I bought 5 BLI N-Scale Engines (4 ES44AC's and 1 SD 40-2) over the past 3 months and I've RETURNED 4 OF THEM! They look and sound great, I will admit that, and I love the one I've kept (CN ES44AC). But of the 4 I returned, 2 grinded and stuttered around my track, 1 ran 3 inches and stopped cold (the SD-40-2), and one kept shorting at switches. It's not my track or layout, I have 8 Kato's that run great on my layout. It's a Pig and Poke I think with Broadway Limited and there is no quality control. Be prepared to return it if you buy it.
Thank you! Wow. I had the same exact experience. Purchased 3 of them total - Two ES44ACs and one switcher. One of the ES44ACs works great. The other one just makes obnoxious clicking noises that I can't fix, and the switcher just surges and pulses along the track. If it were one engine, hey - every now and then you get a lemon. But 2 out of 3? Come on.
@@chriskuhn219 Sound really has changed the game hasn't it? I just purchased 2 ATLAS GOLD GP 38's ($158 per unit from Trainmasters with FREE SHIPPING). They run great and have Loksound. I miss the announcements that we have programmed into the BLI, but hey, they RUN... and that is with only 4 axles of pickup of the Geeps!!! Other than Kato, which are tanks, I'd recommend the ATLAS GOLD series as well.
@@paulondra19 agree that Katos are just about bulletproof. I have one Kato SD40-2 that I have taken apart and put back together a half dozen times for various reasons, and it's still just as smooth and quiet as the day I got it. It's not quite as detailed, but at the end of the day if a train won't run it's no good to me :)
I just bought my first Broad Way limited Ho scale NSX EMD SD40 -2 Paragon 4 Rolling Thunder DCC with sound at or local train show. I am running it on a Bachmann Easy Track with the basic Bachmann transformer so I am just getting the basic engine sound for now. I do like it better than my Bachmann locomotives which have stopped working after 3 years.
Thanks RTNT, I'm usually not one to buy a diesel with sound but unfortunately no one else has a Southern Heritage ES44AC. Replacing 4 of my Kato UP ES44ACs with 2 of these. Will look amazing pulling my Southern Heritage freight on the club layout.
Freaking MTH Proto Sounds in big O scale stuff still has me gobsmacked and it's been around over two decades. The fact that you can pull this off in tiny N scale these days is mindblowing.
Great review Ron. I bought my first and only sound equipped Locomotive back in September, it is a BLI N Scale CSX, SD40-2 and every time I run it I just can’t believe how well it runs and the quality of the sound. I use 128 speed steps and it runs very smooth throughout all of the speed steps. Like yours, it does not like dirty track !!! I am waiting for BLI to come out with a N Scsle GG1, as they recently released the HO version. I am modeling the Baltimore area Railroads, from the 40’s through today, right now I have a 3x6 layout that I built 40 some years ago it has two ovals with two single crossovers, a dead end siding on the outside of each side of the outer loop, a spur that splits into two tracks and a switchback off of one of them. The curves on both ends were made with easements that were laid out using same process as yours. Although after watching your video on laying out curves I tore up the track from my curves and relayed it using your method of using painters tape to super elevate the curves. My plans are to cut my current layout into sections and incorporate them into a larger layout with scenes from my prototypes that I have seen throughout my life, but I have to wait until we move later this year. Barry Broyles
One of the issues I've seen with BLI locomotives (I have a few) is that the electrical pickup is a bit different. On other locomotives, the metal axel ends are inside a copper "cup" on the pickup strip on the truck. But, with BLI, those cups have holes in the ends for the axle ends to go through. This presents a potential continuity issue. One way to solve this is to use conductive oil on the cups.
Thanks as always for a thorough video. As far as my impression (especially the slow speed progression) is... You've got some REALLY nicely weathered rolling stock...
The KCS barber pole's a yellow tape on the step rails. Micro scale does a decal to simulate it. They did get the DB vents correct unlike FVM. I'm not a fan of onboard sound in N scale. I prefer my Surround Trax that can rattle the windows. LOL Wish they offered a just a DCC only model. BLI is doing some nice work just don't need it with sound. Nice review!
Thanks for the info on the hand rails. Funny thing is I recently photographed a few of these on the main in Joplin, MO. The stripes are close enough together that you have to really zoom in to notice they are not solid yellow. As for sound, I know its not for everyone, but this one has decent sound for those who are into that.
Great. Got CSX in the same box. Struggling to program till now. But the detailing is great. Problems are with the decoder. If I did not run it regularly, I have to reset decoder (and CVs always gives errors).
Can't tell you how much I enjoy your reviews and other videos. How's the SW1200 - Walthers little switcher running these days, has it improved after break in since the decoder install? I got the impression you were not overly impressed. Thanks so much, Mario
You are correct that I was not overly impressed, but since I had one of these from the Life Like days, I was not surprised. I don't run it a lot, so It runs about the same. One of thes days I need to just run it like crazy for a day and see what happens.
Like the loco a lot have a couple of them and agree about the cab lights. Luckily that can be remedied in the programming. Thanks for sharing great review stay safe. Tim
Great video, thanks so much for taking it apart as I was curious about mine. I'm not sure if you have run their Sd70ace but the cab light is definitely dimmer but functions exactly the same. I was hoping to consist mine with the Katos but I'm not sure since they run so differently. I'm waiting patiently for your "Rolling Thunder" video as I plan on purchasing more from BLI
I have a pair of the SD70ACe's that I will review next. Lashing up different brands of sound decoders is tricky. I've not had good luck doing it. I try to keep my lashups with decoders from the same mfgr. As for the Rolling Thunder system, it is an interesting concept, but I'll save the rest for the video.
Great review! I've been thinking about getting one of these. I like how in depth you go especially showing the locomotive without the shell. I have an SD40-2 in n scale right now. Beautiful detail and really smooth operation. I also have run into my locomotive stalling if the track isn't perfectly clean. I wonder how BLI could improve that?
Good Video Ron, I need to find someone to change the couplers or even the trucks on a good number of N Scale trucks and Engines to the Micro Train couplers Can you recommend a company or anyone that can do this for me James
I don't know off the top of my head, but why don't you do it? Replacing trucks with MTLs on rolling stock is super easy, and locomotives vary from one mfgr to another, but are not really difficult.
Great review! I just got my first BLI locomotive with sound. I have the NS Conrail Heritage unit. So it appears that on your locomotives, the cab light and head lamps are a gold/yellow color, The unit have have has the cool/white (blue tint) color. Is this common and can you change the bulbs easily? I prefer the yellow/gold personally. The Kato engines have the best headlamps IMO. Thanks.
Good looking model. Wish they'd offer a version without the noisemaker, though. All that space for the speaker wasted when it could've been extra weight.
@@RonsTrainsNThings That's the point. It would be a nice option, but it's rapidly becoming mandatory now that the manufacturers can gouge us an extra $100 for $20 of Chinese electronics.
Hi Ron - I have one of these and mine is a little quirky. If I play one of the sound functions before I start moving the loco, I have to hit the change direction button twice on my throttle before it will then go forwards. But if I don’t play a sound function, I can get the loco moving forwards right away. Digitrax and BLI both said it was the other’s issue. Wondering if you had this issue with yours??
Purchased one of these in April 2020, it ran for about 12 to 15 hours and quit. Tried a decoder reset as per their (BLI) instructions and nothing. Sent in for repairs and got it back in September. This time it ran for about 4 hours and same thing, it quit. Currently back in for more repairs. As this is my first foray into DCC can someone advise if this is what to expect from BLI? I have 3 Rapidos which all run great.
I can’t speak from experience, as I’ve never purchased a BLI locomotive, but I’ve heard similar stories of BLI’s decoders crapping out on people over time
Why not compare a Kato for running and ability to pull cars side by side to see which engine is best. You can do it discreetly! Being honest completely will be appreciated by honest viewers! The Kato in my opinion is the better of the two with the same RR logos.
Have tried various things with 5 x BLI P3 locos, they are all unusably poor runners except for the one where the decoder was replaced with an ESU which runs beautifully. It's the decoder. Maybe Paragon 4 has fixed this, the web seems to offer no comment on this, which is strange. Running a Kato with ESU is fun, BLI Paragon 3 is not. Anyone tried P4?
Ron, great video. I didn't know how great until I acted on the review and purchased a BLI sd40-2 from Midwest Model Railroad. I too found the detailing surpasses most other N scale trains but I too found the details to be "sloppily" applied (Crooked / trucks off etc.) I'm not sure "durable" is the word I would use. Mine ran well out of the box and I rather like the solid sound performance and cab lighting sequencing. It's probably not "prototypical" but I like it. The sd40-2 does has a sunshade and one of the shades is poorly applied on mine. Otherwise everything is good. Your video tells me not to expect perfection out of the box. Detail pieces could be worse and operations could be way worse. I don't know whether to send it back for exchange. Mine looked better out of the box and ran better than yours. What would you do?
I’m considering purchasing one of these. I’ve heard that they run great out of the box, but start to die over time (decoders getting fried, power pickup issues, etc.) Anyone have any input?
I cannot speak to that as I've never run the HO models and thes are my first from BLI. I will say they ran better with just a bit of break in. Sound wise, they are average for N scale I would say. Definitely not a Loksound quality sound system.
Check out these great locomotives as well: th-cam.com/video/MdIX8e6mriU/w-d-xo.html
I bought 5 BLI N-Scale Engines (4 ES44AC's and 1 SD 40-2) over the past 3 months and I've RETURNED 4 OF THEM! They look and sound great, I will admit that, and I love the one I've kept (CN ES44AC). But of the 4 I returned, 2 grinded and stuttered around my track, 1 ran 3 inches and stopped cold (the SD-40-2), and one kept shorting at switches. It's not my track or layout, I have 8 Kato's that run great on my layout. It's a Pig and Poke I think with Broadway Limited and there is no quality control. Be prepared to return it if you buy it.
Thank you! Wow. I had the same exact experience. Purchased 3 of them total - Two ES44ACs and one switcher. One of the ES44ACs works great. The other one just makes obnoxious clicking noises that I can't fix, and the switcher just surges and pulses along the track. If it were one engine, hey - every now and then you get a lemon. But 2 out of 3? Come on.
@@chriskuhn219 Sound really has changed the game hasn't it? I just purchased 2 ATLAS GOLD GP 38's ($158 per unit from Trainmasters with FREE SHIPPING). They run great and have Loksound. I miss the announcements that we have programmed into the BLI, but hey, they RUN... and that is with only 4 axles of pickup of the Geeps!!! Other than Kato, which are tanks, I'd recommend the ATLAS GOLD series as well.
@@paulondra19 agree that Katos are just about bulletproof. I have one Kato SD40-2 that I have taken apart and put back together a half dozen times for various reasons, and it's still just as smooth and quiet as the day I got it. It's not quite as detailed, but at the end of the day if a train won't run it's no good to me :)
@@chriskuhn219 I totally agree Chris
I just bought my first Broad Way limited Ho scale NSX EMD SD40 -2 Paragon 4 Rolling Thunder DCC with sound at or local train show. I am running it on a Bachmann Easy Track with the basic Bachmann transformer so I am just getting the basic engine sound for now. I do like it better than my Bachmann locomotives which have stopped working after 3 years.
Thanks RTNT, I'm usually not one to buy a diesel with sound but unfortunately no one else has a Southern Heritage ES44AC. Replacing 4 of my Kato UP ES44ACs with 2 of these. Will look amazing pulling my Southern Heritage freight on the club layout.
Freaking MTH Proto Sounds in big O scale stuff still has me gobsmacked and it's been around over two decades. The fact that you can pull this off in tiny N scale these days is mindblowing.
Hey, Christopher. Yes, N scale tech has come a LONG way in the past 10 years. Improvement in cell phone speakers has been one majoor help.
Oooh! I live near the KCS Mainline so it would be cool to have one of those.
Great review Ron. I bought my first and only sound equipped Locomotive back in September, it is a BLI N Scale CSX, SD40-2 and every time I run it I just can’t believe how well it runs and the quality of the sound. I use 128 speed steps and it runs very smooth throughout all of the speed steps. Like yours, it does not like dirty track !!! I am waiting for BLI to come out with a N Scsle GG1, as they recently released the HO version. I am modeling the Baltimore area Railroads, from the 40’s through today, right now I have a 3x6 layout that I built 40 some years ago it has two ovals with two single crossovers, a dead end siding on the outside of each side of the outer loop, a spur that splits into two tracks and a switchback off of one of them. The curves on both ends were made with easements that were laid out using same process as yours. Although after watching your video on laying out curves I tore up the track from my curves and relayed it using your method of using painters tape to super elevate the curves. My plans are to cut my current layout into sections and incorporate them into a larger layout with scenes from my prototypes that I have seen throughout my life, but I have to wait until we move later this year.
Barry Broyles
Hey, Barry. It sounds like you have had a lot going on there. These are pretty nice locomotives--my first from BLI.
One of the issues I've seen with BLI locomotives (I have a few) is that the electrical pickup is a bit different. On other locomotives, the metal axel ends are inside a copper "cup" on the pickup strip on the truck. But, with BLI, those cups have holes in the ends for the axle ends to go through. This presents a potential continuity issue. One way to solve this is to use conductive oil on the cups.
That is interesting, Don. Thanks for the insight. I did not disassemble the trucks, so I didn't get quite that deep.
Thanks as always for a thorough video. As far as my impression (especially the slow speed progression) is...
You've got some REALLY nicely weathered rolling stock...
The KCS barber pole's a yellow tape on the step rails. Micro scale does a decal to simulate it. They did get the DB vents correct unlike FVM. I'm not a fan of onboard sound in N scale. I prefer my Surround Trax that can rattle the windows. LOL Wish they offered a just a DCC only model. BLI is doing some nice work just don't need it with sound. Nice review!
Thanks for the info on the hand rails. Funny thing is I recently photographed a few of these on the main in Joplin, MO. The stripes are close enough together that you have to really zoom in to notice they are not solid yellow. As for sound, I know its not for everyone, but this one has decent sound for those who are into that.
Great. Got CSX in the same box. Struggling to program till now. But the detailing is great. Problems are with the decoder. If I did not run it regularly, I have to reset decoder (and CVs always gives errors).
I gonna buy a ES44AC Ferromex in N scale Atlas analoge DC with a Ferrosur and UP . The ES44AC KCS and CN my favourite engine with sound DCC .
I agree, they are a good balance
Hey, Mike. Good to see you. These are my first BLI locomitives, but they are pretty nice overall.
@@RonsTrainsNThings They are indeed
i just installed my rolling thunder sun woofer kit, pretty awesome ron
I like the detail on these, but not a big fan of the BLI decoders. I really wish they would sell them as DC only.
Yes, several have commented the same thought. This is my first experience with BLI so I'm just learning their quirks.
Can't tell you how much I enjoy your reviews and other videos. How's the SW1200 - Walthers little switcher running these days, has it improved after break in since the decoder install? I got the impression you were not overly impressed. Thanks so much, Mario
You are correct that I was not overly impressed, but since I had one of these from the Life Like days, I was not surprised. I don't run it a lot, so It runs about the same. One of thes days I need to just run it like crazy for a day and see what happens.
I got a pair of these in ho ns and love them.
Like the loco a lot have a couple of them and agree about the cab lights. Luckily that can be remedied in the programming. Thanks for sharing great review stay safe. Tim
How do you dim the cab lights?
I purchased two of these and I'm very pleased,they just dont respond very well to dirty tracks. Great review ron:)
Several people have said the same thing, and that has been my experience with these as well. That is often the fact with sound decoders.
Hi Ron I have the AC6000 and they run great. You can get rid of the jump in speed by loading a speed table and useing cv2 cv4 . Great review
Yes, I have don that now, but for the sake of the video I wanted to show how they ran out of the box.
Great video, thanks so much for taking it apart as I was curious about mine. I'm not sure if you have run their Sd70ace but the cab light is definitely dimmer but functions exactly the same. I was hoping to consist mine with the Katos but I'm not sure since they run so differently. I'm waiting patiently for your "Rolling Thunder" video as I plan on purchasing more from BLI
I have a pair of the SD70ACe's that I will review next. Lashing up different brands of sound decoders is tricky. I've not had good luck doing it. I try to keep my lashups with decoders from the same mfgr. As for the Rolling Thunder system, it is an interesting concept, but I'll save the rest for the video.
@@RonsTrainsNThings When you do a lashup do you run sound on only the lead loco or all if equipped?
Great review! I've been thinking about getting one of these. I like how in depth you go especially showing the locomotive without the shell. I have an SD40-2 in n scale right now. Beautiful detail and really smooth operation. I also have run into my locomotive stalling if the track isn't perfectly clean. I wonder how BLI could improve that?
Im more impressed with N scale everyday!
Once you go N you'll never HO again. 😂
Thankyou
Good Video
Ron, I need to find someone to change the couplers or even the trucks on a good number of N Scale trucks and Engines to the Micro Train couplers
Can you recommend a company or anyone that can do this for me
James
I don't know off the top of my head, but why don't you do it? Replacing trucks with MTLs on rolling stock is super easy, and locomotives vary from one mfgr to another, but are not really difficult.
Very nice review 🚂
nice video and a verry nice loco
I have a n scale CP ES44AC Broadway Limited Imports just like that 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
I should have mentioned to price the engines with the same features.
Great review! I just got my first BLI locomotive with sound. I have the NS Conrail Heritage unit. So it appears that on your locomotives, the cab light and head lamps are a gold/yellow color, The unit have have has the cool/white (blue tint) color. Is this common and can you change the bulbs easily? I prefer the yellow/gold personally. The Kato engines have the best headlamps IMO. Thanks.
Good looking model. Wish they'd offer a version without the noisemaker, though. All that space for the speaker wasted when it could've been extra weight.
I get that sound is not for everyone. They are still nice models nonetheless.
@@RonsTrainsNThings That's the point. It would be a nice option, but it's rapidly becoming mandatory now that the manufacturers can gouge us an extra $100 for $20 of Chinese electronics.
I sure like reviews.
Hi Ron - I have one of these and mine is a little quirky. If I play one of the sound functions before I start moving the loco, I have to hit the change direction button twice on my throttle before it will then go forwards. But if I don’t play a sound function, I can get the loco moving forwards right away. Digitrax and BLI both said it was the other’s issue. Wondering if you had this issue with yours??
Purchased one of these in April 2020, it ran for about 12 to 15 hours and quit. Tried a decoder reset as per their (BLI) instructions and nothing. Sent in for repairs and got it back in September. This time it ran for about 4 hours and same thing, it quit. Currently back in for more repairs. As this is my first foray into DCC can someone advise if this is what to expect from BLI? I have 3 Rapidos which all run great.
I can’t speak from experience, as I’ve never purchased a BLI locomotive, but I’ve heard similar stories of BLI’s decoders crapping out on people over time
Why not compare a Kato for running and ability to pull cars side by side to see which engine is best. You can do it discreetly! Being honest completely will be appreciated by honest viewers! The Kato in my opinion is the better of the two with the same RR logos.
Have tried various things with 5 x BLI P3 locos, they are all unusably poor runners except for the one where the decoder was replaced with an ESU which runs beautifully. It's the decoder. Maybe Paragon 4 has fixed this, the web seems to offer no comment on this, which is strange. Running a Kato with ESU is fun, BLI Paragon 3 is not. Anyone tried P4?
Ron, great video. I didn't know how great until I acted on the review and purchased a BLI sd40-2 from Midwest Model Railroad. I too found the detailing surpasses most other N scale trains but I too found the details to be "sloppily" applied (Crooked / trucks off etc.) I'm not sure "durable" is the word I would use.
Mine ran well out of the box and I rather like the solid sound performance and cab lighting sequencing. It's probably not "prototypical" but I like it.
The sd40-2 does has a sunshade and one of the shades is poorly applied on mine. Otherwise everything is good. Your video tells me not to expect perfection out of the box. Detail pieces could be worse and operations could be way worse. I don't know whether to send it back for exchange. Mine looked better out of the box and ran better than yours. What would you do?
Do BWL's work well with Kato locomotives?
I’m considering purchasing one of these. I’ve heard that they run great out of the box, but start to die over time (decoders getting fried, power pickup issues, etc.) Anyone have any input?
I have one, dont do well on low speed..least for me.. great unit outta the box tho
Hey, Kory. Thanks for sharing you experience.
The horn sounded a little asthmatic, but overall it does not seem to be as good as their HO models. Just my opinion.
I cannot speak to that as I've never run the HO models and thes are my first from BLI. I will say they ran better with just a bit of break in. Sound wise, they are average for N scale I would say. Definitely not a Loksound quality sound system.
I didn’t see the ditch lights on... are they working lights?
Yes. For some reason the angle of the camera made them look very faint.
cn is the best