Yeah, the real thing must be quite impressive. I was in St. Louis recently and did not know about the railroad museum there, otherwise i would have gone since they have one.

The kit measures at just under 19" long, and that's in 1/87!

Here's some links with info on the Big Boy (I'd tell you myself, but then the forums would probably shut down due to too much info being posted at one time)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Pacific_Big_Boy

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

What are the stats on the real thing?

The kit looks huge!

Definately a job well done.

Ah, old 4294. A SP can-foward.

These were designed in that fashon to give the crew better visibility of what was on the tracks ahead (as well as placing them in front of the soot and exaust, preventing any possibilities of crew suffocation due to the smoke)  However, with placing the cab in the front, it traded better visibility for less safety (in a traditional steam locomotive, you would have the boioler, smokebox, and everything else to protect you in a grade crossing.)

[Info spewing from my mouth in words/minute:  infinate right now]

I see I'm not the only frequent flyer of railpictures.net     (I'm a big fan of the old ALCOS, as well as everything else)

Here's my favorite. The 4294 is still around, in the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento.

After working for a company that designs and builds the same kinda boilers that go on the front of these beasts i can appreciate how complicated they are, and how much power they can pump out. Seeing a 40tonne steam boiler hurtling along and those speeds is pretty phenomenal 

 Please, don't get me started Bondoman

Then again, I sure did miss out, being born in '94. I missed some of the greatest railroads (like Conrail) and some of the most spectacular locomotives (like a UP Big Boy, or or it's cousin, the 4-6-6-4 Challenger) Oh, 100 Reefers, 50+ oil tankers, coal hoppers, boxcars, stockcars, and everything else!

[The rest of this thought edited to save everyone's sanity. There's too much info and numbers spewing out to understand]

Just imagine, Rail... 100 ice hatch reefers in tow!

WOW.

O.K., I've been trying to avoid going rail crazy, but I give in. That is one of the best locomotives I've seen in a while.

[edited to prevent spewing out years worth of intelligence and numbers and codes that would be hard to understand]

Thanks, everyone for the comments!

It was a fun, quick build for the most part. I started this when I was in college, so probably 5 years ago. The kit has some pretty good detail, but there were a few areas that just had to be replaced. The handrails along the length of the boiler and on the top of the tender were just solid plastic. Removing those was a chore, but the result was worth it.

I think Revell has a couple of these big steamer kits, and I think I would build another and recommend them to others as well. The painting was the best part, and weathering it was just a blast!

NICE. The weathering looks great. It's rare to see a locomotive on the forum.

Wow, really sharp! Great looking build and I really love the subtle job of weathering.

Course I have to admit to being more partial to the my local Y6b  though .

Don't see many steam locos on these Forums, but this one is definitely worth the look.  Well done.

Regards,  Rick

Its amazing to see just how  those HUGE some of those steamers were. Very nice weathering.  That is one cool looking rig.

thats some nice work there! glad to here you pulled out of your slump, hopefully this will get you on a roll cause you got some skills.

Very cool, Jon!  I'm looking to get one of these myself.  How was the build, any problems?

m@