So, I've heard horror stories regarding BLI's paragon line. Just wondering what those that have gotten a paragon 4 engine what they think of it.
JJF
Prototypically modeling the Great Northern in Minnesota with just a hint of freelancing.
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I'm looking at the new HO sw7 if that matters.
JDawg,
FWIW, I picked up the P3 SW7 2 or 3 years back. It is a nice looking locomotive but the gearing was very slow - i.e. top-speed ~20 sMPH.
If you will be primarily using it in the yard for shunting cars then that may not be an issue for you. If, however, you will be moving cars past the yard limit then know that your speeds will be very limited*.
*[BION, prototype top speed for EMD SW7s is 65 sMPH; NOT that you would ever operate one that fast. However, BLI didn't allow for that option with their gearing and 20sMPH was a fast as it would go.]
I would expect the gearing for the new P4 to be the same as the P3. As an alternative, check out the new Walthers SW7s. They are very nice looking and run quite smoothly - better than the BLIs, IMO. It also comes either DC/DCC-ready or with the ESU "Essential" sound decoder, which means excellent motor control. However, I don't know if Walthers road name offerings are what you are looking for.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
Paragon 4 is essentially Paragon 3 but some changes/enhancements to their decoder. The big update with Paragon 4 from 3 is their pro mode for lighting and having a small on-board GoPack, which can be handy for small engines that would not typically have enough room for a GoPack, CurrentKeeper, etc. Just how Paragon 3 was more less Paragon 2 with an updated decoder design. Typically how their engines run is more on the mechanics as well than from the decoder. Sometimes they are "tuned" well from the factory, and sometimes not. So occosinally one may want to mess with some of the CV's if it does not seem smooth, etc. as generally its not related to the decoder as far as decoder hardware.
To add to my prior post, you can make them run a little bit faster, but much is actually code dependent then realted to their gears as the motors will not run nearly as high of an RPM to get them fast. If I take code of a normal diesel and program it to one of their decoers, it would run fairly fast (I have not actually done this before). One way to know is just hold the flywheel for a short bit, and let go. It will speed up very quickly and then drop down to the speed it is set to, even if its at max.
Thanks guys. That is about what I figured.