@MartyE posted:Sadly I remember one York where there were carcasses, in various state of pickin's, of Big Boys in I believe Nassau's booth. VL and others.
Must be where Lionel shops. 
I believe I found it @gunrunnerjohn @MartyE. I think it's here and I specifically think it's #51 and #50. I'll gamble $10 on it working.
@BillYo414 posted:I believe I found it @gunrunnerjohn @MartyE. I think it's here and I specifically think it's #51 and #50. I'll gamble $10 on it working.
Hopefully the frame is still the same and the mount is still part of it.
@zhubl posted:
looking at this picture I took it definitely looks like it only issue is that heat sink for the LCP3 looks awful close to the speaker this go around.
From the OPs photo for comparison. Might be a challenge.
You're right @zhubl and the photo on the last page appears to not have the heat sink so close. That must be the reason for the omission of the baffle. I'm still going to give it a shot.
I have noticed the latest run of Big Boys get a toasty boiler shell. I assume from numerous smoke units but I wouldn't want to disturb the heat sink based on how hot things seem to get. Otherwise mine is probably getting ready to release the magic smoke 
I think I'd take one of the Lionel baffles and do a little hack-n-whack to make it fit without disturbing the existing layout. It looks like it would be possible to turn that baffle and speaker around just by extending the speaker wires a bit. That would also minimize the trimming that might be necessary on the baffle to fit it in.
Truthfully, without having a baffle over that speaker, I doubt you're going to get the sound quality you're looking for. There's a reason they put it there, and the passing of eight years hasn't changed that reasoning. 
I ordered a baffle and plate. We'll see what happens. I think it could be shoehorned in there carefully with some modification.
I'd like to order the side frame on the tender trucks to see if I could improve their appearance with a Dremel or drill press. But that'll have to be a project for another time.
@BillYo414 posted:I'd like to order the side frame on the tender trucks to see if I could improve their appearance with a Dremel or drill press. But that'll have to be a project for another time.
Save yourself some work, order the ones from the 2014 VL-BB, they're $38/ea.
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I wonder if they will just bolt on no prob @gunrunnerjohn. It's probably worth a shot either way. This latest Big Boy is great but the tender bugs me a bit and I normally don't notice these sorts of things.
I honestly can't say, my advice is find someone with the 2014 Vision Line locomotive and check what they look like.
There's some parralax in the view, but the rear screw at the 6" mark looks to be 2" from the next one at the 4" mark, and the spacing between the next two is 2.5", finally the front screw is 1.25" from the 3rd screw going forward. If your sideframes are the same, they're probably compatible. Since the sideframes hold the axles, they will have to be compatible to work out. 
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I appreciate the photo. I'll have to check it out when I get home later.
What type of side truck modifications are you considering?
Are the tender side truck different between the two versions? Or are you thinking about ordering the older version's side trucks to modify?
Check this thread out @DaveGG. The trucks on the latest run are blind. The ones @gunrunnerjohn posted are drilled through. They look nicer in my opinion so I would be interested in converting over.
Do a group buy, maybe we can get a discount.
I'm actually not so sure my trucks are blind. Here are some over exposed photos:
I think I didn't like how they looked because my layout lighting is still just shop lights. It looks like a solid black bar until the light is directly on them. I don't think the screws match but I didn't measure once I realized I have a lack of lighting.
I'm still waiting on the speaker baffle to arrive.
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@BillYo414 posted:I'm actually not so sure my trucks are blind. Here are some over exposed photos:
I think they look like the same trucks as the 2014 model.
They do. I really need to get lighting installed on the layout haha
@BillYo414 posted:I'm actually not so sure my trucks are blind. Here are some over exposed photos:
I think I didn't like how they looked because my layout lighting is still just shop lights. It looks like a solid black bar until the light is directly on them. I don't think the screws match but I didn't measure once I realized I have a lack of lighting.
As Marty says, those look just like the 2014 trucks, that's as good as it gets. I'd be surprised if the screws didn't match, it would make no sense for them to make different sideframes.
And I am happy with them @gunrunnerjohn. I didn't see the detail until I changed the exposure on the camera. I suppose I learned a lesson about the importance of layout lighting. I didn't throw a ruler or snap a photo of the screws. Maybe I will at some point.
My speaker baffle stuff should arrive 11/21/2023.
I was pretty surprised that they'd change them in that manner, there would be no good reason to develop new tooling for the same product. 
