I just received one. It's a nice model, not quite Scaletrains or Athearn Genesis level of detail, but "just enough" (IMHO). It is heavy! I don't care for the smoke, I think it's a bit gimmicky,. So, that's easy, I turned it off. An issue I've found is that it doesn't program reliably using JMRI, something I'm still working through. Other than those minor quibbles, I'm pleased! Thanks for your review! Oh - I must complement you on your layout. Your scenery is spot on, just amazing, and I love, love the level of detail you've included. Your work reminds me of Pelle Soeborg's efforts. You both absolutely capture the essence of the Southwest. Beautiful!
I’m glad you were happy with yours. There are many mixed emotions with this locomotive. I am enjoying this model. It runs well and looks good. Strange that you are having issues with JMRI. I was able to program this with my Digitrax DCS 52. I don’t have much experience with JMRI. I hope you are successful in programming yours. Thank you for the compliment on my layout. Pelle has been my inspiration for building this type of scenery. Pelle does incredible work. I love the desert as I grew up in it. Thank you for the compliments and thank you for watching my video!
Thanks for the comparison! I have had issues with BLI in the past and I will not purchase any more of their products! Athearn,Atlas and Scale Trains are quality and they stand behind their products!! Love the UNION PACIFIC 🇺🇸
I got 6 of these monsters coming in, 4 of them are UP; 4141, 9096, 1943 (for 844), and 1996 (for 4014), and I have two MRL units the Essential workers and Veterans unit. They’re all stealth as they’ll be getting Tsunami 2.
Nice dude! You’re going to enjoy them! They are heavy and great smooth runners. I think I might pick another one up. I really like this locomotive. Thank you for watching!
@ Well, I hope yours are trouble free, but take a look at some of these comments. Go take a look at other BLI product reviews. Go read some forum posts. I’m not saying it’s 100% bad news. But that, combined with my personal experiences mean two things. 1. I’m not buying anymore BLI, and 2. I tell people my experiences and they can do with that information as they please.
Thanks for doing the comparison. Once again Broadway is a notch below the likes of Scaletrains and Athearn when it comes to diesels. The extra weight of the diecast is not worth the loss of details, and the sounds are terrible... I dont have a single Broadway diesel and I probably never will. They should just stick to steam, they excel at that.
Thank you for watching! I agree the other manufacturers have better sound and detail and all around appearance. At first I was not at all impressed when I opened the box. It’s interesting though, I really enjoyed this locomotive. It was fun and exciting! The smoke and sounds just reminded me of O gauge trains. I do agree that BLI does excel at steam. Thanks again!
@@ryantaylor3278i agree with you. I just wished ScaleTrains would give us more SD-40 of the big RR like UP and NS……feels like an eternity when the last NS SD40 was available
BLI needs to do two things in my opinion to make the sound as good as Athearn. They need to use Soundtraxx decoders and Sountraxx cugar cube speakers or even possibly use Scale Spund Systems speakers.
I think all manufacturers need better speakers. They should source out to Scale Sound Systems for their speakers. I want to hear more bass from both diesel’s and steam engines. I think BLI could put a bigger speaker in the tenders of their steamers for more bass. Thank you for watching!
Awesome I will purchase just one ....hopefully they will address the missing mu hose on the next run......major screw up but I can add one from the walthers kit. I love the horn....as with athearn the horn sounds awful......muffled mess...nice looking but fragile as hell. Nicely done trying die-cast BLI
This is really is a gorgeous locomotive regardless of the missing detail and such. I would like to buy one more. I really the like the horn on this engine. Sounds great. I know what you mean about the horn in the Tsunami. It was worse on the older decoders. Thank you for watching!
A me personalmente piace più il BLI che non l Athearn, anche se quest ultimo ha più dettagli...il fatto che il BLI è in metallo, inclusi i corrimano, è top! Bel video, saluti dall Italia!
great review!! but i think that the Broadway limited one is not really worth it to me because be sides the smoke and it being diecast. there not much to it you know only two different horns and no optional bells. while the athearn has 39 or 40 different horns and 20 different bells and the sound quality is so much better on the athearn one. also the athearn is 270usd on train world and from athearn its 350usd and the Broadway limited is 449usd. and there looks to be a lot more detail on the athearn then on the Broadway limited .so i don't know but i think the athearn is better?.
Thank you for the compliment on the review. I do agree with you that the Athearn model is better in the detail department, sound and all around appearance. I do agree on the price point, I’m not sure the price is on par with the model. I like the features such as the smoke unit and the die cast construction. I think the price could be a little different to be more appealing. I would buy the Athearn version over this model if I want to build a more prototypical train. But, I like the experience while running the BLI unit. The sounds and smoke unit just make the engine fun and exciting. It’s just a different experience seeing the smoke fill the room and smell the diesel scented smoke fluid. I think I would pick up one more UP loco to run with this one just for the fun that I had with this locomotive. Thank you for watching!
At first look, I was thinking....the relief looks really good. But, after your review, I could see the BLI relief was bloaty looking as most die-cast models are. Plastic is the best medium to work with. Brass has the details along with the thickness (as in the cab walls), If you can afford and acquire, with its scarcity, nowadays. Should have borrowed a brass SD70ACe for the comparison.😊 Sorry, my brass collection doesn't have any Tier 4 locomotives. The 64 of them go from first to third generations only. Cheers!😉😎
@@RonStanek Oh definitely. When I first opened the box I was excited and figured it looked great. After looking at it for a few seconds I was surprised at how chunky everything looked. All in all I still love the model because of its own personality. I really would have like to put all three up against an OMI Brass model. That would have been an intense review. Thank you for watching!
As someone who has a steam fleet of BLI steam and a good amount of early gen 1 diesels from BLI, I have to say that BLI really needs to stick with their bread and butter offerings and that is steam and early diesels. I am glad that they do DCC ready, which is what I mainly preorder and buy now these days, unless it is models thay are from older runs thatnI can add to my PRR fleet and have to hardwire with TCS. It is nice that it has that extra weight, but these modern diesels need to have all these extra details that modelers expect to see compared with the competitors that already have grasped their interest. The smoke unit is a neat gimmick for HO, but can be problematic long term and add one more potential liability. It is neat, but looking at what others say and what this review shows, it really is something that BLI did not need to invest money into. Some will disagree, but I am looking at this from a market diversity and fulfillment standpoint, as well as being compared with competitors who have done these modern engines best for a very long time now.
After having to send several of my BLI products back for repairs right after buying them, I'm done with BLI. Struggled through the years of the QSI strict compliant decoders that needed to reboot when transitioning between power sections that weren't perfectly matched. As mentioned in other posts, the sound is lacking. ScaleTrains is eating their lunch.
After reading that ScaleTrains bought MTH’s tooling a while back I’m curious if ScaleTrains will produce an SD70ACe. If they do I think it might blow Athearn’s out of the water. With a Lok sound decoder I think it would be the ultimate SD70ACe. I really hope they consider it.
@modelrailroadingthesouthwest I think its on their list but I think scaletrains has chewed a lot more than they can swallow at the moment. They have purchased a very wide range of tooling from MTH and others like Fox Vally but have been going at a snails pace to re-tool them for their motors and electronics. The only thing announced was the J class steam locomotives. All while they are having a major downturn in QC of their own original products. Mostly outright sloppy wiring and many cases of defective motors. I myself have witnessed over 8 motors fail in the last 6 months including some of my own.
Bli makes very good steam locomotives, but I feel that other manufactuers do a much better job with the diesels. I chose the Athearn ones over the bli models. Die cast is nice for pulling power, but the rotating bearing on the Genesis models do it for me.
Please add me to the list of people who had a bad experience and will not buy any more BLI stuff. I appreciate your review and I watched it with interest and optimism but my feelings are not changed with this model.
@@ronaldbrooks5982 I have yet to see a BLI GP30 and F7s in person. Based off of photos they look real nice. I have some BLI E1s and they look gorgeous! Thank you for watching!
Hmm not sure how I feel about this. The weight is nice but the molding of the metal looks a bit chunky and soft, sort of toy like. Also all that molded in detail is a bit silly. Not sure I'd pay a lot of money for this. Props to BLI for trying something new with a die cast shell but not sure it was executed well. Also I think BLI goofed by making the same road number as Athearn, so there really is no reason to buy the BLI one.
I agree with you on the appearance. That’s sort of why it reminded me of an O gauge locomotive. I like this model because it has its own personality. It’s fun and exciting like running an O gauge train. It’s just a different experience running this model compared to an Athearn or ScaleTrains model. It is pricey though! Thank you for watching man!
So a couple of things. The quality of the Athearn unit is better in almost every way, including mold detail, separately applied details, accuracy, and sound. For those who may not know too much about prototype-specific details hears a few I noticed: UP Locomotives do not have flashing ditch lights, so negative points there, both horns are wrong for this unit, missing MU cable detail, along with many standard parts on Athearn locos. And price, charging this much money for a SD70ACe is BS, shame on you BLI, shame on you.
I find it strange that they added the flashing ditch lights along with inaccurate horns. I was surprised when I found that it was lacking details. This model is pretty pricey! Thank you for watching!
So what happens on the Broadway Limited? If I don’t want to use smoke at all do they have a dip switch or a switch built-in that I can shut the smoke unit off and run it?
Yea there is a switch. I forgot to show where the switch is. It’s under the radiator fans. Just remove it and there is small switch. There instructions in the package.
The EMD engine sounds good, but the horn could be better, along with the inaccurate flashing ditch lights. I already have 2 newer BLI diesels - an ES44 and an AC6000 in CSX paint. I am trying to get my hands on a Paragon2 or QSI sound decoder for the AC6000 (to replace the Paragon3 sound) because BLI used to have very good sound in the AC6000s before Paragon3. Besides having different horns, my ES44 and AC6000 both are Paragon3 and sound exactly the same. The sound is not very realistic for either of them, but I am actually content with it for the ES44. I realize I really can't stand having the same sound from the AC6000, especially compared to the Paragon2 sound. That is a new project I plan to start (and maybe finish) next month.
Yeah definitely! I really like the horn for some reason. Just has a cool sound to me. I do have some old QSI diesel engines, that’s about it. I can see how the prime mover sounding the same in both can be annoying. I sort of wish that BLI would go with Lok Sound decoders. I think that would improve the sound quality and reliability. I’m sure they do enjoy having their decoders built in house and not being outsourced. I thinking about ordering the new BLI collectors club locos. I’ll see how those sound. Thank you for watching!
@@modelrailroadingthesouthwest Oh yes, it sounds like it's supposed to be an older K5LLA, which can be accurate. However, most of them will have Raised Letter K5LLAs (sounds like the Athearn horn). I've been watching video clips of BLI Paragon2 (or earlier) AC6000s, and their sound is so unique and superior compared to Paragon3 versions. I came to my senses and put that idea on my list.
@@yzfmike84 it’s the sound of someone walking on the ballast. I thought it was the coal at first too but BLI reported that it was an engineer or conductor of walking on the ballast.
Kudos to BLI for producing die-cast modern diesel locomotives just a notch below brass diesel locomotives. I would say most of us have or had die-cast automobiles and trucks from MatchBox and Hot Wheels and some of the details were a little less than desirable, but at least better than plastic. I wouldn't be surprised if Athearn and Scale Trains would follow suit to produce their diesel locomotives in die-cast as a side offering from their plastic models..
It was interesting that BLI decided to do a die cast locomotive. It’ll be a matter of time to see if others follow suit. This model reminds me a lot of die cast masters locomotive they made a while back.
@@ZhaoYun3154 the trucks seem to be plastic. They don’t feel like metal. Based off of preproduction photos, they look like plastic. Thank you for watching!
I like both decoders. They both sound good. I think I might prefer the sound of the Lok decoders. They sound a little more realistic to me especially with some good quality speakers.
There is only the engineer. There is no conductor. No matter how I tried to get a good angle with the camera I couldn’t show the cab figure. The windows are thick which made it difficult to show the figure.
Cant get a athearn out of the box with out broken handrails or parts following off....id rather get a broadway undecorated and detail as well as paint and decal myself for ALL....
how? He covered the difference of nearly every brand not just athearn and pulled a long train with it. This guy didnt even mention the ditch lights flashing was inaccurate. Did you even watch jlw video? what universe was this better? jlw's has more views by far in no time so not a whole lot of people agree with your opinion.
@mikolee9484 yes I did. But I have a hard time watching his stuff. It's like an elaborate troll account. "I don't know what this is but it looks right"
@ModelRailroadTips well he mentioned more wrong with the model than this guy did. The guy covers every era of model so pretty hard to know it all but glad you do! Most people can figure out on their own if its right or wrong if they care that much. to each his own I suppose.
jlw was the first one to do videos like this I think, him or Al Mayo. Either way people like this man just replicate what those two did years ago so I will take jlw anytime over copy cats.
What a waste of time and money for BLI. Producing a worse version of one of the most over produced diesels in HO. I think most of us would have preferred to see them invest in tooling for another steam locomotive instead.
I think manufacturers should work on new never before produced locomotives. Manufacturers are making new tooling for locomotives that have already saturated the market. Thank you for watching!
I just received one. It's a nice model, not quite Scaletrains or Athearn Genesis level of detail, but "just enough" (IMHO). It is heavy! I don't care for the smoke, I think it's a bit gimmicky,. So, that's easy, I turned it off. An issue I've found is that it doesn't program reliably using JMRI, something I'm still working through. Other than those minor quibbles, I'm pleased! Thanks for your review! Oh - I must complement you on your layout. Your scenery is spot on, just amazing, and I love, love the level of detail you've included. Your work reminds me of Pelle Soeborg's efforts. You both absolutely capture the essence of the Southwest. Beautiful!
I’m glad you were happy with yours. There are many mixed emotions with this locomotive. I am enjoying this model. It runs well and looks good. Strange that you are having issues with JMRI. I was able to program this with my Digitrax DCS 52. I don’t have much experience with JMRI. I hope you are successful in programming yours. Thank you for the compliment on my layout. Pelle has been my inspiration for building this type of scenery. Pelle does incredible work. I love the desert as I grew up in it. Thank you for the compliments and thank you for watching my video!
Thanks for the comparison! I have had issues with BLI in the past and I will not purchase any more of their products! Athearn,Atlas and Scale Trains are quality and they stand behind their products!! Love the UNION PACIFIC 🇺🇸
Thank you for watching! I love the Union Pacific too!
I got 6 of these monsters coming in, 4 of them are UP; 4141, 9096, 1943 (for 844), and 1996 (for 4014), and I have two MRL units the Essential workers and Veterans unit. They’re all stealth as they’ll be getting Tsunami 2.
Nice dude! You’re going to enjoy them! They are heavy and great smooth runners. I think I might pick another one up. I really like this locomotive. Thank you for watching!
I’m guessing half of them will have to go back for warranty work lol.
@@readingthebible5413 why would they? They’re all stealth runs so they’ll have a superior decoder in them.
@ Well, I hope yours are trouble free, but take a look at some of these comments. Go take a look at other BLI product reviews. Go read some forum posts. I’m not saying it’s 100% bad news. But that, combined with my personal experiences mean two things. 1. I’m not buying anymore BLI, and 2. I tell people my experiences and they can do with that information as they please.
Thanks for doing the comparison. Once again Broadway is a notch below the likes of Scaletrains and Athearn when it comes to diesels. The extra weight of the diecast is not worth the loss of details, and the sounds are terrible... I dont have a single Broadway diesel and I probably never will. They should just stick to steam, they excel at that.
Thank you for watching! I agree the other manufacturers have better sound and detail and all around appearance. At first I was not at all impressed when I opened the box. It’s interesting though, I really enjoyed this locomotive. It was fun and exciting! The smoke and sounds just reminded me of O gauge trains. I do agree that BLI does excel at steam. Thanks again!
You buy the steam engines, and I will buy the SD40-2s and C30-7s....
@@ShawnCalayScaletrains versions of the SD-40-2s are better, and I have multiples...
@@ryantaylor3278i agree with you. I just wished ScaleTrains would give us more SD-40 of the big RR like UP and NS……feels like an eternity when the last NS SD40 was available
@@TobiasL1000 I recommend getting a non sound model and installing a digitrax decoder with ESU sound. Best way to do it in my opinion.
BLI needs to do two things in my opinion to make the sound as good as Athearn. They need to use Soundtraxx decoders and Sountraxx cugar cube speakers or even possibly use Scale Spund Systems speakers.
I think all manufacturers need better speakers. They should source out to Scale Sound Systems for their speakers. I want to hear more bass from both diesel’s and steam engines. I think BLI could put a bigger speaker in the tenders of their steamers for more bass. Thank you for watching!
@modelrailroadingthesouthwest I have the Athearn GP7, sounds excellent to me.
@@modelrailroadingthesouthwestIt would cost way too much money
…or just a better supplier of speakers that isn’t tied to any of those companies. Buying of those companies would cost too much
Awesome I will purchase just one ....hopefully they will address the missing mu hose on the next run......major screw up but I can add one from the walthers kit. I love the horn....as with athearn the horn sounds awful......muffled mess...nice looking but fragile as hell. Nicely done trying die-cast BLI
This is really is a gorgeous locomotive regardless of the missing detail and such. I would like to buy one more. I really the like the horn on this engine. Sounds great. I know what you mean about the horn in the Tsunami. It was worse on the older decoders. Thank you for watching!
Awesome SD70ACE UP engines Joe!!!!
Thank you Jeff! Thanks for watching!
@@modelrailroadingthesouthwest You're welcome Joe!!!
A me personalmente piace più il BLI che non l Athearn, anche se quest ultimo ha più dettagli...il fatto che il BLI è in metallo, inclusi i corrimano, è top!
Bel video, saluti dall Italia!
It’s a great model nonetheless! It’s well built and the details and durable. Thank you for watching! Greetings from the US!
great review!! but i think that the Broadway limited one is not really worth it to me because be sides the smoke and it being diecast. there not much to it you know only two different horns and no optional bells. while the athearn has 39 or 40 different horns and 20 different bells and the sound quality is so much better on the athearn one. also the athearn is 270usd on train world and from athearn its 350usd and the Broadway limited is 449usd. and there looks to be a lot more detail on the athearn then on the Broadway limited .so i don't know but i think the athearn is better?.
Thank you for the compliment on the review. I do agree with you that the Athearn model is better in the detail department, sound and all around appearance. I do agree on the price point, I’m not sure the price is on par with the model. I like the features such as the smoke unit and the die cast construction. I think the price could be a little different to be more appealing. I would buy the Athearn version over this model if I want to build a more prototypical train. But, I like the experience while running the BLI unit. The sounds and smoke unit just make the engine fun and exciting. It’s just a different experience seeing the smoke fill the room and smell the diesel scented smoke fluid. I think I would pick up one more UP loco to run with this one just for the fun that I had with this locomotive. Thank you for watching!
@@modelrailroadingthesouthwest i agree.
At first look, I was thinking....the relief looks really good. But, after your review, I could see the BLI relief was bloaty looking as most die-cast models are.
Plastic is the best medium to work with.
Brass has the details along with the thickness (as in the cab walls),
If you can afford and acquire, with its scarcity, nowadays. Should have borrowed a brass SD70ACe for the comparison.😊
Sorry, my brass collection doesn't have any Tier 4 locomotives. The 64 of them go from first to third generations only.
Cheers!😉😎
@@RonStanek Oh definitely. When I first opened the box I was excited and figured it looked great. After looking at it for a few seconds I was surprised at how chunky everything looked. All in all I still love the model because of its own personality. I really would have like to put all three up against an OMI Brass model. That would have been an intense review. Thank you for watching!
As someone who has a steam fleet of BLI steam and a good amount of early gen 1 diesels from BLI, I have to say that BLI really needs to stick with their bread and butter offerings and that is steam and early diesels. I am glad that they do DCC ready, which is what I mainly preorder and buy now these days, unless it is models thay are from older runs thatnI can add to my PRR fleet and have to hardwire with TCS. It is nice that it has that extra weight, but these modern diesels need to have all these extra details that modelers expect to see compared with the competitors that already have grasped their interest. The smoke unit is a neat gimmick for HO, but can be problematic long term and add one more potential liability.
It is neat, but looking at what others say and what this review shows, it really is something that BLI did not need to invest money into. Some will disagree, but I am looking at this from a market diversity and fulfillment standpoint, as well as being compared with competitors who have done these modern engines best for a very long time now.
I see what you mean. You made some good points and expressed some good opinions. Thank you for watching!
Great Review !!
Thank you Mike!
After having to send several of my BLI products back for repairs right after buying them, I'm done with BLI. Struggled through the years of the QSI strict compliant decoders that needed to reboot when transitioning between power sections that weren't perfectly matched. As mentioned in other posts, the sound is lacking. ScaleTrains is eating their lunch.
After reading that ScaleTrains bought MTH’s tooling a while back I’m curious if ScaleTrains will produce an SD70ACe. If they do I think it might blow Athearn’s out of the water. With a Lok sound decoder I think it would be the ultimate SD70ACe. I really hope they consider it.
@modelrailroadingthesouthwest I think its on their list but I think scaletrains has chewed a lot more than they can swallow at the moment. They have purchased a very wide range of tooling from MTH and others like Fox Vally but have been going at a snails pace to re-tool them for their motors and electronics. The only thing announced was the J class steam locomotives. All while they are having a major downturn in QC of their own original products. Mostly outright sloppy wiring and many cases of defective motors. I myself have witnessed over 8 motors fail in the last 6 months including some of my own.
Bli makes very good steam locomotives, but I feel that other manufactuers do a much better job with the diesels. I chose the Athearn ones over the bli models. Die cast is nice for pulling power, but the rotating bearing on the Genesis models do it for me.
Yeah I agree, BLI makes some gorgeous steamers. The Athearn one definitely looks gorgeous! Thank you for watching!
from the video Im liking the Athearns better but in person is always different
The Athearn does have a little more to offer in the detail department. Thank you for watching!
Please add me to the list of people who had a bad experience and will not buy any more BLI stuff. I appreciate your review and I watched it with interest and optimism but my feelings are not changed with this model.
I’ve heard and read many people have had issues with BLI. It’s unfortunate that issues like that happen. Thank you for watching!
The GP 30 ARE EXCELLENT, F7 WRE NICE.
@@ronaldbrooks5982 I have yet to see a BLI GP30 and F7s in person. Based off of photos they look real nice. I have some BLI E1s and they look gorgeous! Thank you for watching!
I have six Athearn Genesis SD70ACe Union Pacific models, no manufacturer is beating their version.
Athearn produces a top notch SD70ACe that’s for sure!
Hmm not sure how I feel about this. The weight is nice but the molding of the metal looks a bit chunky and soft, sort of toy like. Also all that molded in detail is a bit silly. Not sure I'd pay a lot of money for this. Props to BLI for trying something new with a die cast shell but not sure it was executed well. Also I think BLI goofed by making the same road number as Athearn, so there really is no reason to buy the BLI one.
I agree with you on the appearance. That’s sort of why it reminded me of an O gauge locomotive. I like this model because it has its own personality. It’s fun and exciting like running an O gauge train. It’s just a different experience running this model compared to an Athearn or ScaleTrains model. It is pricey though! Thank you for watching man!
@@modelrailroadingthesouthwest it just needs that third rail 😂
@@bearzlla dude seriously haha!
So a couple of things. The quality of the Athearn unit is better in almost every way, including mold detail, separately applied details, accuracy, and sound. For those who may not know too much about prototype-specific details hears a few I noticed: UP Locomotives do not have flashing ditch lights, so negative points there, both horns are wrong for this unit, missing MU cable detail, along with many standard parts on Athearn locos. And price, charging this much money for a SD70ACe is BS, shame on you BLI, shame on you.
I find it strange that they added the flashing ditch lights along with inaccurate horns. I was surprised when I found that it was lacking details. This model is pretty pricey! Thank you for watching!
So what happens on the Broadway Limited? If I don’t want to use smoke at all do they have a dip switch or a switch built-in that I can shut the smoke unit off and run it?
Yea there is a switch. I forgot to show where the switch is. It’s under the radiator fans. Just remove it and there is small switch. There instructions in the package.
The EMD engine sounds good, but the horn could be better, along with the inaccurate flashing ditch lights. I already have 2 newer BLI diesels - an ES44 and an AC6000 in CSX paint. I am trying to get my hands on a Paragon2 or QSI sound decoder for the AC6000 (to replace the Paragon3 sound) because BLI used to have very good sound in the AC6000s before Paragon3. Besides having different horns, my ES44 and AC6000 both are Paragon3 and sound exactly the same. The sound is not very realistic for either of them, but I am actually content with it for the ES44. I realize I really can't stand having the same sound from the AC6000, especially compared to the Paragon2 sound. That is a new project I plan to start (and maybe finish) next month.
Yeah definitely! I really like the horn for some reason. Just has a cool sound to me. I do have some old QSI diesel engines, that’s about it. I can see how the prime mover sounding the same in both can be annoying. I sort of wish that BLI would go with Lok Sound decoders. I think that would improve the sound quality and reliability. I’m sure they do enjoy having their decoders built in house and not being outsourced. I thinking about ordering the new BLI collectors club locos. I’ll see how those sound. Thank you for watching!
@@modelrailroadingthesouthwest Oh yes, it sounds like it's supposed to be an older K5LLA, which can be accurate. However, most of them will have Raised Letter K5LLAs (sounds like the Athearn horn). I've been watching video clips of BLI Paragon2 (or earlier) AC6000s, and their sound is so unique and superior compared to Paragon3 versions. I came to my senses and put that idea on my list.
Oh okay interesting. Im gonna check some videos out of the older Paragon 2 locos.
Was it really scooping some coal during the first startup on the BLI unit?
@@yzfmike84 it’s the sound of someone walking on the ballast. I thought it was the coal at first too but BLI reported that it was an engineer or conductor of walking on the ballast.
Kudos to BLI for producing die-cast modern diesel locomotives just a notch below brass diesel locomotives.
I would say most of us have or had die-cast automobiles and trucks from MatchBox and Hot Wheels and some of the details were a little less than desirable, but at least better than plastic.
I wouldn't be surprised if Athearn and Scale Trains would follow suit to produce their diesel locomotives in die-cast as a side offering from their plastic models..
It was interesting that BLI decided to do a die cast locomotive. It’ll be a matter of time to see if others follow suit. This model reminds me a lot of die cast masters locomotive they made a while back.
Does the BLI sit higher than the Athearn?
I don’t think so. They looked about the same height. When I get home I can measure them for you.
As far as horn go.....I have seen many on the CN line Battle Creek, Michigan and none sound the same.
Oh yeah there are definitely many different tones on these locomotives. Hard to pinpoint a certain horn to a locomotive sometimes.
@modelrailroadingthesouthwest Hello. I was just curious, but does this BLI model have metal trucks or are they made of plastic? Thank you.
@@ZhaoYun3154 the trucks seem to be plastic. They don’t feel like metal. Based off of preproduction photos, they look like plastic. Thank you for watching!
@@modelrailroadingthesouthwest Thank you. Keep those wheels rolling.
@@ZhaoYun3154 thanks man! Thanks for watching!
@@modelrailroadingthesouthwest I was curious, but do you prefer the latest soundtraxx decoder over loksound 5 or vice versa? Thank you.
I like both decoders. They both sound good. I think I might prefer the sound of the Lok decoders. They sound a little more realistic to me especially with some good quality speakers.
Hallmark made this type and I have the original and the gold
@@DemetriDeluna-k1h oh that’s cool! Those must definitely be cool looking.
Where is the engineering conductor inside? Don’t see anybody in the cab look at.
There is only the engineer. There is no conductor. No matter how I tried to get a good angle with the camera I couldn’t show the cab figure. The windows are thick which made it difficult to show the figure.
the broadway one looks like the handrails are too thick
@@alexg6336 I agree they are a little thick, so are the grab irons. Thank you for watching!
The Athearn version has the correct sounds.
Yeah the Tsunami decoder sounds pretty good.
I’ll never buy another BLI anything. I bought the brand new locos in the last five months and all three had issues.
Oh man I’m sorry to hear about your bad experiences. I hope they helped and fixed them for you.
Model trains has turned into rich person's hobby. Ordinary people can't afford them anymore, so sad.
Yes, they have definitely become very expensive. I remember you could buy a new quality locomotive for about $39.99.
Cant get a athearn out of the box with out broken handrails or parts following off....id rather get a broadway undecorated and detail as well as paint and decal myself for ALL....
Yeah I hear you. You never know what you’re gonna get sometimes.
So much better than jlw... thank you for this
@ModelRailroadTips thank you very much for watching! I appreciate it!
how? He covered the difference of nearly every brand not just athearn and pulled a long train with it. This guy didnt even mention the ditch lights flashing was inaccurate. Did you even watch jlw video? what universe was this better? jlw's has more views by far in no time so not a whole lot of people agree with your opinion.
@mikolee9484 yes I did. But I have a hard time watching his stuff. It's like an elaborate troll account. "I don't know what this is but it looks right"
@ModelRailroadTips well he mentioned more wrong with the model than this guy did. The guy covers every era of model so pretty hard to know it all but glad you do! Most people can figure out on their own if its right or wrong if they care that much. to each his own I suppose.
jlw was the first one to do videos like this I think, him or Al Mayo. Either way people like this man just replicate what those two did years ago so I will take jlw anytime over copy cats.
What a waste of time and money for BLI. Producing a worse version of one of the most over produced diesels in HO. I think most of us would have preferred to see them invest in tooling for another steam locomotive instead.
I think manufacturers should work on new never before produced locomotives. Manufacturers are making new tooling for locomotives that have already saturated the market. Thank you for watching!