed engineer and fireman · Optional smoke hood and operating front coupler in the box · Minimum radius 18" · Coupler-to-coupler length 19" · Locomotive 2 lb 15.5 oz, tender 15.5 oz.
📦 Preorder details:
Expected arrival: Early 2027 (see the BLI Official Delivery Schedule for the latest dates).
25% deposit required at checkout, balance charged when the product arrives.
Preorder cancellation: 7 days from order date; deposit non-refundable after that.
Browse more from Broadway Limited Imports, see the full BLI HO Big Boy run and our Union Pacific collection, or see all preorders. Ships from Oakville, Ontario. Contact us for special orders.