Those Centipedes are arriving at the model stores soon. I'm sure Pennsy aficionados are anxiously awaiting these peculiar looking specimens. UP never got their order as far as I know... so... these strange creatures were not found on western railroads west of the Mississippi... unless you count Mexico. I am curious as to why the UP decided NOT to keep their order... and what their original plans were for the set they had reserved. BLI (Broadway Limited) certainly picked a strange locomotive to release in N scale... and at the price the A-A units are listed at (which isn't really that bad) which will probably keep the speculators from buying many. But I have to give BLI credit for making something unusual and unique instead of continuing to make items already on the market from other manufacturers. I'd like to know how these model run before I plunk down that much money for a UP version of this model. Photos or videos of them in action would be nice to see too.
The Centipedes were unique locomotives to be sure but I question whether this was a good marketing decision. Be that as it may, it is nice to see BLI actually producing something instead of vaporware. I see on their website that the M1a is now scheduled for March, 2016. I had pre-ordered 2 of these when first announced back in 2005 and subsequently cancelled my pre-orders. My money went to the Bachmann K4. I have to think a lot of people have soured on BLI over the past ten years because of this model. They remain an unproven entity in the field of N scale steam so this model better be good.
Story behind the UP Centipedes can be found here: http://utahrails.net/up/up-diesel-story-1934-1982.php Apparently UP did order a set, to have been delivered in August 1946. They were intended for use between Salt Lake City and L.A. Baldwin then slipped the delivery date to August 1947. A UP rep visited Eddystone in March 1947 and found that not only had work not begun on the units but there wasn't even any of the required materials on hand, yet. The order was cancelled by UP the next month. Supposedly less than enthusiastic feedback from SAL also factored into the UP decision to cancel the order. It took until March 1948 before the two units were built. They were used as demonstrators until being scrapped to supply spare parts to PRR and NdeM.
I was hoping to get a set but it appears they are sold out at woo woo woo already. I'm sure these will be popular considering that the brass ones are still selling for a high price ! Randy
More road-specific power is never a bad thing. If they're a commercial success, then BLI is more likely to do other niche/road-specific power. If it's centipedes today, then maybe somewhere down the line there will be GTELs, DD35/DD35As, U50s, and so on. I'm very excited about the centipede and will probably buy a married pair of them even though I haven't got a clue where I'd run them. I'm still not willing to give them a free pass on the M1, which by now has to be the most delayed locomotive in any scale, ever... but maybe the centipede release will convince them that the Pennsy market is big enough to actually get their *censored* together and get the M1 out the door already.
I ordered the last pair of single stripe PRR units from woo woo woo this morning. There were 2 units (1 each of different #'s in stock last night). I didn't pre-order and wasn't really planning to buy these, but I do model the PRR, so... Anyway, I'm surprised at how quickly these are practically sold out at woo woo woo (only a handful of NdeM units left). I have 2 M1b's on pre-order at BLW and look forward to getting these. I expect to see them next month. I hope these sell well and they get good reviews so that BLI will do more PRR steam. H9/H10, I1 or J1 would be greatly appreciated. The J1 could be a good starting point for 2-10-4's for other railroads. Scott
I bought a single Pennsylvania unit. I do not use DCC. These are supposed to run on DCC or DC, as is the sound. Appearance: very good. The paint job, lettering and details are very good. Runnability: It takes quite a high starting voltage on DC. If I turn up the throttle all the way on a MRC 2800, it runs at about 40 SMPH. On an MRC 2400 with the pulse "OFF", it will run twenty-five SMPH at the "60" setting. Turn up the throttle all the way and it runs at about 60 SMPH. It seems to have a built in momentum. When I apply voltage, the sound kicks in, the light goes up and it sits. Slowly, it crawls forward and gains speed. If it hits a dead spot it shuts off and starts over again--both sound and movement. Pulling power: Still breaking in, so I have not tried to pull anything. Sound: When you first apply throttle, it sounds as if it is firing off. It starts up, goes to fast idle, quickly cuts back to idle, then the sound increases to simulate increased RPM. At that point, the locomotive starts to creep. Suddenly, it stops, the air brake goes off, it cuts back to idle, the RPM increases and it starts forward until it reaches whatever maximum it does. You know that it has hit a dead spot when it coasts to a stop and the sound fires off, again. If it hits a dead spot, it coast to a stop, regardless of how fast it is going, and starts again. It does this more in reverse than forward, which makes the break-in more time consuming. The jury is still out on this one, as I just bought it and am still breaking it in.
I wonder if the chassis for the Baldwin Centipede could be used for the GE EP-4/EF-4 Little Joe? It would be another one of those 'one-of' niche locomotives which BLI could manufacture. I'm sure Milwaukee Road fans would love to see that!
It loosened up after a short break-in. It still requires quite a bit of voltage to run it on DC. It is warm to the touch after about thirty minutes of running. It does not get really hot as did the old LL plastic frames, but you do notice that it is warm. I put twenty cars and the Bowser porthole caboose behind it. It pulled them no problem. BLI includes two wheelsets with traction tyres for those who want to do a swap-in. I did not do the swap it. It does look a bit silly going around a seventeen inch radius curve. From the prototype photographs, it does appear that this thing had a pilot that swivelled, but I am not sure. Perhaps one of our resident SPFs could provide some enlightenment on that one. BLW rated the prototype at three thousand horsepower, which is the equivalent of a pair of F-3s, GP-7s. BL-2s, FA-1s. RS-2s. I understand that Pennsylvania ordered these things with the intent of using them as passenger power, but quickly assigned them to freight work then de-rated and demoted them to pusher work. I have seen photographs of models painted red, but every prototype photograph that I have seen either was DGLE or appeared to be (if black-and-white). Were any or all of these ever painted red? Did Pennsylvania remove the steam generators and signalling devices when it pulled them from passenger work?
I doubt if Pennsy would have invested the time and effort to remove the steam generators. They may have regeared them for freight though. A big question I always had was why Baldwin choose to use a pneumatic MU system. That made their engines oddballs and severely hindered their use.
The Baldwin throttle is air controlled, there are no notches, just a smooth transition. I operated a DRS 6-6-1500 in the Arizona Railway Museum yard. The air throttle control is great at low speed.
All of Pennsy's centipedes wound up working Horseshoe Curve as helpers. They were indeed downrated and regeared for freight work. They were always run in back-to-back married pairs, and each pair was classified as a single unit; as passenger units, Pennsy classified them as BP60 (Baldwin-Passenger-6000HP), and as helpers they became BH50 (Baldwin-Helper-5000HP). None of them ever wore anything but DGLE as far as color; they were delivered in the 5-stripe scheme and repainted with a single stripe around the time they were reassigned as helpers, which happened before Pennsy made Tuscan the standard color for passenger power. Maintenance was a constant headache- they were constructed individually, so there was quite a bit of variation in wiring and plumbing from one unit to the next, and the parts weren't all interchangeable. Leaks and fires were constant complaints. Other Baldwin diesel offerings fared much better, although the passenger sharks had more than their fair share of issues as well. The pilot did indeed pivot, although obviously not nearly as far as the one on the model does. It's a little hard to see, but in this picture (found on the centipede's wikipedia page) the nose of the lead unit is hanging off to the left of the pilot as it takes the curve.
Here are two photos of a pair of PRR centipedes roaming a bit far away from their typical stomping grounds in western PA. The train is passing through Carp Lake, MI, just short of Mackinaw City, on the northern tip of the lower peninsula. http://www.michiganrailroads.com/RRHX/Stations/CountyStations/EmmetStations/CarpLakeMI.htm
If Juniata did re-gear them, would it have been that much more trouble to remove the steam generators? Could not one crew change the gears while the other removed the steam generators? In most cases, as passenger trains disappeared, when the railroads put what was passenger power into freight service, they removed the steam generators. New York Central did this even with its DCA class diseasels (ordered for both passenger and frieght service). There were exceptions. B&O wound up with the SD-7 demonstrator that had both dynamic brakes and a steam generator, but, from what I have read, B&O never did remove the steam generator from it. Depending on whom you ask, the B&O unit only ever pulled one passenger train (on the old BR&P), or it did pull a few in the Potomac Valley here and there when a torpedo boat GP-9 was not available.
It is possible they would have left the steam generators in place because the ultimate fate of the centipedes wasn't 100% certain; they did for everything else they reassigned to freight service (such as the PA1s, a handful of passenger sharks, and their FM cab units which swapped roles several times... and eventually pretty much everything else that wasn't an EMD product). The reasoning may have simply been "just in case we need it some day," and some of the reassigned passenger engines did indeed get used as backups for commuter runs, or as reserve power when traffic picked up. I can't find any pictures of post-refit centipedes hauling passengers, but that doesn't necessarily mean it wasn't a possibility that Pennsy considered. Pennsy was also very, very strange about the way it equipped its diesels. At various times, they ordered otherwise identical units with and without MU capability, dual control, steam generators... they had a single RS-3 with both a steam generator and dynamic brakes because it was meant for a specific assignment, but all the rest they bought had either or. At one point they ordered units with MU at one end but not the other, and some more units with MU at both ends to go in between them. Many of those choices were made just to save a few bucks on the order. Saving on labor costs by not removing the steam generators from a set of very expensive underperforming diesels that were headed for a low-priority assignment? That could have been a reason as well. It's doubtful that the centipedes were a high enough priority for that thorough of a refit.
LOL... except that this model is more 'on schedule' than any of their prior announced models! Sent from my SM-G530T using Tapatalk
