Hi. My daughter gave me a nice steam train set for Christmas and I decided to give this hobby a try. I've been virtual simming with MSTS the last 3 years but before that, I must admit, I wasn't too interested in trains for some reason. Boy has that changed. Anyway, I built my bench last weekend and today I bought the EZ track starter kit. I don't really care for the plastic roadbed but I figure this is a good way to get started quickly and more then likely I'll be passing this layout down to my daughters as I move on to modern diesels. I guess the main point of this post is that while I was at the hobby shop, I seen a brochure for the Precision Craft brass Big Boy that's coming out soon. I must admit, I'm seriously thinking of getting one of these beautys. Just how well do these items hold their value? I seen the one thread discussing good companys for locomotives but I didn't see Precision Craft mentioned much. Any reason why? Thanks for any help. Rob
Rob, I am sure you wiill get several welcome to trainboard messages but let me try to be the first. WELCOME to Trainboard! I think you will greatly enjoy the hobby over the course. One thing that I may recommend is build something small first and then expand it. Learn along the way, create your empire and most of all have fun! There are a lot of really great people here that can answer most of your questions. I know they have for me and I have been enjoying it for about 21 years. Mr X
Welcome to TrainBoard! :thumbs_up: I'm not in H0 scale, but a Big Boy is a big purchase in any scale and even more so in brass. There are some excellent Big Boy's in H0 scale with sound, too. Sorry I can't comment otherwise on the product.
Welcome Rob. If you do buy the Brass version of the PCM Big Boy it most definately would be the talk of your layout. It's a beautiful looking engine from what I see in the photos on the website. You could also consider buying two or three of the Die Cast sibblings for the same cost and they too as you probably know already are from PCM. Over the christmas I was at Manhattan Trains… and I got to see one in action and it has tons of features I get chills just imagining what 2 or 3 of these beauts would look like pulling a 50 car coal drag on my layout. I'm still dreaming. There are also two other manufacturers that make pretty good versions of the Big Boy with factory installed decoder and sound, Trix and Athearn(being the more affordable one). If you do get the PCM brass version please remember to post those pics. All the best. BTW. I'm running out to go and send off payment for a SUNSET models Big Boy. It's an unpainted brass model. If you're interested I can post some photos as soon as it reaches me. verse
Rob, Welcome to the Board. I'm sure you'll enjoy the hobby especially if you like to have a creative outlet after a long day of stress. Regarding your question about Precision Craft Models not being discussed much in regards to companies that make good locomotives I'd attribute that to the fact that it is a fairly new name on the scene. A little background, Precision Craft Models (PCM) and Broadway Limited Imports (BLI) are essentially the same company. The reason from what I've read for the two firms is that models offered under the PCM brand are equipped with LokSound DCC sound systems while those offered under the BLI brand are equipped with QSI DCC sound systems. I actually own several BLI steam locomotive models and just recently purchased a PCM N&W Y class 2-8-8-2 steam locomotive. I enjoy all of the models but must say that the PCM loco is really nice. In fact I prefer the LokSound system over the QSI system in the BLI models. That is just personal preference. All in all I'm very pleased with the performance and quality of all my steam locomotive models from both BLI and PCM. The Brass Big Boy does look sharp but will require fairly large radius curves to operate if you were going to use it for more than display. I'm sure you'll find many hours of enjoyment in the hobby, welcome aboard.
Thanks for the welcome guys. I appreciate the info about PCM you provided Arrow. Good to hear your opinion. I must admit, I never even thought about needing larger radius curves but then again, there's a whole lot more to this hobby then I realized. Verse. That would be great if you could post some pics when it arrives. You make a good point about going with the die-casts. I was kind of thinking of using the brass one for more display then anything but after running my 2-10-2 today, I don't know, I could see myself staying with steam for the next layout. Mr X. My intention was to start small but my 6 yr old daughter seems to have other plans. We where at a train show a couple years ago and I swear she remembers all the different layouts we saw and of course she wants trestle bridges, rivers, beaches, mines and a tunnel. Not just any tunnel btw but one like the model we saw of the spiral tunnels of Kicking Horse pass. Hmmm? This could get pretty expensive. Rob
