BLI Hudson Questions

[NYCentral1]

I've been looking at buying a Broadway Limited Hudson (or Mikado maybe), and I've been trying to read some reviews about them. My first question would be to anyone that owns one, how are they? Is it really worth the money?

Also, the engines seem to have all the "bells and whistles" (yeah, I know[;)]...), but I haven't seen anything saying that it has a smoke unit. Does this engine have smoke capabilities?

[Anonymous]

I have two both the original release and the new version,both engines have trouble tracking,front pilot.On the newer version i put on the traction tire equipped drivers supplied by BLI found that there is no clearence between tires and the shoes and hangers so i had to sand the tires and also file down the shoes and hangers,Also put a shim under the trailing truck to force some of the weight towards the front and this helped.After the mods the Hudson pulls very well tracks well also.The sound well is absolutly great AS far as the MIKE great engine i also have a pair of these and they run nice sound great track very well have run my mikes thru 15 in radius turns without problems One thing about BLI engines they will find even the smallest deviation in track work,I found the Mike to be the most forgiving of track work of all the bli's I own.As far as the smoke generator in the hudson never really checked to see.I think that of the two the hudson is the most impresive as far as looks ,and sound But my Mikes see alot more track time with very few problems.Terry

[NYCentral1]

That's interesting about the Hudson tracking problems. Does anyone else have this problem? If so, is it fairly easy to mess with?

I personally would like a smoking steam engine, and I would hope this would have that feature.

If it doesn't, could that be added?

[mikebonellisr]

I have both the hudson and the mikado,Both are beautiful models,with excellent slow speed running,great detail with lots of stand off details.and of course the great qsi sound.The hudson is one of the early releases and i did have a little trouble with it.It was very noisey at higher speeds,so much so,that it overpowered the sound.My hudson also just one day,up and died on me.I sent it back to BLI and they repaired it free of charge,They replaced the frame and motor but did not tell me what the problem was.It runs fine now,and much quieter.I have yet to have any problems with it.I'm not sure if they are WORTH the price,but they both are at the top of the plastic loco list in quality.I dont think that either engine is set up with a smoke generator but check with BLI to see if theres room for a smoke generator

[Anonymous]

I just sent my origional Hudson back to the factory with the $99.00 for the upgrade. I was very happy with my engine and didn't have any trouble with the tracking, a friend of mine had to add a little bit of weight to the pilot truck to make it track. I like their engines so much that I own four of them and can't wait for the 2-10-2 amd 2-10-4 to come out. I'm already saving my money to buy the new units.

Have a good day
Bob

[Anonymous]

Nope, no smoke, but the sound is excellent!! I understand hat the newer BLI K4's have smoke in htem, a new upgrade over the old smoke machines, this one doesn't burn out if it is run without fluid in it. Like the othes have said, BLI's have to have perfect track work. One istake and it's coming off, guaranteed. Don't know about the $99 upgrade, I saw it on the website, but didn't read about it.

Hope this helps,
Greg

[Anonymous]

The K4's do not have smoke, the only BLI engine that had smoke was the SP cabforward and it was not very good. Actually I don't think I would want a model steam locomotive in my basement that could smoke in a realistic manner you would have to wear oxygen mask.

As for tracking problems I would expect it on any engine as large as a 4-6-4 on 15 inch radius curves.

[Anonymous]

Oops, I guess I misunderstood that. Oh well, I guess they don't burn oil, but that's a good thing isn't it?

Greg

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Michaell

The K4's do not have smoke, the only BLI engine that had smoke was the SP cabforward and it was not very good. Actually I don't think I would want a model steam locomotive in my basement that could smoke in a realistic manner you would have to wear oxygen mask.

As for tracking problems I would expect it on any engine as large as a 4-6-4 on 15 inch radius curves.

the hudson was never run on anything less than 22 in ,the mikes were run on my branch line were there were a couple 15 in radius turns.Terry

[NYCentral1]

Thanks for the all the info.

I've seen stuff about Seuthe smoke units, and I wonder if you can put this into one of these locos?

[wjstix]

If you can track down (oops) an early BLI Hudson with back EMF on ebay it's worth the trouble to find. It's pretty neat to see the loco with a string of passenger cars loping along on a straightaway and then go up a grade with no change in speed, same coming down. I'd have to say after 30+ years in the hobby my Hudson is the best loco I've ever owned.

[NYCentral1]

I'm sorry, but what is back EMF?

[WickhamMan]

Back EMF is basically a cruise control feature. It keeps the engine running at a constant speed over uneven terrain.

I have a BLI Hudson and can attest to the problems keeping it on the track. Especially troublesome are turnouts and downhill curves. I have only a slight downhill into a curve and at any reasonable speed, the engine derails once every 4 or 5 passes.

I am curious as to how to shim the engine to put more weight forward to avoid this problem. Does anyone have any specifics on how to accompli***his as RailGuyHO suggested?

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by WickhamMan

Back EMF is basically a cruise control feature. It keeps the engine running at a constant speed over uneven terrain.

I have a BLI Hudson and can attest to the problems keeping it on the track. Especially troublesome are turnouts and downhill curves. I have only a slight downhill into a curve and at any reasonable speed, the engine derails once every 4 or 5 passes.

I am curious as to how to shim the engine to put more weight forward to avoid this problem. Does anyone have any specifics on how to accompli***his as RailGuyHO suggested?

I do not have any spef. but if you remove the trailing truck you will find a spring and a washer all I did was change out the washer for one about twice the thickness.This pushes the cab of the engine up the thickness of the new washer,thereby pushing the front of the boiler down putting more pressure on the front pilot.And you can do this without losing all the weight to where your engine wont have any traction,The New hudson I put on the tires the old version I did not,tracking was improved greatly,on both and the older hudson I really could not see where I lost any traction. All I basicly did was limit the travel of the spring under the truck. I think the Hudon is just a little off balance where rear wheel weight compared to front pilot tracking is concerned,If you are having problems with your hudson tracking watch it closely at the rear of the cab as it goes into a turn,watch how far the back of the engine drops and raises the front pilot.so by limiting the amount of travel on the spring under the truck you can control the weight on the front pilot a little better.If you don't want to double the washer size you can make shims out of thin stryne cut and drill insert on top of the washer under the truck. untill you get the disered effect that works best for your track work. I enjoy my hudsons but they were problems I did not want to add weight to the front pilot and take away from the looks of the engine so this is how I solved my tracking problem I hope you have as good of results with yours if you try it as I have had with mine.Terry