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Broadway Limited's SD-40-2

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Posted by sparky40 on Tuesday, February 1, 2022 6:12 PM
I just bought a Broadway limited SD40-2 with Paragon 4 sound in a SCL? Family Lines paint scheme. I’m old enough to remember what the horn sounded like. Broadway Limited’s sound file for the horns is way off.
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Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, January 8, 2006 9:13 AM
QUOTE: Originally posted by AntonioFP45

QUOTE: Originally posted by rgroeling

However, Antonio FP45, I respectfully disagree with you.
Cool. We can agree to disagree.

QUOTE: I think that painting an entire piolt green is not a small error. If therse guys had looked at a photograph...they would not have made this mistake! Which leads me to question the accuracy and quality of the rest of the locomotive.
--- Point well taken, however we have to remember that in various instances a manufacturer will use "official" railroad blueprints.

Before chewing out the manufacturer, check with them and make sure that BLI did make a mistake. Railroads have been notorious for creating a paint scheme on paper, then making a last minute change in the paint shop that sometimes becomes permanent. Good examples are Pennsy's stripe styles on the Tuscan Red scheme, SCL's placement of yellow stripes on hood units in its early days, New Haven's "Reverse" McGinnis paint scheme, and C&NW's shade of yellow in the 70s & 80s. I don't know if this is the case at all with this SD40-2, but it may be worth checking out. There should be a Burlington Northern Historical Society that has the info.

Again, while the pilot being green is bothersome and may be a BLI "boo-boo", I still contend that it is an easy fix. Remove from the unit, wet sand it with a Gray Scotch Pad, or 600 grit sandpaper, rinse off, clean it, air brush it with acrylic based Engine Black ( 2 to 3 coats). I would not bother priming it. Total time should be 15 to 20 minutes at room temperature. [;)]

Peace


You have some good poits there too...

Peace indeed [^]
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Posted by tomytuna on Sunday, January 8, 2006 8:04 AM
My 2 cents worth...I went and bought the BN unit when it 1st came out...bout 1 yr ago...why?..cause I really wanted a SD40-2 with sound and waited till BLI came out with it...The Engine has run just fine and only problem i had was plow bottoming out on a couple of low spots on my layout......which have been fixed.
I guess you could say i like the product cause i just bought a 2nd one...Tom
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Posted by AntonioFP45 on Saturday, January 7, 2006 11:38 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by rgroeling

However, Antonio FP45, I respectfully disagree with you.
Cool. We can agree to disagree.

QUOTE: I think that painting an entire piolt green is not a small error. If therse guys had looked at a photograph...they would not have made this mistake! Which leads me to question the accuracy and quality of the rest of the locomotive.
--- Point well taken, however we have to remember that in various instances a manufacturer will use "official" railroad blueprints.

Before chewing out the manufacturer, check with them and make sure that BLI did make a mistake. Railroads have been notorious for creating a paint scheme on paper, then making a last minute change in the paint shop that sometimes becomes permanent. Good examples are Pennsy's stripe styles on the Tuscan Red scheme, SCL's placement of yellow stripes on hood units in its early days, New Haven's "Reverse" McGinnis paint scheme, and C&NW's shade of yellow in the 70s & 80s. I don't know if this is the case at all with this SD40-2, but it may be worth checking out. There should be a Burlington Northern Historical Society that has the info.

Again, while the pilot being green is bothersome and may be a BLI "boo-boo", I still contend that it is an easy fix. Remove from the unit, wet sand it with a Gray Scotch Pad, or 600 grit sandpaper, rinse off, clean it, air brush it with acrylic based Engine Black ( 2 to 3 coats). I would not bother priming it. Total time should be 15 to 20 minutes at room temperature. [;)]

Peace

"I like my Pullman Standards & Budds in Stainless Steel flavors, thank you!"

 


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Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, January 7, 2006 8:02 PM
Yes, we will have to wait and see...I worry about BLI, I really do [:)]
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Posted by canazar on Saturday, January 7, 2006 5:22 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by rgroeling

QUOTE: Originally posted by canazar

Well, not trying to come ot the aid of BLI, but maybe just another view of the problem. Maybe they got a picture of a prototype that was painted that way. I have seen things in the real world painted the way they shouldnt have been. Prototype for everything. .


I guess.. but in my five years of railfanning and countless hours of looking at photos and reading books, I have never seen anything like that...


Oh I agree. Heck, half an hour on railpictures.net is all ya would have needed. I guess I was trying to think of a reason, not an excuse. Oh well....

They say there seond run of SD-40's are supposed to "new and improved" i am curous to see.[:)]

Best Regards, Big John

Kiva Valley Railway- Freelanced road in central Arizona.  Visit the link to see my MR forum thread on The Building of the Whitton Branch on the  Kiva Valley Railway

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Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, January 7, 2006 1:47 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by canazar

Well, not trying to come ot the aid of BLI, but maybe just another view of the problem. Maybe they got a picture of a prototype that was painted that way. I have seen things in the real world painted the way they shouldnt have been. Prototype for everything. .


I guess.. but in my five years of railfanning and countless hours of looking at photos and reading books, I have never seen anything like that...
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Posted by jeffshultz on Saturday, January 7, 2006 12:12 PM
I'm told that there are some CV adjustments that can be made that will cause the turbo sound to start up on the SD40-2.

Since I don't have one, however, I wasn't listening too closely. Might want to check on the accelleration and decelleration rates.
Jeff Shultz From 2x8 to single car garage, the W&P is expanding! Willamette & Pacific - Oregon Electric Branch
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Posted by canazar on Saturday, January 7, 2006 11:47 AM
Well, not trying to come ot the aid of BLI, but maybe just another view of the problem. Maybe they got a picture of a prototype that was painted that way. I have seen things in the real world painted the way they shouldnt have been. Prototype for everything. .

Best Regards, Big John

Kiva Valley Railway- Freelanced road in central Arizona.  Visit the link to see my MR forum thread on The Building of the Whitton Branch on the  Kiva Valley Railway

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Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, January 7, 2006 11:37 AM
However, Antonio FP45, I respectfully disagree with you. I think that painting an entire piolt green is not a small error. If therse guys had looked at a photograph...they would not have made this mistake! Which leads me to question the accuracy and quality of the rest of the locomotive..

Respectfully,
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Posted by AntonioFP45 on Friday, January 6, 2006 3:27 PM
RE: Burlington Northern SD40-2

Guys, with all due respect.............I went to BLI's website and clicked on the BN unit. Yes, a mistake was made.......but it's an easy and fast fix with an airbrush! If you really like the locomotive...........then go for it!!

We could start a thread on countless model from P2K, Kato, Atlas, and Athearn that have these types of mistakes. The lettering on my Altas SCL U36C (MSRP was $110) is the incorrect style and my P2K SCL GP9 should have come with yellow handrails, not black.

As a modeler, I'm just going to take the challenge and make the corrections myself. Yes, we can easily say that "Hey, I'm spending my money so it's gotta be right!" Or Else!" but remember, guys,.........manufacturers are people like us that screw up as well.

"I like my Pullman Standards & Budds in Stainless Steel flavors, thank you!"

 


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Posted by Anonymous on Friday, January 6, 2006 3:16 PM
I was going to get one in Burlington Northern, but they painted the plow green...come on BLI what are you thinking about? [tdn]
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Posted by CMSTPP on Friday, January 6, 2006 2:57 PM
I'm glad that your not getting a Burlington Northern SD40 because the pilot on the loco is painted incorrectly. Its suppose to be black not green you Broadway dorks. But otherwise the model is great to run and I like them very much. I'm just waiting for them to come out with the older paint scheme for the Milwaukee road instead of the 1980's [}:)] scheme. Not happy about that!

I do recommend the locomotive otherwise.

James
The Milwaukee Road From Miles City, Montana, to Avery, Idaho. The Mighty Milwaukee's Rocky Mountain Division. Visit: http://www.sd45.com/milwaukeeroad/index.htm
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Posted by Anonymous on Friday, January 6, 2006 1:33 PM


This is not my experience, BangerT. I have three QSI-equipped locos, a BLI Hudson and a K4s, as well as a Lionel Challenger. The sounds from the newest edition of the K4 are quite unlike those of the Hudson, probably due to changes in their decoders (?) or their programming. There is more timbre in the K4. As for the Lionel, I have found several on-line videos of UP 3985 wallowing up a wye. The sounds on the videos closely match those of the QSI system in my Lionel, although the latter cannot possible compete for full dynamic response with its small speaker and enclosure. The lower freqs are just not there.

If I had one criticism, but it must also be due to the speaker and enclosure, it is the not-very accurate horn on the Challenger. It sounds raspy, and not throaty and mournful like the real thing. A bit of a disappointment for me.

Perhaps, since my ear is not educated, QSI massaged some of their generic chuffs to get something passable for their steamers....I can't say. But no two of mine sound alike.


I don't mean to critize just observing what is availble. Yes the Lionel Challenger is QSI and the articulated chuff is good on that one. It is very good on the BLI SP Cab Forward and it actually has the SP whistle. I do own almost all of the BLI except the Hudson you mentioned, so I have no idea of its sound. It may have different chuffing since it was the first model BLI built if you have the first edition.

The lionel Challenger was such a poor runner in general that I had to work on the mechanical portion of the engine before it could be run. I have several friends in a club that sent theirs back and received replacements that actually ran worse. There was several articles on how to fix the Lionel Challenger on Tony's Web page . If you want the speaker to sound better, the speaker can be replaced and it responds much better.


The BLI K4 I purchased is not up to par in my opinion, but I would not get rid of it. I was around Pennsy steam and have recording also. The BLI K4 whistle is not close to the passenger PRR whistle. It is acceptable for sure since it is a Pennsy sound, but it works better for the M1 and J1 since they had different tones and are close to the BLI sound.

The FWHS used a K4 whistle on the 765 for several trips about fifteen years ago and it is very distinctive in its sound. When the K4 ran in early eighties, they made severa tapes that are available also for QSI.

BLI also used this same whistle for the UP Mountain, which is not even close to the UP mountain. They have a whistle that is very distinctive and can be heard weekly in the summer at the California Museum on the 4466 switcher. I can't image why they did not record that sound and use it.

Recently, I recorded several of my BLI engines running on a stationary roller system and it is easy to hear them back to back anytime.

I accept the BLI and continue to purchase them as I feel they are a bargain in price for what they offer, both fair running and sound.

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Posted by modelmaker51 on Friday, January 6, 2006 1:28 PM
Proto 2000 does not offer an SD40-2. BLI (w/snd), Kato (wo/snd), Athearn RTR (wo/snd) are your choices.

Jay 

C-415 Build: https://imageshack.com/a/tShC/1 

Other builds: https://imageshack.com/my/albums 

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Posted by selector on Friday, January 6, 2006 1:18 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by bangert1

QUOTE: Originally posted by jacon12

. I'm a little hesitant about getting the bli now. One would think that a company that kinda specializes in sound locos wouldn't use a 'generic' sound for that many of their locos.
Jarrell


Just to comment on the BLI sounds. They use generic sounds on all of their steam except for the whistles. The chuff is identical for the conventional engines without any changes and the articulated chuffs are a copy of their articulated sound.

We have to realize this is a model and it is a hobby.



This is not my experience, BangerT. I have three QSI-equipped locos, a BLI Hudson and a K4s, as well as a Lionel Challenger. The sounds from the newest edition of the K4 are quite unlike those of the Hudson, probably due to changes in their decoders (?) or their programming. There is more timbre in the K4. As for the Lionel, I have found several on-line videos of UP 3985 wallowing up a wye. The sounds on the videos closely match those of the QSI system in my Lionel, although the latter cannot possible compete for full dynamic response with its small speaker and enclosure. The lower freqs are just not there.

If I had one criticism, but it must also be due to the speaker and enclosure, it is the not-very accurate horn on the Challenger. It sounds raspy, and not throaty and mournful like the real thing. A bit of a disappointment for me.

Perhaps, since my ear is not educated, QSI massaged some of their generic chuffs to get something passable for their steamers....I can't say. But no two of mine sound alike.
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Posted by Anonymous on Friday, January 6, 2006 11:58 AM
QUOTE: Originally posted by jacon12

. I'm a little hesitant about getting the bli now. One would think that a company that kinda specializes in sound locos wouldn't use a 'generic' sound for that many of their locos.
Jarrell


Just to comment on the BLI sounds. They use generic sounds on all of their steam except for the whistles. The chuff is identical for the conventional engines without any changes and the articulated chuffs are a copy of their articulated sound. Steam locomotives really had different sounding exhausts because of their stack size and smokebox arrangements, but it is hard to duplicate in HO scale size speakers. The 4 beat characteristic sound is always present, but not as pronounced as the BLI sound in certain engines. We have to realize this is a model and it is a hobby.

The SD40-2 diesel sound without the turbo is really inexcusable, but it does make noise. The horn is another issue since different railroads used their choice of horns and that one is up for grabs.
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Posted by AntonioFP45 on Friday, January 6, 2006 9:47 AM

Thanks Jacon, I hope the links are helpful.

I have to say though in BLI/QSI defense that the sounds used in the diesel models are not generic. They are from real locomotives. In fact, I hope to buy one BLI E8. The sounds in BLI's E units are excellent!

Now, the sounds in the Genesis F3, for example are generic. A friend of mine who has been a long time musician believes that they were most likely produced on electronic keyboards or synthesizers. So, the sound quality itself is dynamically crisp and clear though not accurate as has been claimed by a magazine review article.

But in essence; what counts is the customer's satisfaction. Opinions on this forum can simply be used for useful reference or viewed as useless info. To each his own.

Though I'm not a "Rivet Counter" I'm one of those railfans that can identify certain diesel locomotives by sound, only because I was fortunate enough to have been able to spend so much time around them in my teen and young adult days. Got to tape record a few of them too! My local railroad was the SCL,, which was very "Railfan Friendly". ( I miss those days!).

If you like what you hear and can get an SD40-2 for $150 or less, than that would be a nice deal.

I forgot to mention that Luke allowed my kid to run his SD40-2. He loved that horn! He was all smiles from ear to ear!

"I like my Pullman Standards & Budds in Stainless Steel flavors, thank you!"

 


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Posted by jacon12 on Friday, January 6, 2006 8:06 AM
Thanks for the answers everybody.
Antonio, I appreciate the links. You guys have a good looking layout, really nice. I check out the air horns soon. I'm a little hesitant about getting the bli now. One would think that a company that kinda specializes in sound locos wouldn't use a 'generic' sound for that many of their locos. Personally I like their products but I may look around and see if someone like P2K makes a better one.
Jarrell
 HO Scale DCC Modeler of 1950, give or take 30 years.
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Posted by Anonymous on Friday, January 6, 2006 8:03 AM
I have the CSX model. Detail wise it is not as good as it should be for the retail cost. Having said that, unless you are a fanatic about every rivet being in the right place and are familiar with the sounds locomotives make to the point that you can tell what locomotive is going by strictly by sound, if you can find one for about $150 (E-bay) I would get one.

Bob DeWoody
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Posted by jacon12 on Friday, January 6, 2006 7:57 AM
QUOTE: Originally posted by selector

Jarrell, this is off topic, but did you ever get your shut-down to work?

Never did. Gave up on it Crandell. I'll get back to it one day, I know it's gotta work.
Jarrell
 HO Scale DCC Modeler of 1950, give or take 30 years.
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Posted by AntonioFP45 on Friday, January 6, 2006 4:57 AM

Jacon,

1. Body dimensions are correct. Detailing, IMHO, is not at "Genesis" level. Can be spruced up considerably with parts from Details West..

2. Sound is clear and not distorted, HOWEVER.................The "actual" diesel primer mover scheme is inaccurate as it belongs to an older class of EMD diesels which were equipped with the 567 series diesel. But if you like the sound....don't let that stop you. As for the horn, it's a Leslie "S" series and is prototypical for certain railroads. CSX uses mostly Nathan K series on their road units, for example. I wonder if, to keep costs down, BLI/QSI apparently does the "one horn sound per locomotive class" practice.

Again, some modelers like me are more discriminating when it comes to sound and everyone has his or her own preferences. but if you like the unit go for it. At the club I joined, I met a down to earth memeber named Luke, who is a prototypical modeler. He knows about the discrepancy regarding the SD40-2's sound, yet he's cool with it.

Click on the link below and then select "HO". You'll need Media Player or Real One Player. It's a video of a club I joined. The star of the video is Luke's BLI SD40-2 with its horn blowing.

http://www.suncoastmrrc.com/gallery.htm#ho

If you're curious and want to hear what various prototype horns sound like and what their history is, check out:

http://www.dieselairhorns.com Excellent website with lots of sound samples and cool video links.

Enjoy!

"I like my Pullman Standards & Budds in Stainless Steel flavors, thank you!"

 


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Posted by hdtvnut on Friday, January 6, 2006 1:59 AM
I have one in UP paint re-decaled for FEC. I'm
not a diesel guy, but I like mine and think from
a foot away it looks similar to a Kato. Some
aspects better, others not as good. I DON'T like
the chime; it doesn't compare well with the
LokSound Nathan 3-chime, having the wrong pitch
and only two tones audible. But you sure can
play it LOUD.

I also believe it is somewhat overpriced.

Hal

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Posted by Anonymous on Friday, January 6, 2006 1:41 AM
Bad details, paint is blah, sound is incorrect.

Dont waste your $
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Posted by Anonymous on Friday, January 6, 2006 12:52 AM
i forgot there was one in IC paint. But it's too expensive for me. I think BLI is decent quality. (I've never owned one)
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Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, January 5, 2006 11:30 PM
The big gripes on the SD40 are the shallow details and appearently the sound is somehow incorrect. I dont own one, but have run them and I think they are great. I'm going to get one next time I have some extra money.
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Posted by selector on Thursday, January 5, 2006 11:18 PM
Jarrell, this is off topic, but did you ever get your shut-down to work?
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Posted by icmr on Thursday, January 5, 2006 10:59 PM
I would also like to know as I am wanting to get one or two in Illinois Central paint.



Victor

Happy Railroading.[swg][swg]
Illinois Central Railroad. Operation Lifesaver. Look, Listen, Live. Proud owner and user of Digitrax DCC. Visit my forum at http://icmr.proboards100.com For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord. Dream. Plan. Build.Smile, Wink & GrinSmile, Wink & Grin
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Broadway Limited's SD-40-2
Posted by jacon12 on Thursday, January 5, 2006 10:19 PM
I'm interested in this locomotive, with sound, and I'd like to know if someone has one how would you rate it.
Great
good
fair
or
poor

I have a BLI 2-6-6-4 steamer and it is one fine engine. I also like and own P2K and Kato and they're good machines also, but I'm looking for the SD-40-2 with sound and in Norfolk Southern so I think BLI maybe be the only one.
Jarrell
 HO Scale DCC Modeler of 1950, give or take 30 years.

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