Broadway Limited PRR E6 Review: A Convoluted Design
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ก.ค. 2024
- Today we take a look at Broadway Limited's Pennsylvania E6 4-4-2 engine! I have some gripes about this loco but overall I think Broadway Limited did a solid job. Enjoy!
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A few additional notes:
1. As someone pointed out, the drivers have their counterweights reversed. The rear driver should have the larger counterweight. I cannot believe BLI didnt notice this, and I cant believe I didnt notice either. This is unfixable, as you cannot swap wheelsets, because the rear wheels have the additional crankpin (which holds the essentric crank assembly) as part of the wheel, and the front wheels do not.
2. The cylinder piston rod is made of plastic, which is a very odd choice given its a wear part.
3. The engine lacks any spring suspension, which was likely intentional, but still strange given almost all BLI steam locomotives has suspension on their locos.
Thank you for the review. I've had my model since September of 2022. As with you, I was concerned about the pickup given that one driver has traction tires. I am pleased to report that I haven't had any issues with power pickup. My model pulls five BLI P70 passenger cars up a 1.5% grade without any sign of strain. I haven't tested it with a heavier load.
Yea, the performance is great on this engine, although that's more due to the traction tires and the stay alive capacitor in the tender, rather than a good design. Cheers!
For $600.00 I could have purchased a couple of nice brass locomotives. I only do DC because I hate the tinny sound of HO DCC. I just got my first brass diesel, a Hallmark Fairbanks-Morse H12-44 Central of Georgia. Brass will still be here long after I'm gone unlike a hunk of plastic which will deteriorate over time. My old Mantua die cast Pacific's will be here long after I'm gone too. Cheers from eastern TN
I agree, for $600 its too much, but for $300 that's a much more attractive price for a diecast loco with sound, you gotta admit :) This engine is not a "hunk of plastic".
wonderful review! BL definitely has the most accurate model id say. Its nice to know that they actually have a model of these engines. When I went to the Strasburg Pennsylvania Railroad Museum I saw an E6 for the very first time, definitely a fond memory that ill never forget. I remember how amazed I was by the size of the drive wheels. Im a 5'-5" foot guy, and those wheel were like 7'. I don't think it be accurate for this engine to pull my "east wind" passenger cars, but id definitely would like to get one of these locos someday as its just a good looking engine!
indeed! the e6 is a beautiful loco, I will happily put any random train behind it, whether its a local commuter, a long distance passenger, or even a short freight train :)
Nice review. I figured you would buy one. I like the locomotive for what it is. Minor issues, and a surprising good puller for its size. I paid around $350.00 on a pre-order from a local hobby store that also discounts all B.L.I. locomotives.
I wasent gonna get one bc of the price and bc I already got my ALCO and Gem ones, but the cheap price (and learning abt the limitations of the brass variants) allowed me to justify getting one. Also I already modified the E6 to have much better looking headlight and running boards. Gonna sell off my ALCO E6 now. Cheers!
@@trainman440 Cool. I think Broadway Limited did a rather nice job on the locomotive. I hammered Ken from Broadway when I saw him at a train show, and I demanded an A5 0-4-0 or a B6 0-6-0. He liked the B6 request.
@@parts323 Ah yes, full circle on that B6! I's take a couple!
Great review! I believe you covered all the good & bad points of all three locomotives. Also as one commenter pointed out the driver counterweights are reversed. They are on the one I have also. I’m hoping to get non-traction tire drivers for it. If they come out. I’m waiting on a reply from BLI
Thanks! oh wow I didnt even notice the wheels. I gotta change that lol, shouldnt be that hard with a gear puller. Yea the traction tires is such a shame, let me know if you have any luck with obtaining a traction tire free wheel.
@@trainman440 swapping the drivers might not be an option with the light ones being the traction tire set. Probably why they are in the wrong location
It seems like the first and second drivers are switched. The driver with the larger counterweight is ahead of the one with the smaller one.
wow! yea i didnt notice till now lol. thats gonna bother me. should be able to fix that tho
@@trainman440 I just looked around online and it looks like most if not all of the bli e6s have the drivers swapped.
@@DO_NOT_HUMP yea...bli messed up big time lol. I wonder if the preproduction sample in their sneak peak video on their channel also shows the wrong drivers?
@@DO_NOT_HUMP Update: after looking at both Broadway limited's preproduction run video and the 2D side renderings of the engines, both have the wrong counterweights. Which means this was a mistake from the really beginning and not something which was only developed during production. That's kind of sad to see such a big mistake come from BLI.
Got mine refurbished for incredibly cheap at a model shop. Bout $200 if i recall which I thought was a good bargain for a diecast ready to run.
But I also model the 1920s era PRR so acquiring the Linburg Special with the gold lining and wheel striping was quite a treat.
I don't come across too many new make models with the early era express lining anymore.
thats an amazing deal! yea the lindbergh special looks GREAT, i was rly tempted to get a second e6 just for that but decided against splurging. With early express lining was more commong :,)
@@trainman440 I certainly enjoy it although i suppose if you wanted you could use transfers to put lining on yourself. But i had a question, you showed two price comparable brass kits in the video but i was wondering are there other kits for the E6 accurate? Most likely being more expensive of course.
@@T-Bone114 I showed two brass engines, which came assembled from the factory, not kits. In total, the following manufacs made the E6 in HO:
1. Pennline, later bought by bowser: pretty crude diecast model. Missing a lot of details, and many details oversized.
2. MDC Roundhouse: decent diecast model, wrong ATSF chassis. Missing a lot of details. Easy to customize tho! Modelers will often combine the tender and boiler of an MDC/Roundhouse with a Bower/pennline chassis. Great cheap option if youre willing to detail it yourself, and pulls a LOT being diecast.
3. Gem imported, made by Olympia brass: good, but boiler mounted too high, missing a few details, wrong sanddome. GREAT money for value, at only around $100.
4. ALCO brass, made by KSM: great detail, bad gearboxes. firebox area is a bit misshaped to my eye, as mentioned in the video. Its not tapered enough in shape. Costs around $250.
5. Key brass, made by samhongsa: great model, no inaccuracies to my eye, although I havent looked into enough as it costs like $800 and i never seriously considered buying one.
6. BLI: At only $300 in the refurbished store, its a great deal imo. Only three problems: headlight is shaped weird, running boards are too thick, and the drivers are backwards. The driver with the larger counterweight should be the REAR driver, instead of the FRONT one. BLI reversed this. I fixed the first two (see my other video abt it) and the third problem is easy to fix with a NWSL gear puller but Ive been too lazy to fix mine yet :p
I like the balanced review, both good and bad no matter how minor. Does the tender open with the same method as on the P4 decapods? As in does not open, no screws. It appears permanently snapped closed.
Screws.
P4 decapod shells are press fit. just put your fingers inside the holes near the front of the tender and pry it up and away from the chassis. itll come right out. and as joe said the E6 tender is held by screws. Cheers!
I’ve never purchased a refurbished product from BLI, do the refurbished locomotives have any flaws from production or are these pre owned locomotives?
they are pre owned locos which are in like new condition, which people returned probably from faulty decoders (or other parts). BLI just replaces the decoders (or parts) and lists them on their site. So its like new, and has the factory warranty incase it IS damaged. They generally do NOT have flaws.
My experience is also that of Trainman440. I would say that you can buy the refurbished products with confidence.
I third Trainman440's experience in comparison with mine.
BLI is putting traction tires on everything now, even massive heavy engines. I'll stick to paragon2, i hate traction tires.
Trust me I strongly prefer Par2 and buy it over other paragons whenever possible. Nut not everything BLI made is offered in Par2. Like the model in question in this video, which was only made in Par4 at the time of recording.