So, Has anyone got their BLI N&W J yet?

[LuthierTom]

If so, did they get the whistle sound right?

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by LuthierTom

If so, did they get the whistle sound right?

My dealer will receive the J on the 31st of May according to his information.

[NZRMac]

I've just ordered one from Tony's, I returned my BLI 2-8-2 light for a credit, it had gearbox problems, I hope the Class J is ok.

Ken.

[knewsom]

Ken, I thought you were getting a 2-8-8-2.

[NZRMac]

Don't tell the mrs, I ordered one of those too!!

Ken.

[LuthierTom]

So everyone else is still waiting, too...

[Virginian]

No, at least one person got one and it was on eBay as of YESTERDAY. GRRRRRRRRR!!

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Virginian

No, at least one person got one and it was on eBay as of YESTERDAY. GRRRRRRRRR!!

I saw that on Ebay, but they might be counting on getting them in next week or two. I have contacted some sellers in the past on other new hot items and found out they are on their way, not actally there.

Broadway does say they are shipping so we will all be comparing notes in the next few weeks.

[LuthierTom]

We're all still waiting, eh?

[Virginian]

Well, the guy on eBay has pictures it looks like he took out in his yard, not stock photos. I talked to a friend in Va. yesterday, and he said he knew a guy (dealer) who got several from BLI via UPS on Friday.

[LuthierTom]

My question is did they get the whistle sound right? Has anybody HEARD one?

[Virginian]

They got the whistle right.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Virginian

They got the whistle right.

Don't just tease us with the whistle only, but that is great news. How about the model and how it runs and sounds also.

I am still waiting for my engine.

[tcf511]

My dealer has the one I ordered on hand. I'll pick it up tomorrow night and let you know. But I know for a fact that they are shipping.

[milwaukeesteam]

I've spent time around the locomotive while in excursion service and have multiple sound recordings. The answer is, unfortunatly.....NO. The air compressor is perfect, blower, pop off are fine, chuff is accurate as well as the bell. BUT the whistle is wrong, distorted and must be fixed prior to the National in July or they might as well not display it. Volume adjustment to the whistle does not improve performance. I'm sorry, guys.

[Anonymous]

Well?!? Did they or didn't they get the whistle right? We have one yes and one no. Has anyone else heard it yet?

Brennan

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by norfolkwestern

Well?!? Did they or didn't they get the whistle right? We have one yes and one no. Has anyone else heard it yet?

Brennan

One Yes and One No. We want to hear the Whistle. I wonder why they did not install a sound byte on their web page.

My engine will not be here for about three weeks but lets have some more opinions.

[tcf511]

I picked up my J tonight. I got the 611 painted as it is today. I've never heard the J's whistle but two people in our railroad club that had described it as "*** close". I would describe it as much deeper than the whistles on the light or heavy mikes. It almost sounds like a tugboat rather than a train but both of these guys claimed that was accurate. I guess I'll have to drive down to Roanoke one of these days and compare. The level of detail is great from what I can see. It ran smooth right out of the box, the sound is synchronized well and it looks good to me. I'm very pleased.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by tcf511

I picked up my J tonight. I got the 611 painted as it is today. I've never heard the J's whistle but two people in our railroad club that had described it as "*** close". I would describe it as much deeper than the whistles on the light or heavy mikes. It almost sounds like a tugboat rather than a train but both of these guys claimed that was accurate. I guess I'll have to drive down to Roanoke one of these days and compare. The level of detail is great from what I can see. It ran smooth right out of the box, the sound is synchronized well and it looks good to me. I'm very pleased.

That is good news since it is a steamboat type whistle. It is a different tone than the Union Pacific Mannings or Moore type steamboat whistles, but it is a beautiful sounding whistle that is very distinctive.

[LuthierTom]

OK, we have one yes, one no, and one "***close" which I'll put in the "yes" column. Anybody else want to chime in (pun intended)?

[Anonymous]

Calling all N&W fans that have received their new J class engine. Please give us details on the sound of the whistle.

[Anonymous]

How does it RUN? As in pulling cars uphill?

[milwaukeesteam]

The J has plenty of pulling power due to its weight, construction, internal component assembly and runs very smooth out of the box. Be sure to make the necessary volume adjustments for each of the sounds to meet your taste. Overall the sounds are very good, especially the air compressor....HOWEVER; the whistle does call for BLI to address the error in using the "same" whistle found in the Lionel HO Challenger models - both of which are prototypically incorrect. I couldn't beleive my ears. I trust they will address the issue soon. Surely this was not their intent!!![:(!]

[freeway3]

Got mine today. First let me say that I've been on 2 #611 trips out of Alexandria, VA, and have a pretty good memory of it, but I don't have a recording to compare it to.

My vote goes to D**N CLOSE! The whistle & air pump sounds especially brought back great memories!

Hard to say why some share this opinion, some say not even close?!? Could there be some problems with some models, such as the reversing problem with BLI's SW's that seemed to be on some, not on others?

Ed

[LuthierTom]

OK, I just got mine, so I'll answer my own question.

I compared the BLI J's whistle to recordings on Kipp Teague's "Last Run of the 611" web page, and to an O. Winston Link recording on the National Public Radio web site. Put me in the "darned close" camp.

The whistle should sound a low A minor chord. The BLI J emphasizes the fundamental tone a little too much (probably trying to compensate for the small speakers and low amplifier power). That's a standard sound recording and mixing trick, but they may have overdone it just a touch. What their whistle *does* lack is the "airyness" of the real thing: you should be able to hear the hiss of steam lightly superimposed on the whistle. That's the part that isn't there. However, in fairness, at some distance away from the locomotive you wouldn't hear that, just the fundamental tones. So, what they have done is give you the sound of the whistle as you would hear it echoing through the hills, not right beside you.

I'd love to hear the wave file they used through studio amplification and monitors.

I also agree that the rest of the sounds are right on. They all (especially the whistle) benefit from turning down the volume levels from "16" to around "12".

So, put me in the satisfied camp.

I haven't had a chance to check out its pulling power yet, but that's next on the agenda.

[Virginian]

I know nothing about Challengers except they look pretty cool. On several videos I have of 1990's days Challengers the whistles sounds a whole, whole lot like a 'J'. I don't know what they sounded like in the 1950's.
I have all the Winston Link recordings and several videos, and the whistles of the 'J's AND the 'A's do not sound EXACTLY, PRECISELY like the real thing standing outside with them. Yes, I can definitely recognize an 'A' or a 'J' if the video is on and I am in the other room even, but it doesn't seem exactly precisely the same to me. So I do not expect an HO model to be any better than those. The BLI 'A' is unmistakeably an N&W hooter though. And the 'J' sounds like a 'J'. The description above is very accurate in that the steam sound overlay isn't there, and at close to medium range that is a very prominent feature of a real 'J' whistle. That is the only difference I could tell between the 'J' and the Challenger whistles (I have only heard a restored Challenger on tape). But, you can't hear that at a distance. I do wish BLI had somehow let you adjust it to have the steam whoosh. But, they did get the whistle sound very, very well I think. I'll just have to keep reminding myself I am 87 times further away than I think I am. I am frankly somewhat amazed they can get as great a sounds as they do out of those itty bitty components.
When the headlight comes around the corner in the dusk and I hear that soft exhaust stacatto and then that low whistle it do give me chills. Just for a second; an instant, it's 1958.
Yeah, it's worth it.

[Anonymous]

Thank you LuthierTom and Virginia for your review. I will have to wait for two weeks to get my engine and try it as I am on travel and they are holding the shipment until I can be home to get it.

It does sound good from your descriptions and I appreciate the review. I was there in 1956 for one week watching the A's, The K's, The Y's and most of all the J's. The switchers were neat also and I have a picture of John Henry in Helper service.

I hope someone makes it also in plastic someday

Not to start any rumors, but if I was BLI and sold the A for my first engine, and the J a few years later, I would offer the Y6 in about two years or so.

I would guess no one would get the lack of puffing sound correct for a Y class in compound mode. They only puff loud when they were starting in simple mode.

.

[NZRMac]

Man, now I can't wait!!!

Come Tony's Train Ex do your thing!!
I'll have to put the layout back together to.

Ken.

[LuthierTom]

Virginian, good put about being able to dial in the steam hiss overlay on top of the whistle sound. If I get to the NMRA Convention in Cinti in July, I'll have to mention that to the BLI rep.

You do raise a good point about recorded sounds not sounding EXACTLY like the real thing. As a musician (another one of my hobbies) I have done studio work, and it is amazing how all the variables in the studio (mic placement, type, preamplifier, recording console, compression, reverb, echo, etc., etc) affect the sound. An Emmy-winning friend of mine who does professional recording and post-production swears he can tell what type/brand of console a recording was mixed through and what type cables were on the mics when he listens to the finished product. I can't, but I appreciate the fact that there are people who can. If we took the whistle off of 611 and took it to a good recording studio and recorded it with the best Neumann condenser mic at the right whistle steam pressure, I can guarantee that whan you heard the recorded sound you would swear it did not sound exactly like the real thing. The trick (and this is why good studio producers and engineers earn what they do) is how to electronically modify the sound to fool the ear into hearing it a certain way. That's why in my live guitar work I don't use electric guitar amplifiers directly, I use a processor which sounds like a recording of the amplifier in question, because that's what 99% of the listeners have heard and identify with. The 1% (or less) who have played the actual equipment or heard it live extensively will adamantly say that the processor does not capture the nuances or details of the real thing, and they are right, but in a live situation there are very few people who will ever hear the difference. Where you will hear it is in the studio, and I use my best gear there so as to have the best sound for the engineer to work with.

All of that is a long-winded answer as to why I agree that the BLI 611's whistle is not exactly right, but darned close. It is at the point that to get the last little bit would probably double the cost. Whether that is worth it or not is a decision every consumer has to make for himself based on his tastes and budget.

[LuthierTom]

...you actually have a great idea! It would be just as easy to provide four wave files which combine to make the whistle (the three tones plus the steam hiss) and provide volume controls for each. Then everybody could adjust the respective volumes to get the whistle to sound exactly right for the way they hear it in their head! I'll have to mention that to the BLI rep in Cinti! Thanks for the inspiration!