After seeing their Cab Forward I had to have one. So I sold off some brass and purchased a AC-5. The detail is outstanding and the sound is unbelieveable, even in the analog mode. It runs like a swiss watch, but, the shop I purchased the unit from told me that it would run on 14 inch radius, but the minimum was considered to be 22. My radius is 28 minimum. Guess what? The trailing engine derails, especially when running in reverse. Any, and I do mean any, undulations in your track work will derail the locomotive. There is not enough pressure on the trailing truck although the flat sping can be bent and that helps, but it still obviously leads the derailment process. It appears that the wires from the boiler circuit board to the tender are not flexible enough to allow the engine to track properly. The big dissapointment is that BLI doesn’t answer their mail. When you spend 400 + for a modell RR product you would expect a comensurate lever of service. Not silence. So if you are comtemplating one of these puppies I’m going to say the minimum radius is has to be 30 inches. I had an old Akane Cab Forward with a rigid front engine and it would do 28 inches.
28" radius should be fine for it. Mine takes down to 24". Make sure the wheels are in gauge and that the pony & trailing trucks swing freely. Theres not much you can do about the rear engine being a little light.
Ditto with Aggrojones on the wheel-check and truck swing. I’ve got mine running on a 34" minimum, but it was track-tested at my LHS on a 22" with no problem. In fact, you’re the first person I’ve heard this complaint from out of all the guys I have heard talk about the AC. I’d really double-check the gauge on your trailing truck. If the wires leading to the tender are too tight, the tender is a press-fit, and there’s more than likely enough slack in the wires in the tender body to ease them out a little. A 28" radius shouldn’t give you problems with ANY articulated that I can think of.
Tom
Wires are an issue. Too tight OR too loose is not good. My second class A was having problems at first derailing the trailing truck. I made sure they were split to both sides of the drawbar and pulled out a little more slack and bent the wires and it was no help. Then I got the idea and pulled all the slack back into the tender so the wires run straight across. No more problems. I noticed that the wire on the two engines is not the same stiffness.
Due to spam, and the unwillingness of the government to address the issue, email is not and will not be treated like real mail. Pick up the phone.
change any stiff wires with wire wrap wire, IE Radio Shack.
Lots to be said about sprung wheels on a large engine to track rough track.
Many brass engines do.
I’ve taken some leaf springs, then filed down the slots for the wheels then used
the springs folding them and adjusting and simply gooing them in place for down pressure on the axles gave me some capability to handle rough track. But smooth track is certainly a bonus, buld your track right.
You might want to join Broadway Limited Yahoo group.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BroadwayLimited/
I have a pair of the BLI cab forwards. Mine run very well over rough track. I’m with the other guys in suspecting the wire harness…My minimum is 28" mostly 30" . I ran them on a fairly primitive test set up with no problems…You do have the metal flap between the tender and loco on top of the deck don’t you???(just checking)
My two cents,
Guy
Someone else told me to put a shim underneath the bolt on the trailing dolly to add more weight back there. I have a BLI Hudson that derails on all of my small track errors too. I’m still working on getting everything perfect for it. Steamers are all nitpicky about what they want to run on.
Greg
This is a little of topic, but how long did it take for you all to receive your BLI loco after you ordered it or was it in stock when bought. I ordered a UP 4-8-2 on 9-18 and was just told it may not be available until after the first of the year! They also stated that they have some engines on back order from two years back. I’m going to try to find something that is in stock and try to get it around Christmas. I don’t see why they keep announcing new models when they can’t fill orders they already have.