Broadway Limited RSD-15, anyone have one yet??

[Anonymous]

I have one on order in PRR, but wanted to know if anyone has one, and their opinions on them.
Thanks.

[Pennsy58]

Patiently waiting for mine to arrive. LHS says they are on the way arriving any day now.
I ordered in B&LE paint.

[gmpullman]

My pair of B&LE RSD 15s arrived today from internet hobbies. I am getting ready to open the shell to see what decoder I need to install. There is no information on how to install a decoder and all the supporting documents are for the sound version.
Otherwise, they look beautiful! Haven't had one on the track yet.
One of my units has a very slight distortion on the perforated grille just behind the radiator fan. And it has REAL KADEE couplers!!! (applause)
I'll let you know more after I get the decoder installed...
Ed

[gmpullman]

OK, got the decoder installed and ran the locomotive...
Here's how I chose to do the decoder install. I used a Digitrax DH 123 and a 1.5 inch 8 pin harness. After you remove the couplers the shell lifts off with a little nudging. Pull out the jumper plug and you will see tiny white pin numbers on the PC board for pin orientation. There's no room on top of the PC board and you can't put the decoder toward the cab because of clearances in the cab so you will have to remove 2 tiny screws that hold the speaker frame in place. Screws are just behind the fuel tank. Peel the tape off the top of the speaker frame and remove it. You'll lose a little weight here but not much.
Plug in the 1.5" harness and connect the decoder to the other end... that pretty much finishes the electrical end of it. The decoder fits in the space where the speaker frame was.
Here are some observations I have.
1. you could add a little weight in the space formerly occupied by the speaker frame but its not all that necessary. You'd have to avoid interference with the drive shaft.
2. Look at the DCC pins where they protrude through the PC board and they seem to be touching the metal motor frame. I believe this will cause shorts down the road, so I loosened the 4 screws securing the board and slipped a few layers of vinyl tape under the pins. Just a precaution but good insurance!!!
3. I noticed a little light leaking between the cab roof and the shell. Apply a little strip of tape behind the golden LED to shield light "leaks"

That's all there is to it! Runs like a champ! I didn't test pulling power just yet but I'm sure it will be fine. I was a little leery about the position of the LEDs as they're angled but they do a fine job of providing an excellent headlight and number board light...

Overall, GREAT LOCOMOTIVE from BLI... Also, I straightened the little ding I mentioned above in the side grille. They are etched brass and all I did was slip a #11 blade behind it and straightened it out. My second engine was fine in this regard.
IMHO the bell looks a little hokey... especially since its brass colored so I may change it someday with a cal-scale or other more detailed part.

Can't wait to see the Bessemer Fs that Athearn has promised!!
ED

[gmpullman]

BLI SCREWED UP!!!
I bought one each of #922 and 923 B&LE RSD-15... Two different road numbers, right??? NO, I have two engine number 882! Wrong engine in the box! Not Internet Hobbies fault but I guess the Chinese have trouble with English numbers!
I'll contact I.H. tomorrow to see how to proceed. I expected one each of road numbers 882 and 886...
Well, that's the downside of not buying from LHS!
I'll let you know how this turns out after I hear from Internet Hobbies... stay tuned!
PS, second engine didn't have the DCC pins touching the metal frame and the wiring was routed differently under the PC board? Phase II ??
Ed

[Anonymous]

My PRR RSD-15 arrived today!!! I am quite pleased with the quality. Kudos BLI!!! I am going to order the other road number next and have a pair of them. Anyone thinking of this diesel will LOVE it!!

[k9wrangler]

Decoder won't work in mine, sure is too beautiful to be a shelf queen.

Might have to hardwire in decoder.[xx(]

[Pennsy58]

OK mine arrived today. Very very impressed. A real work of art on the details and it runs exceptionally well. They did an excellent job on the B&LE orange. Not to bright, nice soft color tone. Agree about the bell, to shiny. Gonna have to weather it up a bit. This one is a winner.

[SP4449]

I watched the proud owner of a new one open the box at my LHS. He put it on the test track and the loco sounded like it had been running forever. Very impressive sounds of the bell, compressor and an engine that even sounds like an ALCO motor BLI has done it again! [:D] Have friends that run BLI steamers on our modular layout. Very impressive. [:D][:D]

[Anonymous]

Anyone notice that BL&E units have TWO Bells? One on the nose, one on the frame. It might be prototypical (I'm not sure, not a BL&E fan), but it looks odd to me........

[GDRMCo]

Whatch out for the second run of RSD-15's cuz GDRMCo and MR will be featured.
Mitchell

[red p]

have a PC unit on order

[Pennsy58]

The B&LE bells are correct. The under frame bells were stock. They added an extra big bell on the hood.

[Anonymous]

What's the minimum radius required for these units?

My track is a little rough - any ideas on how they would perform?

Kevin

[Pennsy58]

Not sure that they even list a minimum radius. I ran mine through my yard that has some tight turns coming off the switches with no problems. Also have one area on my layout that is less than ideal and it held the track fine. Both at crawl speed and running pretty fast. I noticed that there is plenty of side to side play on the couplers too, didn"t pull any cars off the track on tight curves.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by GDRMCo

Whatch out for the second run of RSD-15's cuz GDRMCo and MR will be featured.
Mitchell

Good Luck getting em. If i can't them Factory painted in MO&W. I tihnk u'll have a really hard time getting them in GDRMCo.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Pennsy58

Not sure that they even list a minimum radius. I ran mine through my yard that has some tight turns coming off the switches with no problems. Also have one area on my layout that is less than ideal and it held the track fine. Both at crawl speed and running pretty fast. I noticed that there is plenty of side to side play on the couplers too, didn"t pull any cars off the track on tight curves.

Great!

Thanks much for the feedback.

Kevin

[johncolley]

A friend got his last Tuesday and Wed. evening I put it thru it's paces. They have done a fantastic job with the sound and performance. I noticed a small amount of light leakage at the back of the cab roof. I have to say that is the best bass I have ever heard from a small speaker! It runs and sounds great at low speeds and through normal operations road speeds, but if you really feel the need to wind it up, It will go like stink! Although at super high speed the turbine whine overwhelms the rest of the sound.

[Anonymous]

The minimum radius track these will run on is 18" radius. Mine works fine on the 18" stuff. It sure is a nice runner!!!

[red p]

Mine arrived yesterday.And it is a sweet machine

[Anonymous]

Just wounder why the BLI people dont know what they produce. On there website they say RSD-15 have dual speakers http://www.broadway-limitedwest.com/rsd15.htm but if you read and look at Tony`s pic it have only one.
http://www.tonystrains.com/technews/loconews/broadway-rsd15-040705.htm

Why do BLI make, what it looks like, a "premium" locomotive and be so "sloopy" with there info? Okey, maybe the sound is good any way but I can only buy this loco by internet shopping and do not want to spend my hard ernings $250 on something I think is what I want! ...and you start to think. If one info is wrong what else is? Sharp up BLI!
Give us web.buyer "premium" info to.

Tommy Andersson
member of http://www.jmjk.se/default_eng.asp

[Anonymous]

I can't beleive anyone would pay $250 bucks for one of these when they are available just everywhere for much less.
Our local hobby shops has them on sale for $159.00!!!!!
gtr

[johncolley]

My understanding is there are two speakers with an enclosure membrane between so they are in essence back to back. All I know is my friend's looked, ran and sounded great. He has the low snoot SP and the headlight is at the top of the cab. I noticed a very small amount of light leakage at the back of the cab roof joint. A little black RTV will fill up the seam.

[red p]

QUOTE: Originally posted by gtirr

I can't beleive anyone would pay $250 bucks for one of these when they are available just everywhere for much less.
Our local hobby shops has them on sale for $159.00!!!!!
gtr

mine cost 199.00

[Pennsy58]

Careful there. If they have them listed for $159 they might be without sound. BLI started issuing their models both ways now.