# athearn 4-8-8-4 big boy?



## union pacific 844 (Jan 29, 2013)

what is the length ho scale athearn 4-8-8-4 big boy?


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## MacDaddy55 (Aug 19, 2008)

Hey UP844, I can tell you a Rivarossi UP Big boy has the following dimensions: Loco is 11inches, the Tender is around 7-71/4 depending on what coupler you use, Full length depending on coupler is 18inches +. I know its not an Athearn but its gotta be close. Are you thinking of buying one and concerned with track radius...22radius is the way to go as 18 is a derailment waiting to happen plus it looks real ugly fighting through that tight turn. Hope this helps!:thumbsup:


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## union pacific 844 (Jan 29, 2013)

ok yes i bought one yesterday a long with a 4-6-6-4 this are my two first articulated locos ever i have 22 radius loop for my 4-8-4's and a loop of 18 radius for my smaller locos do you think a big boy will fit in a foot and a half display case? i want put in my display case when im not running it instead of in and out the box


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

union pacific 844 said:


> do you think a big boy will fit in a foot and a half display case? i want put in my display case when im not running it instead of in and out the box


Well, McDaddy55 said the Rivarossi loco (The Athearn engine *should* be very close to the same dimensions) is 11 inches long, and the tender could be up to 7 1/4 inches long, which equals 18 1/4 inches......"a foot and a half" is 18 inches......so.....


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## EMD_GP9 (Jun 19, 2012)

My Athearn Big Boy 4019 measures....
18.1/4" Pilot to Tender rear.
18.5/8" Pilot to coupler trip bar.
Hope this helps.
Colin.


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## union pacific 844 (Jan 29, 2013)

i read the box for my display it says 19 3/4'' long in side so it will 
just fit right ?


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Let's see....display case is 19 3/4" long....loco is 18 5/8" long.....should fit......


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## fs2k4pilot (Jan 5, 2013)

A 22" display case is better for a Big Boy. I have a Rivarossi Challenger and it's wheelbase just barely fits on the display track of an 18" case.

Also, the Athearn Genesis Big Boy will fit around 22" radius curves,but make sure you have tons of trackside clearance, because the swingout of the cab and smokebox is considerable.


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## lajrmdlr (Apr 25, 2014)

Over on the Model Railroad Forum someone asked what FEF meant on UP 4-8-4s (Four Eight Four). Someone else said he hoped his Big Boy wasn't a "FEEF". Found an image of the real 4017 & under the cab # it says"4-8-8-4-2-68". Is that true of all UP Big Boys & what does it say on your Big Boy models being discussed here?


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## EMD_GP9 (Jun 19, 2012)

This may explain the cab markings.

http://www.steamlocomotive.com/bigboy/

And what about the U.P. TTT ? Two-Ten-Two.

http://www.steamlocomotive.com/santafe/?page=up

In my collection I have an FEF by Rivarossi and a TTT by BLI.

Regards, Colin.


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## fs2k4pilot (Jan 5, 2013)

lajrmdlr said:


> Over on the Model Railroad Forum someone asked what FEF meant on UP 4-8-4s (Four Eight Four). Someone else said he hoped his Big Boy wasn't a "FEEF". Found an image of the real 4017 & under the cab # it says"4-8-8-4-2-68". Is that true of all UP Big Boys & what does it say on your Big Boy models being discussed here?


On the 4017, that number 2 should actually be a number 1. Big Boys 4000-4019 were part of the original production run of Big Boys, and thus carry the number 1 in the cab information. Big Boys 4020-4024 were part of the second, wartime production run, and carry the number 2 on the cab. The five "war babies" differed only in the substitution of some less strategically important materials, and since the replacement parts had to be made a little larger and heavier to handle the same stresses, the second five Big Boys were a few thousand pounds heavier than the first twenty. UP 4023, located near Lauritzen Gardens, overlooking I-80 in Omaha Nebraska, is the only remaining wartime production Big Boy.

Here's a picture of the 4017 from Wikipedia, and you can see that it does in fact have a 1 on the cab side.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/UP_Big_Boy_4017_reverse_angle_2.jpg


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## lajrmdlr (Apr 25, 2014)

fs2k4pilot said:


> On the 4017, that number 2 should actually be a number 1. Big Boys 4000-4019 were part of the original production run of Big Boys, and thus carry the number 1 in the cab information. Big Boys 4020-4024 were part of the second, wartime production run, and carry the number 2 on the cab. The five "war babies" differed only in the substitution of some less strategically important materials, and since the replacement parts had to be made a little larger and heavier to handle the same stresses, the second five Big Boys were a few thousand pounds heavier than the first twenty. UP 4023, located near Lauritzen Gardens, overlooking I-80 in Omaha Nebraska, is the only remaining wartime production Big Boy.
> 
> Here's a picture of the 4017 from Wikipedia, and you can see that it does in fact have a 1 on the cab side.
> http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/UP_Big_Boy_4017_reverse_angle_2.jpg


Your pic of 4017 is a "stuffed" one for a museum display. My pix is of the 4017 in working condition. So was that 4017 numbered wrong for the batch it was constructed? Or were the 2 batches not consecutively numbered?


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## fs2k4pilot (Jan 5, 2013)

lajrmdlr said:


> Your pic of 4017 is a "stuffed" one for a museum display. My pix is of the 4017 in working condition. So was that 4017 numbered wrong for the batch it was constructed? Or were the 2 batches not consecutively numbered?


Do you have a link to the picture? The Big Boys were indeed consecutively numbered. The first batch included numbers 4000-4019. 4017 was part of this first batch, so it should say 1 under the cab window. The second batch included numbers 4020-4024. They are the only engines that should say 2 on them.


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## lajrmdlr (Apr 25, 2014)

fs2k4pilot said:


> Do you have a link to the picture? The Big Boys were indeed consecutively numbered. The first batch included numbers 4000-4019. 4017 was part of this first batch, so it should say 1 under the cab window. The second batch included numbers 4020-4024. They are the only engines that should say 2 on them.


Here's a very long link to pix of UP 4017 plus others. There's even one of a brass? model that doesn't have a "1" or "2" before "68". You may have to copy them & enlarge some pix to see some of the lettering & numbers.
https://www.google.com/search?q=up+...net%2FshowPicture.aspx%3Fid%3D470500;1024;768

Here's a TinyURL version: http://tinyurl.com/nv6yyza


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## fs2k4pilot (Jan 5, 2013)

lajrmdlr said:


> Here's a very long link to pix of UP 4017 plus others. There's even one of a brass? model that doesn't have a "1" or "2" before "68". You may have to copy them & enlarge some pix to see some of the lettering & numbers.
> https://www.google.com/search?q=up+...net%2FshowPicture.aspx%3Fid%3D470500;1024;768
> 
> Here's a TinyURL version: http://tinyurl.com/nv6yyza


That's odd. There are pictures of it stuffed in the museum with both the numbers 1 and 2 in its cab data. I didn't see any pictures of it in service where the cab data was readable. My first instinct is to say it was just painted improperly, but when I looked at Wikipedia's Big Boy article, it said that there were two batches of ten purchased in 1941, for a total of twenty. I haven't read anything like that anywhere else, but most other sources only say that twenty were purchased in 1941, without saying how many actual batches they were in. If they were bought in two batches of ten, then that number 2 could be accurate.


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## lajrmdlr (Apr 25, 2014)

Here's an enlargement of UP 4017 cab. The letters & numbers should be alot easier to read. Had to copy & enlarge one of 4017's pix.


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## fs2k4pilot (Jan 5, 2013)

lajrmdlr said:


> Here's an enlargement of UP 4017 cab. The letters & numbers should be alot easier to read. Had to copy & enlarge one of 4017's pix.


Is that from when it was in service?


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## lajrmdlr (Apr 25, 2014)

fs2k4pilot said:


> Is that from when it was in service?


Can't tell for sure. It's one of the pix in my link above. We'd have to find pix of ALL the Big Boy cabs alone & "in use" to know for sure. But they being so long that may be VERY difficult!


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## fs2k4pilot (Jan 5, 2013)

I'll have to do some looking around, maybe message the UPHS on Facebook.


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