Broadway Limited Paragon2 versus Paragon3 motors

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I asked BLI Technical Support if Paragon3 engines got different motors than Paragon2 engines. There was some talk about P2’s having skew-wound five-pole motors with carbon brushes and P3’s having 3-pole copper-finger brush motors. I also mentioned to them that P2’s were advertised with 5-pole skew-wound motors, but P3’s have no mention of that in their descriptions.

Here is the answer I very promptly and courteously received from BLI Technical Support:

"The answer is that it depends on the locomotive.

Some Paragon3 projects were run with a 3 pole motor and some were ran with a 5 pole.

I do not have a comprehensive list of what run had what motor installed - we don’t keep records or spreadsheets like that - but I can tell you that beginning November 2019 all projects have the exact same 5 pole motor with a varistor installed to arrest any internal shorts or spikes in current.

They are very reliable and efficient.

I don’t know why it’s not advertised."

2

Very useful - thanks both to you and BLI.

3

Double post. Pardon et moi.

4

Congratulations on getting a response from BLI. I’ve emailed them say 5 times in 15 years and never had a reply on anything I even recall in 2012 ordering and paying for a part and waiting 2 months for it to arrive and in the end I had to call them.

I would say normally if it’s something that I can order impersonally online I have no issues.

5

It was helpful to get a response from BLI, but it does seem ridiculous not to keep records on which motor was installed with each project.

Rich