I received my Broadway Limited Imports PA/PB locomotives today and so far I’m very pleased. They come equipped with Micro Trains couplers that are truck mounted on the B unit and on the rear of the A unit. All of the couplers are at the proper height and all wheels are in gauge. All wheels are powered and the outboard pair of wheels of each truck have traction tires installed. The powered A Unit weighs 3.75 ounces. The Dummy B unit Weighs 2.75 ounces The body casting is well done except for a very slight mold parting line on each side of the nose. There are cab interior details and the window glass is well done. Metal handrails are separately applied along with an etched metal screen over the radiator fan. Etched metal grills are mounted along the upper sides of the car bodies. Separate diaphragms are installed on the ends. Painting and lettering are well done with a nice satin finish. The road numbers are correct. My Pennsy versions have the unique train phone antenna system accurately installed on the A units but have the small as delivered number boards rather than the large angled one that Pennsy installed later. The number boards are not illuminated. I tested the units on DCC using an MRC Prodigy Advance. The decoder supports a full compliment of CVs along with 28 functions. It will accept 14, 28 or 128 speed steps. The locomotive starts creeping at speed step one and accelerates smoothly as the throttle is advanced. With the sound muted, drive train gear noise is noticeable. The locomotives produced a prodigious 1.25 ounces of tractive effort. Considering N scale’s small size, the Paragon Sound System is reasonably convincing. The prime mover startup and shutdown sounds are particularly neat. Many sound options are available that I haven’t tried yet nor have I gotten up enough courage to open them up to see how the inside is laid out. As I said so far I’m happy. Bob
Thanks for your informative post Bob. Have you looked at or tried the Auto-Pilot function that BLI speaks about in their ads of the Alco PA?
The E units have this as well. You can program a series of commands that can be played back by pressing a function key, I forget which without looking at the manual. I haven't tried it much because I can't think of anything I can use it for. This is what the BLI website says, "Record & Play Operation - Records and plays back sounds and movements once or repeatedly for automatic operation".
