# Big Boy



## main131 (Jan 3, 2008)

Hi, Has anyone got any pics. of the Aster gas fired big Boy in steam
Thanks


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## Ed Hume (Jan 3, 2008)

Like this?






There are a few more like this in my Flickr set - http://www.flickr.com/photos/edhume3/sets/72157603812083056/

That was a fine day at Steve's that was. Barry also shot some video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlebQjdA14s


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## AsterUK (Jan 2, 2008)

Wow Trevor (Main121) there's a challenge!

If you plan to show what we can do with a BB then please leave that other strange loco with a cab where the smokebox should be in its box - no chalk & cheese comparisons thanks.

Just the BB with everything you possess hanging on the tender. OK?


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

Enjoy the power of steam:


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## AsterUK (Jan 2, 2008)

Thank you Charles for the nice pictures and video. Good to see some familiar faces too.

Andrew


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## main131 (Jan 3, 2008)

Thank you to Ed.for Steve's excellent Big boy video and also to Charles for some really great pictures.
To see two engines running together is truly inspiring.

Just occasionally there are models that come along which are particularly special. In my opinon the Aster BB is just one of these, as indeed is the Accucraft Cab Forward.

Andrew at Aster UK is a bit grumpy about my CF because he hasn't driven mine yet!! Andrew, for goodness sake be patient......

Getting bact to my own Big Boy, I would welcome an opinion from you folk about the quietest way to light the burners?
The long boiler can trap the gas resulting in a bit of a bang if you are not careful when applying flame through the smokebox.
Lighting through the firebox end presumably means releasing the burner 'catch' and fiddle around a bit.

I know it must be a question of experience but what do you guys recommend?
Thanks. Trevor 
PS Do you have a blower down the chimney when lighting?


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## Steve S. (Jan 2, 2008)

Yes, you can have a "Bang" with the BB if not careful. Because of the three large burners, a lot of butane can get trapped in the firebox and boiler flues if you do not lite them fast after you turn on the gas. To avoid this, make sure that when you lite your BB up that you have about an 1.5" to 2" of the burner out the back of the firebox. Lite quickly, then slide burners all the way in. The most important thing is to leave the front of the smoke box door closed but not latched. This works as a safety precaution. If you do get a lot of trapped butane and it flashes the smoke box door will pop open from the blast relieving the pressure. The smoke box door snaps shut tight enough that I leave mine unlatched all the time anyway. You want to use a Aster suction fan when liteing. Even though you are running on butane, the boiler is so long that the suction fan helps draw the heat down the boiler flues until you have enough pressure to turn on the blower. Because of the two smoke stacks, the fan goes in the first and I cover the second with a quarter. Good luck. We are lucky that in our steam group we have two BB's to run and have fun with.


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

Trevor
Here is Big Boy overload....check out the other related clips also.


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## Rayman4449 (Jan 2, 2008)

Awesome! Thanks for posting that clip Charles, that is the mother of all Big Boy meets... and it being live steam puts it way over the top. Just incredible! 

Another example of how unpopular big steam is in largescale.... lol


Raymond


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## Steve S. (Jan 2, 2008)

Another thing that some people have problems with when running their BB is the flow of the steam oil. This is an easy fix. The BB has a true oil pump. When the drivers are turning, oil is being pumped to the cylinders. The oil tank at the running board has a hose that feeds the oil to the oil pump sump under the engine. Some have trouble getting the oil to feed through this line to the pump. The answer is to use a lighter weight steam oil (Roundhouse steam oil has worked perfect for me) and to then push the engine around the track before you lite it up. Pushing it pulls the oil out of the tank down into the oil sump before lite up and gets the flow going. Remember that now a lot of the oil from the tank has been pulled into the sump, so top the oil tank at the running board back off.


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## main131 (Jan 3, 2008)

Thanks Steve. 
That info on lighting sounds sensible. I will try it when the weather improves here in the UK. 
It's either too wet or too cold or both at the moment. Yes I am an enthusiast but there are limits! 
Interesting points made on the lubrication also. When I first ran my Big Boy under load the oil came back up out of the open feed plug resulting in water replacing the oil in the top reservoir. Obviously not good news. 
Andrew located a replacement spring for the warn one (yes he does have his uses) and Geoff Calver refitted together with some of the other pump parts. 
So far it is working brilliantly. I am making sure to keep it topped up now. It's all part of the fun of driving a steam engine. 
I am interested in Rayman's extra sound possibilities, particularly the whistle. The current whistle is somewhat hysterical. 
I have never been in a position when a real BB or Challenger has gone by with the whistle/horn blasting. 
I would probably burst into tears! Why not?


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## Steve S. (Jan 2, 2008)

Yes, the Aster whistle on the BB leaves much to be desired. You do have to remember though that these engines were made over 20+ years ago. Whistle technology in small scale has come a long way since then. When people ask me to blow the whistle on the BB I usually say that it does not have one. It can spoil the moment..........here comes this awesome steam beast lumbering down the tracks pulling every car that I own with ease, everyone watching in awe...............................and then if you blow the whistle you hear.........peeeeeeep, peeeeep. Like I said, kind of spoils the grand moment.







Do you ever plan to fire yours up with coal


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

Big Boy coal fired....check with Andrew for upgraded grates.

That reminded me of Yves coal fired Big Boy running on his grand layout:
http://www.southernsteamtrains.com/misc/Gare du Nord - Trinidad-1.htm


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## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

I'll say one thing that BB wasn't letting any grass grow under it. It was high balling. Great looking locos. Later RJD


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## Kurt Sykes (Feb 28, 2008)

Ok.........I think I know the answer, so here goes. 
Are there any gas fired BigBoys on the market? 

Kurt


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## Dan Pantages (Jan 2, 2008)

Kurt, for enough money one could be for sale. No, that's not enough.


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## Steve S. (Jan 2, 2008)

The Aster BB's came set up to fire on butane. You also get grates and accessories to fire them on coal if you want to. The last one that I saw for sell was a factory built at a public auction. The winning bidder was represented by E Bay. This was about a year and a half ago.


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## privero (Jan 18, 2008)

The person who won the BB Aster was from UK, and he paid about $20,500 usd including Auction fees.


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## AsterUK (Jan 2, 2008)

The person who bought the BB at the US auction had to pay transportation fees and UK Tax on delivery which put the price nearer to $25,000. He still got a good deal when the UK Pound was 1.00 = 2.0 $US. These locomotives are good to look at, sound investments and run really well.


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## steam8hack (Feb 11, 2008)

Posted By Steve S. on 12/14/2008 9:35 PM
*The Aster BB's came set up to fire on butane. * You also get grates and accessories to fire them on coal if you want to. The last one that I saw for sell was a factory built at a public auction. The winning bidder was represented by E Bay. This was about a year and a half ago. 

A Big Boy with gas ?


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## Kurt Sykes (Feb 28, 2008)

Hey Dan..........It's enough. 
Someone told me that Accucraft was going to come out with one? 

Kurt


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## zephyra (Jan 2, 2008)

You could always get an Allegheny instead - I think there are still one or two available from the infamous flooded basement collection. See www.svrronline.com for details.

Robert


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## artgibson (Jan 2, 2008)

Also done at Steve's


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## Dave -- Use Coal (Feb 19, 2008)

Nice clip Art. 

We sure are lucky to be able to Steam at Steve's and see things like this. Caleb and Steve do a great job of running their big boys, both side by side and double heading.


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## SailorDon (Jan 6, 2008)

It has been a long time since I posted to this website and things have changed. I hope this "Insert Hyperlink" works.
I'm hoping that if you click on the links below, you get to see some neat video clips of Aster Big Boys from various "Steamin' at Steve's" sessions.
(Note: These are .avi files and take a long time to load unless you have a fast internet connection.)

Big Boys Video Clip #1
Big Boys Video Clip #2
Big Boys Video Clip #3
Big Boys Video Clip #4
Big Boys Video Clip #5

I hope y'all enjoy these video clips as much as I enjoyed being at these Aster Big Boy steam-ups.


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## artgibson (Jan 2, 2008)

Sailor Don
Those were great clips of the Big Boys. You have to get ovet to Steve's and see the new layout. Lpot's differnet from the clips.


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## SailorDon (Jan 6, 2008)

Art,
Those are old video clips of the Aster Big Boys. Some date back to February 2007. 
I've seen Steve's new layout with 3 main lines, and I miss the truss bridge from the old layout.
I haven't been to Steamin' at Steve's since Hurricane Ike. Steve said he was lucky and the tree limb that fell missed the layout.

I'm going to try to make a Steamin' at Steve's before the end of this year. Hope to see you there.

This photo was from Oct. 2006 Steamin' at Steve's. It's not often you see Aster Big Boys double heading.


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## Charles (Jan 2, 2008)

From one of the steamups at Dr. Rivet's track the Big Boys double heads with a Berk onto a siding as it awaits the passing of the fast passenger train headed by the GS4:


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## Steve S. (Jan 2, 2008)

Wow..........................that's a train, Charles. Nothing better then heavy engines pulling long trains. One of the things that I like about the "American" steam era. And then, the beauty of a Daylight with her matching cars cruising by........................just does not get any better.


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## AsterUK (Jan 2, 2008)

Excellent video Charles. 

I hope Trevor (Main121) is watching since we expect him now to equal or better that performance. If all the Brits who like these things brought all their US Boxcars to his track, we could give it a try.


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## tacfoley (Jan 3, 2008)

Posted By AsterUK on 12/19/2008 2:37 AM
Excellent video Charles. 

I hope Trevor (Main121) is watching since we expect him now to equal or better that performance. If all the Brits who like these things brought all their US Boxcars to his track, we could give it a try.



Got no 1/32nd scale boxcars, but between us, Broos and i prolly have around a hundred and twenty 1/29th of various types ans styles...

We also get invited over to mainline131's track on occasions, to run steamies, eat cakes, drink tea and put the world to rights....









tac & ig, the Christmas Vulture
www.ovgrs.org


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## Steve S. (Jan 2, 2008)

he was lucky and the tree limb that fell missed the layout.

No limb........................whole tree !!


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## steam8hack (Feb 11, 2008)

Posted By Kurt Sykes on 12/15/2008 5:05 PM
Hey Dan..........It's enough. 
Someone told me that Accucraft was going to come out with one? 

Kurt 

they did, electric: http://www.accucraft.com/index.php?show_aux_page=100


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## Kurt Sykes (Feb 28, 2008)

Live Steam Man..........Live Steam.


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