My Blueline AC6000’s came Friday and I finally got to take a look at them yesterday. I’ll start at the begining.
I got them from Trainworld at $99.95 each, which is $20 apiece cheaper than the Discount trains online ad in the current Model Railroad News. Maybe, in this case, pre-ordering worked out.
The shipping box was large and the two loco boxes were surrounded with peanuts so they were well protected.
The individual loco boxes are sturdy with a clear window in front allowing one to view the product. There is an interior plastic cover, easily lifted off and the engine is wrapped in celophane. There are also foam inserts between the body and the handrails, protecting them from crushing. The loco sits in a styrofoam cradle with two holes in the back for easy removal. There were two silica packets in the box to maintain dryness. The paperwork is under the cradle.
The paperwork included a warranty card, instructions to add jumpers to the 8 pin plug for certain DC operations, an exploded diagram of the loco and an operators manuel. The operators manuel refers to “instructions included w/loco” but there are none. The exploded view has numbers pointing to parts but no legend or listing of definitions. Specifically, no mention of shell removal, save for a sentence in the operators manuel saying most locos shells can be removed by taking off the couplers and prying off the shell. The operators manuel does refer to the tech manuel which you can get online…136 pages.
After taking out the engine and carefully removing the protective foam from the handrails I set it down for the overall look. It is an impressive model. The painting is crisp and clean, covers well with nice striping and readable detail printing. The details, both accessory and body, including flaring around the fan housing, are well done, including the air and m.u. hoses, which are a bit shiney. The handrails ar
Actually David I’ve had good luck with the 1650’s and it was on the recomended list. The 1650’s are small, full function and have good BEMF. My only criticism would be that they are 1.5 amp decoders, which usually isn’t a problem.
Tilden-Thanks for the review. Are you saying this is a DC loco that comes with speakers installed? Does the sound work in DC or are the speakers just there for upgrading to DCC with sound?
According to the blurbs the idea is that all their locos will now come with sound that can be run in DC and the lower prices come from standardization and their development of their own sound system instead of paying license fees. The DCC boards will all plug in at your expense but all you’ll need is a regular (non-sound) decoder. If you want one with all the bits already installed, that’s what the upscale Broadway Limited and PS(?) models are for - sound and DCC factory installed. Hope that helps. J.R.
I have seen some reviews about this loco and it looks very good. The detailing is excellent and it comes in CPR paint, but thats the problem. The CPR never had any AC6000CW’s, they stuck with the AC4400CW. There is one major difference between the units (I know about the horsepower). The AC6000CW radiator section overhangs the back end. The AC4400CW has no overhang. At least they got the self-steering trucks right [:)]
Turning the sound down may not work because when you start up the loco, the sound comes on full and needs to be adjusted back down by double clicking F8. This lowers all the sounds.
Yes the AC6000 comes with two one inch or 1.25 (didn’t measure) speakers mounted in the fuel tank. The sounds will work on DC but only in an automatic mode, ie, you get motor sounds and the randomly generated engine sounds. For user activated sounds, bell horn, etc, you need to get the DCMaster Analog Control Module, which connects between the power pack and the track. This also allows you to control volume.
Huh… I’m not sure, My bad. I preped and ran the second one last night and didn’t notice if other sounds cut out completely when the horn is activated. I’ll check tonight.
I don’t think so, I don’t have a digital video cam. The sound clip on the BLI site is pretty accurate though. I adjusted the ring rate of the bell and the volume of the individual sounds and am pretty happy with the results.
I opened the second unit last night and getting it ready went much smoother. The gage on the wheels was better and no adjustments were necessary. I didn’t remove the body, simply opened the rear fan cover and slipped in the decoder. I did replace the couplers and boxes with Kadee #58’s in the newer snap coupler boxes.
Programing the loco was much quidker too, using the settings for the first loco as a guide.
They do run quite smoothly, quiet with the sound off, and pull well.
Q: What is the best method to program my BlueLine locomotives in DCC?
A: We recommend programming BlueLine locomotives on the main in Ops mode. If you do not know the engine ID/Address, or if the engine does not respond, set CV08 to 8 on the PROGRAM track using direct mode programming. This will reset all onboard addresses to the factory default of 3.
NCE PROCAB users, please note the following tips:
When changing from one 4-digit address to another 4-digit address, first reprogram the engine to engine 3. Then program to the new 4-digit address.
When programming on the program track, the NCE system will not be able to read the CV’s from the BlueLine locomotives unless the PROCAB has the latest available firmware from NCE. The BlueLine engines can still be programmed. Simply press ‘ENTER’ when the controller gives the “CANNOT READ CV” message.
DIGITRAX DT400 users, please note the following tips:
When changing from a 2-digit address to a 4-digit address, the system will ask if you want to enable 4-digit addressing. Respond by enter “Y”.
When changing from a 4-digit address to a 2-digit address, you must first enter the address, then manually reset CV29 back to its default value of 6.
When using a LENZ Silver MP decoder, cut the green wire to prevent the headlight from going out when the bell is activated.
The Master Volume is set by CV133. Its range is 0-15. The default is 15. If you do not want the volume to come on full when the engine starts, set CV133 to the desired setting. The engine will then start at the new volume.
The sounds on the AC6000 (and SD40-2 and all Blue Line engines) do not stop when the horn blows. They do get quieter to make the horn more pronounced. If you do not want this, set CV 183 to 100, which means when the whistle blows, the background sounds will be at 100% of their normal volume. Setting it to 80 or 90% sounds pretty good.
Bob Grubba
PS-This can be set with DC Master if you don’t have DCC. You don’t need a decoder to do this.