Any Vision Line "Big Boy" Issues Yet?

Only issue-I don't have'em all!

Paul forgive me for hijacking your thread but is that the depleting Coal load feature worth it?

A few problems have been reported here. Probably about the same percentage we would see with any other new engine.

@ superwarp1  Everyone who has a big boy running at NJ Hirailers seems to like it. However, I don't think many people watching them run are aware of it. (the depleting coal pile feature) 

Do a forum search for" vision Line bigboy" . There are threads on everything from how to open the box, to ( my personal favorite) bigboys that burp and fart although that one may have been deleted.

I watch Mike Reagan's how to video of the BB, interesting stuff. 

My Union Pacific Lionel Vision Line Big Boy,

is still stuck on the trailer. 

My Union Pacific Lionel Vision Line Big Boy,

is still stuck on the trailer, or is it?........

Several reports of front end packing/shipping damage.  Smoke box doors and pilot area.

Mine is running fine.  Great engine!

Not much interested in depleting coal load; very interested in the various sound/smoke/light features. The sound (including whistle) is fantastic; the blowdown smoke feature isn't.

Mine has the same problem as others have experienced in that the volume of the smoke output is low compared to other Lionel engines that have this feature. It seems that for some reason the smoke units were not assembled in such a way as to maximize output for this feature.

Maybe it will improve with more use but I doubt it. I don't think that there is any easy fix - I don't think taking the boiler shell off to get at the smoke unit ranks as an easy exercise and tales of other people's shipping damage make me very reluctant to send this engine off to someone who could do the necessary re-tuning of the smoke unit. 

Mine had some noises that I had to oil and lube the heck out of my locomotive to get rid of.  My rear stack is kinda anemic but not enough to send it in yet, probably just needs to be repacked.  The coal load is neat, at least that's what my mother-in-law said when I showed it to her.  I tend to forget to "refill" the tender and have grown to like the look of the used coal load over the full load.  I've always hated the crew talk and such, but my boys love it so I've done it to entertain them, and now it has grown on me.  In the end, I'm very pleased with it and am so glad I ponied up and got it.

The first and only issue so far with mine is the blow down smoke unit as experienced by Hancock52. 

At first, it worked OK - you really have to look close to see the smoke.

Then, I think I overfilled it and it stopped working.

After taking a straw and inserting it in the fill hole and blowing the snot out of it while leaning on the blow down button it worked and has been working ever since.  It took several lung emptying blows to do this.  I don't really use it that much anyway.

The stack and whistle units are thirsty beasts; you have to keep an eye on smoke production and when it dwindles, let the units cool down and then add 1 line of the Lionel pipette's worth of fluid (20 drops I think).  Lionel suggests in their Smoke Unit 101 video to not overfill.

Other than that, great locomotive.

I use the Lionel #990 Legacy Control Remote on the BB and its features are awesome.  I also use a ZW-L transformer that supplies a good ~18v to the track and that makes smoke production consistent.  Even with other locos, the consistent 18v makes their smoke production better.

RickM46

Oh ya, one other issue was one of the handrails at the front of the engine adjacent to the headlight was bent outward a bit - maybe at package time.  Since it is made of sprung wire, I was able to bend it back almost into place; looks OK.

As others have lamented, the only real issue I have on my 4014 is the anemic amount of smoke that emanates from the blow-down unit. 

It works, you just really need to look closely to see the plume of smoke.  

Regardless, it is an amazing piece. 

I love my new Big Boy, but I personally like the blow down and generator smoke on the VL Challenger much better.  here Ted is explaining to Noel why there is smoke coming out of everywhere

My blow down only gets better.  It seemed to me I didn't have enough fluid in it at first.  So far knock on wood, once I realized my layout voltage was low and corrected that my VL Big Boy has been rock solid.

Th reported issues seem to have diminished once Lionel has corrected them via warranty repairs.

Until MartyE mentioned it above, I thought I was just imagining it; but, I too have noticed that Lionel smoke units seem to get better over time.  This includes my Polar Express Berkshire, the B&O Hudson, and the BB.  To not overfill the units, I was being too conservative in the dosages.  18volts + enough fluid = smoke. 

The next thing is blow down; it may be my imagination, but I think if smoke is set to HIGH, you get more obvious blow down.

RickM46

My Big Boy is still in Cheyenne.

 Well, my first one had all sorts of material defects including distorted sound, distorted sand dome cap, over-machined front truck wheels (down to shiny metal) and non-functional tender backup light.

The replacement is primo. Sound is great. As MartyE mentioned, the smoke effects seem to get better with time, and generally a great piece. And after I point out the depleting coal load, people are awed when it starts full and then once around the main line later it is concave!  

I wasn't much of a fan of Lionel but I now have the Legacy Southern Crescent set, the VL Challenter and now the VLBB.  Don't want to jinx things, but Legacy and all these high end locomotives (other than the aberration first VLBB) are flawless. And amazing very low speed operation. 

Peter