Admitting that we have a problem is only the FIRST step. But seriously, while I did struggle with over accumulating at times, age/life/downsizing pretty much cured me of that. I have less trains now than I did ten years ago, and over the past five years I've sold a lot more stuff than I've purchased.
Of course after posting here of my mis-fortune with BLI, I see they have announced another run of the NW2/SW7. I don't like the B&O scheme they are doing, so it's easy to pass on that. But I do see they are doing the SW7 for Southern, in the green paint scheme. Arrrgh. I might be foolish enough to buy one of these anyways. Well, at least I'll go into it with my eyes open if I do.
Well I am done collecting. Have enough Japanese switchers to replace the Bmann 44 and 70 tonners when they begin to fail as most Bmann stuff seems to do. Have more than ample passenger equipment and maybe only one four car trainset to acquire and that again is Japanese. The last two diesels acquired were the 4.5 volt little switchers and they are not working out well. Have ample freight cars and none over 47 foot in length and the cars out there now do not interest me and if did they are too expensive anyway.
@John Moore I'll take those 44/70-tonners when they fail! Orphan switchers seem to have become my specialty lately. So far my experience with BLI has been vicarious; apart from the RSD-15 they've not made a model that piqued my interest. But my experiences with club members' BLI engines has been that they are massively detailed and complex, but with no thought given to actually maintaining and running them. Things like dirty contacts that would take 5 minutes of routine maintenance on another locomotive becoming major surgery to get through BLI's matryoshka of detail parts attached to the detail parts getting in the way of the screws holding together assemblies that could probably be friction-fit just fine. It all feels very user-unfriendly
I don't own a single BLI and probably never will. Mainly due to having pretty much what I need for my layout and BLI not producing anything I'd ever desire so far. But it's interesting reading and hearing the most of the comments about BLI are leaning to the negative side of things. I always thought BLI had a good reputation in HO, but not so much in N?
It seems that most of BLI's problems are decoder related from what I have seen here. Has anyone tried their locomotives on DC, and if so, how did that work?
BLI makes several items that I desire, but I simply don't think they're a worth the price. They're about on par in terms of price as ScaleTrains, but ScaleTrains makes a far superior product. BLI quality (in terms of N scale) is similar to Bachmann Spectrum, their details are rather clunky. I'm not going to pay over $200 for something with clunky details.
Terrible---It wants to stall if there is any momentary lapse in current like crossing a turnout. No other engines will do that---even my Kato steeple cab will go across my turnouts without stalling. My Bachmann 2-8-8-4 EM1 is the best steam loco I have and it's dual mode decoder runs it flawlessly around my layout, pulling a 19 car passenger train up a 2 percent grade and around a 180 degree turn.
Hanging up on turnouts because of the small wheels and the side drive wheel for the roads with weight. Wheels are in gauge first thing I checked.
I'm up to 5 with about 2 or 3 more on the way via Railsmith(SP&S of course). Mine have performed as well as my other units, I'm happy with them.
My first Loco is a Paragon F3 bought Nov of 2020. Had stuttering issues most likely due to some combination of trucks and PickUp contacts. Support sent out spare trucks and prior to installing in Apr 2021, bent PickUps slightly. Loco ran beautifully from then and still does! Video from last month. Also, think it runs very smooth and is the quietest loco. Easy to forget its running when sound is off. While BLI Phone support call window is limited, and usually email is 24 hour turnaround, they were very receptive and helpful in resolving the issue in addition to answering questions and replacement of unrelated broken part which was my doing.
Late to this party. My wife bought me a BLI "Blue Comet" Pacific for my birthday earlier this month. First BLI item in N Scale (I have a PRR Single Stripe GG1 in HO Scale for sentimental reasons). Wish me luck...
A question on the BLI Pacifics........ I am not a DCC user; strictly DC. I just bought a BLI USRA light Pacific. It runs a bit too slow for my tastes, even at full DC throttle. This is not necessarily unexpected, as the USRA light Mikado runs at an ideal speed on high throttle. As is often a good idea when All Else Fails, I read the minimal instruction sheet. One thing that it noted was that anyone who wanted to run this on DC should use a sixteen volt power pack. The question is: Since the 1990s, has any manufacturer ever sold a DC power pack with sixteen track volts? I suppose that I could order a compatible rectifier and an in-line volt meter and try to run it off my eighteen volt AC terminals but if I can avoid that, I would prefer to. Further, I would prefer to avoid wiring around the decoder as I must admit that I do like the sound. It is a better model than the MPs, so I would prefer to buy the other number and run mostly the BLIs.
So the latest run of switchers is arriving, and despite my previous lack of success, predictably I bought one of the new run. I picked up a Southern unit. I haven't been able to do an extensive test, but the limited running I have done was favorable. It certainly runs better than my Paragon 3 units. I hope to be able to do a full operating session this weekend. I'll report my results when I have finished that.
I purchased a couple of the Y6b's. The first one derailed as soon as it went around it's first curve. After double checking that I had railed it correctly, and two more derails, I realized that the exhaust tube under the smokebox was dislodged stopping the front engine from rotating. After several minutes trying to get it back into its place, I gave up and managed to pull it out. The headlight sits wonky now without its support and I'll have another go at reinstalling it later. It looks like I'll need to remove the front engine to get it back in. Other than that poor quality control, I'm very impressed. They run very well, crawl as slow as you want, and have great pulling power. The only programming changes I've made is turning the sound volume down and slowing their max speed some.
As promised, here is my experience with my newly arrived SW7 - Paragon 4. The good: The electrical stalling seems to be eliminated from Paragon 3. I did not have any electrical cut outs/stalls. Much improved! It generally ran smoothly (although see below). I need to refine the speed steps some more and some other CVs to really dial in, but overall I was pleased. The paint was nicely/attractively done (although see below). The meh, but I can deal with it: The paint on the rear handrails that attach to the locomotive side was chipped. I can touch this up - it's just black paint - but it's annoying to have to do this to a brand new model. Also the rear handrail at the end of the locomotive leans back a bit. I've tried to straighten this up, but it's still leaning a bit. I also noticed (and it took just the right light to see this) scratches on the top of the shell over the engine body. Slight, and took just the right light, but they are there. The unsure/potentially bad: When pulling any cut of cars the locomotive seemed to strain. Is it a pulling power issue? The most I tried at one time was 8 cars. These are just your run of the mill Micro-Trains/Atlas/Intermountain 40' boxcars. They are not that heavy. The locomotive would make a sound (hard to describe) that is not exactly squealing, but definitely noisy. I would almost say it could sound like the wheels are slipping. They shouldn't be, if that is the case. Level track. It was in a yard area with plenty of Kato switches (#4s), and also a VERY sharp curve. But my Atlas S2s handle this without batting an eye. Bumpy ride - the unitrack that I am currently using does not always have the smoothest joints. I've never been able to get all of them perfectly smooth from piece to piece where they connect. The Broadway unit noticeably bumps up on these joints. It's also pretty bumpy going through those Kato #4s. Again, never have noticed this with my Atlas S2s (although those units get jerky at times with some of the track joints). The bad/bizarre: After about an hour of run time, when pulling a cut of cars, the locomotive just stopped. The power was still there, all the sound was there, the light still illuminated. It sounded like it was stuck. I've had this occasionally happen with other locos - usually the culprit is a low hanging coupler trip pin that has gotten hung up at a frog/switch area. Easy fix. Not so in this case. Nothing was caught. I tried to run some more, the motor sound would rev up, and it sounded like the wheels were possibly spinning, although under a flashlight they did not seem to be. Something was definitely trying to move somewhere/someplace. It got odder still, as at this point the loco was not only not moving, but now the headlight was flashing on and off. Put it in reverse - same result. Went back to forward. I physically touched the locomotive/adjusted on the rails - it moved then but only after a JERKING lunge forward, with more of the struggling motor sound. Not good. Current opinion: So overall right now I am giving this a C. It's an improvement, my Paragon 3 models were grade F, all of them. I appreciate the fact that the electrical issue is seemingly solved, but I have no idea what is going on with the pulling power/motor/flashing light/struggle to move issue. It's better than Paragon 3, but I still think it's in the Buyer Beware range. Time will tell as I run it some more. I'll certainly report more as I get more experience with it. In comparison, my Atlas S2s all get an A. They are possibly my favorite models right now. BLI has a ways to go to get to that level.
@Many Trains Just my opinion , but I think you need to open it up and check the driveline . Sounds like something isn't seated right or possibly broken . Mike
I am wondering about that as well. Just what I want to do, open a brand new locomotive! I now wonder though if it is not "refurbished" already, even though it was just released. I bought it from a vendor I have never used before - they are located in N.C. apparently. But per the tracking on the shipment, it came from Ormond, FL. I think that is where BLI is located, so it seems it shipped directly from BLI. Maybe it has already been worked on? Maybe (who knows?) that is how the shell came to have the scratches and the chipped paint on the rails? At any rate, I did a little more running, and I also pulled out two of my Paragon 3 units for laughs. One of those is so bad it cannot even make it over one of the bad track joints - it literally hits it and can't move - and then electrically also stalled. The other unit makes a similar, VERY similar, noise as the new unit, so maybe this is just how the mechanisms are? Since the Paragon 3 units would stall so frequently and so quickly, I never really had a chance to run them much. In my 2nd running of the new unit I had the same flashing light/no movement issue. This time it didn't seem like something was trying to move. The sound was still there though, engine revved etc. So this time, I picked up the unit and move it to an adjacent track. Tried again and it took right off. So I moved it back and recoupled to the train and was able to run to the other side of the layout. It really seemed like it was working hard to do it though. I'll keep running as time permits and see how it performs. I really want to like this locomotive, but the jury is really still out here. For sure though - I don't think I should have any issues out of the box. I certainly have far better luck with Atlas and Kato. My luck with BLI is entering Bachmann territory. Only more expensive.
