Broadway Limited has pictures of the NYC 20th Century Ltd. J3a Dreyfuss Hudson up at Factory Direct Trains for anyone who is interested.
http://factorydirecttrains.com/12-1197NYC20thCenturyLtd.J3aDreyfussHudson5453w/Paragon2Sound.aspx
Very nice...
I would expect no less from BLI. I have purchased all of the BLI brass hybrids so far and they have been of extremely good value compared to any other brass models available today. My next reservation will be the PRR Q2 and then I will sell my current brass version.
CZ
Is that how it is going to be sold or are they going to offer a factory painted model?
jecorbettIs that how it is going to be sold or are they going to offer a factory painted model?
They are normally factory painted. The one displayed is probably the pilot model for the production like all of the brass hybrids. After checking the listings, I am not able to find out if they come painted or not. An email to BLI will give us more information.
CAZEPHYR jecorbett Is that how it is going to be sold or are they going to offer a factory painted model? They are normally factory painted. The one displayed is probably the pilot model for the production like all of the brass hybrids. After checking the listings, I am not able to find out if they come painted or not. An email to BLI will give us more information. CZ
jecorbett Is that how it is going to be sold or are they going to offer a factory painted model?
I sure hope you are right. I've been waiting for three years for them to deliver this and nothing would disgust me more than finding out that after all this wait, they can't even paint the thing. If that turns out to be the case, I am going to write BLI off once and for all. If that's their plan, I hope they end up eating every one of them and going out of business. BLI has to be the most baffling company I have ever dealt with. The make a great product but they seem totally incompetent when it comes to bringing that product to the market. Why can't they produce what they promise? I certainly hope their plan isn't to offer this loco in unpainted brass. That would be idiotic. Are they trying to appeal to collectors instead of model railroaders? If that is their strategy, the MTH Dreyfuss and Empire State Express are going to look a whole lot more appealing to me. If they offer an undecorated model as opposed to a factory painted one, they are telling me they would rather I buy this from MTH.
jecorbett I've been waiting for three years for them to deliver this and nothing would disgust me more than finding out that after all this wait, they can't even paint the thing. If that turns out to be the case, I am going to write BLI off once and for all. If that's their plan, I hope they end up eating every one of them and going out of business. BLI has to be the most baffling company I have ever dealt with. The make a great product but they seem totally incompetent when it comes to bringing that product to the market. Why can't they produce what they promise? I certainly hope their plan isn't to offer this loco in unpainted brass. That would be idiotic. Are they trying to appeal to collectors instead of model railroaders? If that is their strategy, the MTH Dreyfuss and Empire State Express are going to look a whole lot more appealing to me. If they offer an undecorated model as opposed to a factory painted one, they are telling me they would rather I buy this from MTH.
I've been waiting for three years for them to deliver this and nothing would disgust me more than finding out that after all this wait, they can't even paint the thing. If that turns out to be the case, I am going to write BLI off once and for all. If that's their plan, I hope they end up eating every one of them and going out of business. BLI has to be the most baffling company I have ever dealt with. The make a great product but they seem totally incompetent when it comes to bringing that product to the market. Why can't they produce what they promise? I certainly hope their plan isn't to offer this loco in unpainted brass. That would be idiotic. Are they trying to appeal to collectors instead of model railroaders? If that is their strategy, the MTH Dreyfuss and Empire State Express are going to look a whole lot more appealing to me. If they offer an undecorated model as opposed to a factory painted one, they are telling me they would rather I buy this from MTH.
I don't know too much about that model but it is a brass hybrid is it not? I can't imagine BLI releasing an unpainted hybrid, its probably just a pre-production sample you are looking at, so I wouldn't worry.
In any case, I just bought the MTH ESE, and I'm telling you, you have to get one of these. The level of detailing is amazing, don't let the videos fool you. Even the Dreyfuss Hudson by MTH is stunning when you look at it in person. I saw one on the shelf at the Model Railroad Shop in Piscataway, NJ and the thing looks extremely realistic, nothing toyish about it. The video doesn't do it justice at all. In the video, many users on this forum have pointed out that the paint job looks gloppy and thick, I couldn't agree more after watching that advertisement. I could be wrong, but I think they fixed the paint job after so many complaints, at least it looks that way in person. Plus the thing has a real coal load and driver lights.
If smoke isn't your cup of tea, you can simply turn the switch off and you'll never have to worry about it. Personally I hate the station announcements feature by MTH, but again, this can remain off for good if you wish. Why, MTH likes to add those ridiculous cab chatter features is beyond me, but I never have to listen to them.
Overall they are fantastic engines, I'm thinking of eventually getting their Dreyfuss Hudson as well, the only thing is these engines are so expensive. But they're worth it. I only have two MTH engines, but so far, no quality control issues, you don't ever have to lube them either, they run fine out of the box. Although I love BLI's products and am looking forward to purchasing a few more PRR engines from them, I have had more issues with theirs. I prefer die cast over plastic now.
John & CZ,
The BLI Dreyfuss Hudson Brass-Hybrids will come painted and detailed. (Otherwise, why would they offer numbered locomotives - #5450 and #5453 - if they weren't going to detail them?) Also, if you click on the link, it states in the bottom right corner of the picture (in gray lettering - easy to miss) that it's an "Unpainted engineering sample model shown". They did the exact same thing with their Mohawks. The pre-production pictures were up for a couple of months prior to the "finished" (painted) versions being posted.
I expect the BLI Dreyfuss Hudsons to look nicer than MTH's offering. (The detailing on my Mohawk is just terrific.) I am also glad that they will be releasing this one as a Paragon2 version. I wish they had offered that with the Mohawk.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
Yeah, if you look at the page it says its just an unpainted sample shown. When its released, they will definately come painted, not to worry.
http://www.broadway-limited.com/nyc20thcenturyltdhudson.aspx
Even unpainted, the thing is beautiful.
tstageI expect the BLI Dreyfuss Hudsons to look nicer than MTH's offering. (The detailing on my Mohawk is just terrific.) I am also glad that they will be releasing this one as a Paragon2 version. I wish they had offered that with the Mohawk.
trainsBuddyI vastly prefer BLI Mohawk QSI sound to the Paragon 2 sound found on their Hudson. Paragon 2 had a nice variety of sounds, but QSI had better sound quality
I'll second that. BLI's engines are great, but their proprietary sound system is a bust. Starting with Blueline locomotives, then now their Paragon2 line the quality isn't there. Considering they obviously tried to emulate the QSI stuff they had been using for the past several years, you have to wonder what happened. I got a Blueline F7AB set a while back and thought it sounded o.k.(not great) but then put a Tsunami in a Geep sometime after that and it really destroys the Blueline stuff. I have a QSI equipped Hudson, and it sounds great. Just as good as MTH's but with a better whistle.
Basically, BLI's new sound suffers from poor Diesel exhaust/steam chuff sounds, average and unplayable whistles and horns, and just an overall lack of crispness. I'm thinking about dumping off my F7s for something with Soundtraxx or QSI in it instead, and won't buy the newer run SW7, Lt. Mikado, etc. I'll keep hunting for a Paragon version of those.
"ETA January 2010. The models are painted. Sample picture shown."
I would expect they will get the stripe in the right place on the tender, unlike the MTH version !!
Funny how folks perceive sound. I only have two BLI QSI locomotives: A 2-8-2 Mike and a Mohawk. For me, the sound quality of the QSI whistle for either one is too tinny and sounds waaaaay off in the distance somewhere. I will say, however, that I do like the quillable whistle feature on the Mohawk though - just not the sound quality.
On the other hand, I recently purchased a Blueline Niagara and was blown away by the sound. The whistle was full, guttural, and very convincing. Wow!
Perhaps BLI has swung and missed on some of the locomotive sounds. For me, they definitely hit a homer on the Niagara. And the low-speed response with my Lenz Silver MP decoder is just terrific.
Stix,
Are you saying there is a sample picture of BLI Dreyfuss painted? Or, are you just referring to the links that have already been posted?
I recently saw in the BLI page the picture number 9 of the dreyfuss hudson, and it's suposed to be the art design. But there's something I dont like.
The pilot, does'nt seem to be smooth, becouse of the coupler. I don't know if there's is gonna be retractible, so you can hide it and in that way have the classic look of the smooth streamlined pilot, or if it's going to be just with the coupler.
To me that would be kind of ridiculous. Part of the beautiful art deco aesthetic is to have a smooth, with no visible coupler, streamlined pilot.
What do you think?
It would indeed be a nice option. I wish BLI's J Class had that option, too, but BLI seems to default to a front coupler, and in times past it wasn't even a functional one. As far as I know, for most high-speed passenger engines starting with the early super steam, the front couplers could at least drop down out of sight slightly behind that pilot. With streamlined passenger service, cover plates were provided.
-Crandell
So do you think, by the look of the pictures, that BLI would provide a cover for the pilot?
The BLI NH I-5 hudson have that option...
But that's no guaranteed that the Dreyfuss will to.
I don't know, I'm kind of worried, if that would be the case, that it does'nt have a cover, I would then prefer to buy the MTH model.
I have no idea. I am not interested in this version of the Hudson, so neither one has great appeal to me. I doubt that BLI would add such a cover at this late stage, but if you go to their forum and ask your question, you may learn that they intend to supply the cover as an option.
http://broadway-limited2.com/forum/
tstage Stix, Are you saying there is a sample picture of BLI Dreyfuss painted? Or, are you just referring to the links that have already been posted? Tom
I was quoting what it said under the pic of the unpainted pre-production model pictured on the website.