My Big Boy 4014 arrived Friday along with the #990 Legacy Control set and O72 track and terminal track.
I ordered the above from Mr Muffins Trains in Carmel, Indiana. Steve Nelson, the owner, was great to work with - very patient with a newbie on the phone - took time to explain stuff - no rush; the order was delivered by FedX in just a few days. I got the BB for $1959 and a decent price for the rest of the stuff. Steve said he had access to 40 more BBs.
Only things he didn't have was a CW80 and a ZWL transformer. Before I knew any better per this forum, I ordered a CW80 from Trains and Stuff in Maryland - that showed up today. After I got your comments in this forum, I ordered a ZWL from Trainworld - that won't show up till next week.
WOW, what a locomotive, what a Legacy Control unit!!! It took me many hours of reading the online manuals to understand the functions.
So, until the ZWL shows up, I cranked up the CW80 on my 6 X 8 layout with only the BB and a caboose. No issues, plenty of power till the ZWL shows up. The CW80 only puts out 15volts but the BB runs great - will go around the track like a rocket if I let it.
The BB had a few startup quirks:
The handrail on the right side at the front of the engine down low was bent outward - easy to bend back - probably happened when the loco was placed in the box.
For the blowdown fill, the little rubber O ring is groove mounted on a small cylinder that is press fitted over a peg on the blowdown cover. When the cover was pressed down and then lifted off, the small cylinder with the O ring stayed in the fill hole; a little blue loctite secured the cylinder to the peg.
The electric coupler on the tender did not work at first when I pressed the uncouple button on the remote; then, after some tries, it has been working ever since.
Everything else is just phenomenal - can't wait to get back North (after the snow is done) to begin my home layout.
RickM46
