BLI HO BIG BOY W/SMOKING WHISTLE DEPLETING COAL LOAD

Is it me or are the side rods missing their taper?

Rusty

Wonder where they got the idea for the depleting coal load?  

Maybe somebody got the idea from them

Definitely no taper on the side rods.

Grubba...nice guy as he really turned things around at K-Line & Lionel 

Thought so, The straight side rods jumped out at me right away.

And, even though I'm not a smoke kinda guy, the smoke and whistle effect velocity seems pretty underwhelming.

Rusty

Big deal.  I won't buy another BLI engine until they get rid of their Paragon3 electronics.  I bought three steamers with Paragon3, and all had problems with running on DCC.

Stuart

Stuart - Are you using the sub with your locomotives?  I'd love to hear that in person.

Am just getting into HO and only have a few Paragon 2 engines. What problems have you had with DCC if I may ask?

Matt Makens posted:

Maybe somebody got the idea from them

Matt, Bob Grubba used to be with Lionel and as Casey jones intimated above, Grubba allegedly did some underhanded things while there and caused a lot of trouble for Lionel and K-Line.  I didn't want to be the first to mention his name as I was out of  the hobby at the time and still really don't know the details...

I give'em an "A" for effort.  Oil vapor doesn't cooperate when it comes to "scale"... so it is what it is. Personally, I could do without it. I figure there ought to be a function key to turn off the vapor effects?

Not too interested in seeing this thread devolve into a "Lionel vs BLI vs MTH" or a "BLI vs Lionel vs MTH" etc type shout fest.  NONE of the mfg'ers have been, or are, angels.

I have a BLI PRR T1, N&W 611, and a Mikado plus a KCS E6 that are really nice engines...

Would like to have a couple of their newer Paragon 3 locomotives with the remote powered subwoofer.

c.sam posted:

Stuart - Are you using the sub with your locomotives?  I'd love to hear that in person.

Am just getting into HO and only have a few Paragon 2 engines. What problems have you had with DCC if I may ask?

c.sam,

There is a Paragon3 sub woofer at the club which I belong to.  I am not impressed by the sound, it sounds like a deep heart beat.

The problems I've had with Paragon3 are thus:

1.  I and two other members bought the beautiful Pennsy L1s 2-8-2's with Paragon.  When running by themselves (not in consist) we found that they would suddenly stop running, sometimes even going into reverse.  they would also stop responding to the controller (NCE Pro-Cab).  Even after returning them for repair the problems persisted.  when run in consist with another engine (either Paragon2 or Paragon3) the L1s' would sometimes stop responding, or go into reverse.  Two of us ended up returning our L1s' for credit.  The third member ended up replacing the Paragon3 electronics with SoundTraxx Econami 100 decoders.

2.  I had managed to get Broadway Limited to take back my L1s for credit in their "Refurbished Outlet" store.  One of our members is a regular visitor to Broadway's offices in Florida (snowbirds).  He assured me that the Paragon3 problems were resolved.  Based on his recommendation I purchased two Reading T-1 4-8-4's using my credit, plus $57.00.  Individually they ran fine, except that one has a glitch in either the motor or gearbox.  It runs fine as the trailing engine with the other T-1, but surges when either running light, or as the lead engine.  But, when I ran them in consist the Paragon3 problems resurfaced.  One or the other engine stopped responding, and they also lost their chuff until I took them off the track momentarily.  So I went and removed the Paragon3 electronics (Like my friend with the L1s) and replaced them with SoundTraxx Econami 200 decoders and "Current Keepers."  I had to sacrifice the smoke (no big deal as we don't allow smoke in the club, and I don't find it realistic), but now the engines run fine in consist, plus I like the chuff sound better, it has a better whistle, and I can turn off the headlight of the trailing engine.

It is sad that I no longer trust Broadway Limited. I have quite a few of their other engines, and their detail on them is excellent.  I'll just wait and see what develops with them in the future.

Stuart

I'm not at all impressed with the smoke on these. I'll just happily stick with my MTH's and my DCS.

laming posted:

I give'em an "A" for effort.  Oil vapor doesn't cooperate when it comes to "scale"... so it is what it is. Personally, I could do without it. I figure there ought to be a function key to turn off the vapor effects?

Not too interested in seeing this thread devolve into a "Lionel vs BLI vs MTH" or a "BLI vs Lionel vs MTH" etc type shout fest.  NONE of the mfg'ers have been, or are, angels.

Andre:

I don't have a BLI Big boy, but I did pick up two of the Great Northern S-2 4-8-4 locomotives.  They are equipped with smoke, and the first thing I researched was how to turn off the smoke, which is easily done with a function key.

I'm impressed with the model, with the exception of the whistle.  The short whistle is too darn long, and it is not adjustable.  I started using the pre-programmed grade crossing function, which I remapped to the F4 key.  Don't like it either, as the short whistle sounds too long. 

I would have been a LOT happier if they would be using Econami or LocSound decoders.  If the decoders ever crap the bed, that is what will be going in as a replacement. 

On some of the re-issued steam, like the Pennsy L-2 mikado, I know they cheapened up on the motor in order to accommodate the smoke unit.  One of the layout owners that had a Pennsy layout open for OPSIG at the 2014 Cleveland NMRA national was complaining about that, and had two motor failures on the locomotives that he purchased. 

I enjoy sound, but couldn't care less about depleting coal loads or smoke.  Never had a hankering for those features when I was doing 3RS either.  I'd rather the manufacturer would invest in high quality motors, and a smooth running drive that will last a long time.  That is what I got in my UP TTT6/7 2-10-2 models from them. 

Regards,

Jerry

gnnpnut posted:

laming posted:

I give'em an "A" for effort.  Oil vapor doesn't cooperate when it comes to "scale"... so it is what it is. Personally, I could do without it. I figure there ought to be a function key to turn off the vapor effects?

Not too interested in seeing this thread devolve into a "Lionel vs BLI vs MTH" or a "BLI vs Lionel vs MTH" etc type shout fest.  NONE of the mfg'ers have been, or are, angels.

Andre:

I don't have a BLI Big boy, but I did pick up two of the Great Northern S-2 4-8-4 locomotives.  They are equipped with smoke, and the first thing I researched was how to turn off the smoke, which is easily done with a function key.

I'm impressed with the model, with the exception of the whistle.  The short whistle is too darn long, and it is not adjustable.  I started using the pre-programmed grade crossing function, which I remapped to the F4 key.  Don't like it either, as the short whistle sounds too long. 

I would have been a LOT happier if they would be using Econami or LocSound decoders.  If the decoders ever crap the bed, that is what will be going in as a replacement. 

On some of the re-issued steam, like the Pennsy L-2 mikado, I know they cheapened up on the motor in order to accommodate the smoke unit.  One of the layout owners that had a Pennsy layout open for OPSIG at the 2014 Cleveland NMRA national was complaining about that, and had two motor failures on the locomotives that he purchased. 

I enjoy sound, but couldn't care less about depleting coal loads or smoke.  Never had a hankering for those features when I was doing 3RS either.  I'd rather the manufacturer would invest in high quality motors, and a smooth running drive that will last a long time.  That is what I got in my UP TTT6/7 2-10-2 models from them. 

Regards,

Jerry

Jerry,

It's a shame that BLI doesn't offer its products DCC ready like they used to.  This way we could install the DCC decoder of our choice, rather than using their lousy Paragon2 and Paragon3 electronics.

Stuart