Usable build volume of a Makerbot Replicator Plus?
Exactly what software are you using to slice?  From your description, it appears the gcode was successfully generated, but the software choked when trying to draw teh preview image. That could be due to lack of local RAM or problems with memory leaks in the software.  This happens when the number of layers and the complexity of the layers gets large. 

Try just creating a plain rectangular solid and set a large layer height.  Let us know what happens with that.