Man THANK you! I have 2 BLI Paragon 3 Sd40’s. On in SF livery and one in NS. The NS one was like yours. Horrible stuttering new out of the box. The other one is perfect. Now I hope I can rebuild my NS and hopefully get it rolling.
Im glad they run so good now! I remembwe getting a AC6000 from them probably 5 or 6 years ago and it was trash and made me never want a BLI again. Now that im getting back into N scale i will have to try there new models.
I never wanted BLI before Paragon 4, always hearing about problems and didn't want the hassle. This month I picked up a BLI Paragon 4 SD40 in HO for $220, it's my best Locomotive, doesn't cut out like my Genesis or Atlas locomotives thanks to the keep alive. I will definitely be getting more Paragon 4 locomotives when I can.
its an easy sport, im new to it, i have 2 broadways, one had issues so i just soldered wires direct on the bottom like they do on new ones, i have 87 days into the sport now..i figured this out before broadway did, never seen a train.set in my life until recently, you have to use your head to accomplish your goals...cheat the system..half the stuff they sell, you dont need..its marketing bs, my layout is 7ft high with no hilux, everyone says dont go up, i did, i have ZERO issues.. CANADIAN SHIELD...dont beleive everything you see on youtube,...Jimmy keeps it pretty real tho. thanks Jimmy
We have hundreds of BLI engines and have had no issues, they are so far above every other manufacturer of n scale that it blows our mind why people are holding grudges from years ago
Glad to hear! Have the E8 & B from them on order expected January 25'. Have dithered about buying from them ever since the "troubles" from a few years ago. (still keeping my fingers crossed and saving my receipt)
Hey jimmy great video as I’m just getting back into model railroading seeing you reviews of trains is great. I live my mikoda from BLI and hope to have the layout running soon as Terra forming is done and some roadbed and track are layed out.
I have three older BL locomotives and had VERY mixed results - one worked great, one was mediocre, and one is a "shelf queen" (nice term). I had given up in disgust with them. Very good video, I might have to give them another chance.
I've bought a lot of BLI, including a bunch of factory refurbished. All N. Only had one actual issue, which I was able to repair at home. (An intermittent short caused by two heat shrinks fused together). My only other complaint is the bad color matching for the B&M diesels... I'm sure they used the correct EMD stated maroon color... But In reality EMD sprayed that OVER a full body of gold. Making it more red. In both cases. I can forgive it.
I've never owned a Broadway Limited Imports locomotive (mostly because of past stories involving decoder issues from others that owned them), but this will probably change when they announce the Frisco 4-8-2 Mountains (something they've been hinting at for months as a potential future brass-hybrid HO model, no word if they will do an N scale variant as of this writing). I'm glad they're addressing the past issues with their locomotives and rectifying them. They certainly look good and it also looks like they've vastly improved the sound as well!
Jimmy everybody has their own opinions about Broadway Limited and I’m one that is not a happy camper. I have 4 Paragon 4 locomotives and each one has a mind of its own. Send one to be fixed because it just quit running. It’s still not right. I do like some of there rolling stock. Thanks for sharing. Have a good weekend. 😎😎 👍
Ok I have to improve pickup on my paragon 3`s. I hope that fixes this. BTW, other brands have also lubricate excessively provoking electrical connectivity issues to even reaching motor brudhes and then smoking..
Unfortunately, BLI seems not to have a good quality control. You can get a engine running without any issues over many exhibition days. ( my experience 50%). Some (mostly steam engines, do not run great out of the box. They are shaking, wobbling and so on. Seems they are not properly asembled. (Had to send back two of my total 4 Paragon 4 steam engines)) On Diesels Paragon 3 I had one decoder failure so the engine produced a short after 4 hours of operation. (1 of 4) On Paragon 4 I had no decoder issue yet, but I had to send the NW2 back because something cracked on one bogie after 3 hours of operation. Repair with shipping takes around 3 month from Germany.
I had a Paragon4 Penn Central RSD15 I think it was, until a couple months ago. It always ran great and I had no problems. I ended up selling it to go with more CSX.
I have always enjoyed the broadway limited ho scale items I have gotten. From their engines to rolling stock. I have never had the chance to own any of the n scale line. But as I’m debating on whether to do a larger ho layout or a small n scale layout for my first real go at a proper layout. It’s good to know that their n scale offerings are now that much better
I'm just getting back into the joint after my dad passed away when I started it was Kato USA for loco and Micro Trains for cars as the best there was has that shifted in last 10 years ?
Thanks for this video! Could you please give the exact model number of the soundtraxx sound decoder you used? I'm going to pull the trigger and get both the loco and the sound decoder.
Their P2 locomotives were soldered wires and the EMD E units in P3 era were as well. They are a pain to convert to other brand decoders. I have 3 P2 E units that are going to be getting ESU here soon as I’m done dealing with the P2 decoders.
I want to like BL, but my first one had to have a new decoder before i could use it. They sent a new one, but not after I shipped the old one back (I had to pay for shipping) As I like the smoke on their N-scale big boy, I decided to try it. Bad decoder again. Did the swap thing and still no go. I sent the loco back ( shipping on my dime) and that was back in May. Still waiting for it to come back. I am looking for a small N-scale switcher, and really like their switchers, BUT with 2 out of 2 not working out of the box, I will be lookin elsewhere. Any ideas?
The next run of the switchers will have stealth options so you will be able to put your own decoder in it. Kato has some coming out too, but only in a few roadnames.
Hello how are you? Great video. My experience with BLI has been horrible. I bought an expensive model, and the truth is it never worked well. Lack of weight, a lousy decoder, poor contact quality, complex to program with Paragon 3, etc. I had to make it again and honestly, it still doesn't work as well as a Kato or a Tomix. The price is excessive for a product of such low quality and of course, I wouldn't risk buying another one.
The only issue I have with one of my BLI is with a Paragon SD40-2 which waddles as soon as it rolls on the rails. Never found out why and besides the body always seems lopsided.
I have 2 paragon 4 sd40-2's and they both run like crap. One even arrived doa and had to be replaced. I dont know that I can take the risk on them again.
Welcome back! Hopefully you enjoyed your break
Thanks for the coffee shout out! Trains are cool!
Man THANK you! I have 2 BLI Paragon 3 Sd40’s. On in SF livery and one in NS. The NS one was like yours. Horrible stuttering new out of the box. The other one is perfect. Now I hope I can rebuild my NS and hopefully get it rolling.
Im glad they run so good now! I remembwe getting a AC6000 from them probably 5 or 6 years ago and it was trash and made me never want a BLI again. Now that im getting back into N scale i will have to try there new models.
I have several BLI diesel and steam locos. They're all great runners out of the box, surpassing my more expensive Scale Trains locos
I never wanted BLI before Paragon 4, always hearing about problems and didn't want the hassle. This month I picked up a BLI Paragon 4 SD40 in HO for $220, it's my best Locomotive, doesn't cut out like my Genesis or Atlas locomotives thanks to the keep alive. I will definitely be getting more Paragon 4 locomotives when I can.
Just got my first N Scale BLI SD70ACE KCS Grey Ghost. It runs perfect. Great detail. I love it
Thanks Jimmy. Great video. I've wondered about the BLI issues, and it's great to hear that they are fixing them.
its an easy sport, im new to it, i have 2 broadways, one had issues so i just soldered wires direct on the bottom like they do on new ones, i have 87 days into the sport now..i figured this out before broadway did, never seen a train.set in my life until recently, you have to use your head to accomplish your goals...cheat the system..half the stuff they sell, you dont need..its marketing bs, my layout is 7ft high with no hilux, everyone says dont go up, i did, i have ZERO issues.. CANADIAN SHIELD...dont beleive everything you see on youtube,...Jimmy keeps it pretty real tho. thanks Jimmy
Welcome to the Model Train Hobby Family :)
We have hundreds of BLI engines and have had no issues, they are so far above every other manufacturer of n scale that it blows our mind why people are holding grudges from years ago
Glad to hear! Have the E8 & B from them on order expected January 25'. Have dithered about buying from them ever since the "troubles" from a few years ago. (still keeping my fingers crossed and saving my receipt)
Hey jimmy great video as I’m just getting back into model railroading seeing you reviews of trains is great. I live my mikoda from BLI and hope to have the layout running soon as Terra forming is done and some roadbed and track are layed out.
I have three older BL locomotives and had VERY mixed results - one worked great, one was mediocre, and one is a "shelf queen" (nice term). I had given up in disgust with them. Very good video, I might have to give them another chance.
I've bought a lot of BLI, including a bunch of factory refurbished. All N.
Only had one actual issue, which I was able to repair at home. (An intermittent short caused by two heat shrinks fused together).
My only other complaint is the bad color matching for the B&M diesels... I'm sure they used the correct EMD stated maroon color... But In reality EMD sprayed that OVER a full body of gold. Making it more red.
In both cases. I can forgive it.
You could solder a thin looped flexible wire between the contact and the bogie so that it is not reliant on the physical contact.
I've never owned a Broadway Limited Imports locomotive (mostly because of past stories involving decoder issues from others that owned them), but this will probably change when they announce the Frisco 4-8-2 Mountains (something they've been hinting at for months as a potential future brass-hybrid HO model, no word if they will do an N scale variant as of this writing). I'm glad they're addressing the past issues with their locomotives and rectifying them. They certainly look good and it also looks like they've vastly improved the sound as well!
Thanks for the video. My n scale kato's are great but BLI is the only one who makes CSX C60ac. I may have to give BLI another look.
Awesome. Great video. My SD70ACE is in transit.
Broadway Limited kept me the same since I heard they made amazing locomotives.
Jimmy everybody has their own opinions about Broadway Limited and I’m one that is not a happy camper. I have 4 Paragon 4 locomotives and each one has a mind of its own. Send one to be fixed because it just quit running. It’s still not right. I do like some of there rolling stock. Thanks for sharing. Have a good weekend. 😎😎 👍
Ok I have to improve pickup on my paragon 3`s. I hope that fixes this.
BTW, other brands have also lubricate excessively provoking electrical connectivity issues to even reaching motor brudhes and then smoking..
Try the rolling thunder, it changes everything!
Unfortunately, BLI seems not to have a good quality control. You can get a engine running without any issues over many exhibition days. ( my experience 50%). Some (mostly steam engines, do not run great out of the box. They are shaking, wobbling and so on. Seems they are not properly asembled. (Had to send back two of my total 4 Paragon 4 steam engines)) On Diesels Paragon 3 I had one decoder failure so the engine produced a short after 4 hours of operation. (1 of 4) On Paragon 4 I had no decoder issue yet, but I had to send the NW2 back because something cracked on one bogie after 3 hours of operation. Repair with shipping takes around 3 month from Germany.
I had a Paragon4 Penn Central RSD15 I think it was, until a couple months ago. It always ran great and I had no problems. I ended up selling it to go with more CSX.
Love me some SD70ACe's! I've got several, actually too many, of them for my HO scale layout. Only 1 NS though.
I have always enjoyed the broadway limited ho scale items I have gotten. From their engines to rolling stock. I have never had the chance to own any of the n scale line. But as I’m debating on whether to do a larger ho layout or a small n scale layout for my first real go at a proper layout. It’s good to know that their n scale offerings are now that much better
bli n scale engines are my favorites, scale trains next, atlas and kato up there also. the bli 70 ton hoppers are my favs, got a ton of them
I'm just getting back into the joint after my dad passed away when I started it was Kato USA for loco and Micro Trains for cars as the best there was has that shifted in last 10 years ?
Thanks for this video! Could you please give the exact model number of the soundtraxx sound decoder you used? I'm going to pull the trigger and get both the loco and the sound decoder.
Their P2 locomotives were soldered wires and the EMD E units in P3 era were as well. They are a pain to convert to other brand decoders. I have 3 P2 E units that are going to be getting ESU here soon as I’m done dealing with the P2 decoders.
had isues with mine, may have to give a 2nd shot
Broadway limited HO is definitely where it’s at 👌
I have a pair of CSX that are awesome!
I want to like BL, but my first one had to have a new decoder before i could use it. They sent a new one, but not after I shipped the old one back (I had to pay for shipping) As I like the smoke on their N-scale big boy, I decided to try it. Bad decoder again. Did the swap thing and still no go. I sent the loco back ( shipping on my dime) and that was back in May. Still waiting for it to come back.
I am looking for a small N-scale switcher, and really like their switchers, BUT with 2 out of 2 not working out of the box, I will be lookin elsewhere. Any ideas?
The next run of the switchers will have stealth options so you will be able to put your own decoder in it. Kato has some coming out too, but only in a few roadnames.
@@DIYDigitalRailroad THANKS. I really like my Kato locos, so that is good news.
Hello how are you? Great video. My experience with BLI has been horrible. I bought an expensive model, and the truth is it never worked well. Lack of weight, a lousy decoder, poor contact quality, complex to program with Paragon 3, etc. I had to make it again and honestly, it still doesn't work as well as a Kato or a Tomix. The price is excessive for a product of such low quality and of course, I wouldn't risk buying another one.
5:01 its not actually, look at where the stripes are on the front, there are supposed to be ones on the side but they aren’t there.
How many inches high is the mountain ridge in your yard?
The only issue I have with one of my BLI is with a Paragon SD40-2 which waddles as soon as it rolls on the rails. Never found out why and besides the body always seems lopsided.
I will stick to what is easily available to me here in Europe.
We'll get it on a boat to you! haha.
I have 2 paragon 4 sd40-2's and they both run like crap. One even arrived doa and had to be replaced. I dont know that I can take the risk on them again.
My friend had two bli paragon 4 sd70 ace he had problems with both of them, he sold both of them never buying again.
My Paragon4 sd40-2 died two months out of the box, sent me a new decoder and it still didn't fix it ☹️
Try z scale, THEN you’ll feel like a second class citizen!
Drinking Kauai Peaberry lately…. Good stuff!