I wrote to BLI to let them know that concerns about their suddenly deleting their forum were being voiced here. I suggested that they might like to join in/respond to quell rumors...or confirm them.
I have four BLI locos. 2 Mikes and a Cab Forward (Blueline). The Mikes, one blueline and one earlier version run fine. The Cab Fwd. runs fine but it's chuff sensor went out right away. The same with the J1e Hudson. They sent me replacements and instructions for their installation. I have a friend who will eventually install them for me. (Didn't want to mail it in.)
I have four Spectrum locos. A Shay and three Russian Decapods. The first Russian needed replacement.
I two am incensed that a brand new locomotive, costing over $200 should have ANY problems more than once in a blue moon. Say what "you" will about Tyco, but I had tons of that (admittedly much simpler) stuff as a kid and it always ran great right out of the box. Same for Athearn back in the '60s.
Even with the current overseas production methods, there is no excuse for 100s of locos to be going out the door without testing. Sure you can't test every single one of them but certainly more than they presently do!
The steamers that I"ve been running for 3 yrs. still work great. They do require more maintenance than diesel (obviously) but the point is they worked for 3 yrs. so far. Why should this be the exception rather than the rule for ANY manufacturer?
Raised on the Erie Lackawanna Mainline- Supt. of the Black River Transfer & Terminal R.R.
cdlaudio I have a BLI brass-hybrid Dreyfuss Hudson that would short out between the drawbar and the tender. After trying to insulate the drawbar with no luck I took it off and tested the loco with only the wires connected. It ran perfectly with no drawbar. I then used the stock drawbar to make one out of styrene. With this installed it works great. It sucks to spend $350 dollars on a nice loco and have to re-engineer it. Hopefully this fix will help someone else.
I have a BLI brass-hybrid Dreyfuss Hudson that would short out between the drawbar and the tender. After trying to insulate the drawbar with no luck I took it off and tested the loco with only the wires connected. It ran perfectly with no drawbar. I then used the stock drawbar to make one out of styrene. With this installed it works great. It sucks to spend $350 dollars on a nice loco and have to re-engineer it. Hopefully this fix will help someone else.
I had the exact same issue on my Dreyfuss Hudson. On my loco it was not the draw bar that shorted, but it did factor into the short.
I figured out that the chassis on the tender is warped. When not attached to the draw bar, it would not short. When attached it would. This draw bar is forcing the tender to sit slightly off balance. The balance issue tweaked the position of the front truck. Because the truck is metal, it touches the chassis, creating the short. By putting a piece of electrical tape between the truck and the underside of the chassis I was able to insulate the contact.At some point I plan on painting on clear gel medium to insulate the area. It sounds crazy, but I dont like the black tape on the underside.
OK, I have not had a chance to go back and fiddle with my 4-8-4, but in the meantime, the chuff sensor on my Mike is acting funny. I had this issue with the Hudson that I returned the first time.
I am now at a 100% failure ratio on my Paragon 2 Steam Locomotives.
I am curious, how have the cab-forwards been? Anyone care to comment? I just got a "2-for" ad from FDT on them so I can only guess.
Strezzy
Capt. Grimek I wrote to BLI to let them know that concerns about their suddenly deleting their forum were being voiced here. I suggested that they might like to join in/respond to quell rumors...or confirm them.
Capt. Grimek,
Has BLI responded?
Rich
Alton Junction
Jim,
While I can't give you any info on the Cab Forwards from BLI, I have been less than impressed, in general, with the Paragon2 decoders in both my Dreyfuss and regular Hudson. There is only a slight improvement with low-speed response over the old QSI decoders - even after tweaking things. Both of them had shorting issues that seemed to be related to the smoke unit.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
Cab-forwards anyone? What has been the experience thus far?
JimStrez Cab-forwards anyone? What has been the experience thus far?
I have two first run cab forwards. They run great. One will pull a 25 car reefer train up a two percent grade no problem. The decoders are without the BEMF (thanks mike w) and the sound is pretty good. These locos are now at least 7 or more years old ? and have been in regular service during that time.
The Intermountains are better detailed but so far haven't been able to sort out mechanical issues. I'm hoping third run is the charm....
Guy
see stuff at: the Willoughby Line Site
I bought the original BLI Hudson when it came out. Matter of fact, if I could have stood in line for it, I would have. I LOVED it, that is, until the decoder quit.
It sat in the roundhouse for a couple of years till I swapped all the electronics out for a Tsunami.. and now it works great.
I bought a second series Hudson and a 4-8-4 NYC Niagara?? not sure what the Central called them, and they both had issues with DCC. The 4-8-4 got a tsunami, and the Hudson went to the scrapyard. Matter of fact, the Hudson's tender is currently being recycled into an auxiliary water tender for CPR 2816...LOL
I've seen a few of the even newer BLI's run at the club, and they all look great, but run poorly....
Van Hobbies H1b, K1a, T1c, D10g, F1a, F2a, G5a. Division Point: H24-66 Hammerhead, Alco covered wagons A-B-B-A, C-Liner A-B-B-A, EMD FP7A A-B-B.
H1b modified to replicate modern day 2816. All with Tsunamis.
C&O 1952 wrote: Brass locomotives are great lookers, but few have DCC installed, and they are a nightmare to equip with decoders. Only two of the five brass locos that I own are DCC equipped.
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I feel your pain, but it's doable. Practically all my steam fleet is brass, not out of splurging, but out of necessity.
They take alot of work, alot of mainenance, and alot of upgrading if using older stuff, but the results are highly worthwhile if you're so inclined.
Fireddog26AC6000. I could not reset the dcc board. I put it on a DC layout and when I put it back on my DCC layout it would not read the CV it was in. Had to send it in.
I have (8) Broadway limited locomotives that run like Swiss watches. I have never had any problem with any of the (5) steam locomotives and (3) diesels that I own. Their pulling power is almost equivalet to a Bowser.