Hi John,
It's been awhile since I ran the Big Boy, I don't recall how far it would run, but the first time it was stopped it would become nonresponsive. The FEF-3, ran fine when put away in January of 2015, but when put on the track in December, it was nonresponsive ( to movement commands)
One of my biggest faults, is that I have enough other trains to play with, that when one acts up, I don't deal with it as promptly as I should. I don't have a permanent layout , and I make the most of what run time I do get. Some people Enjoy tinkering with their trains, I'm not one of them. I get so little set up time, that I want to RUN them, NOT work on them. Not being very mechanically inclined also contributes to this attitude.
Doug