Don’t sit on this one, though. Go to Broadway’s website and on the Contact Us category click on it and e-mail them. Let them know of the inaccuracy and your displeasure. Customer feedback does make a difference. They definetly need to know that serious Rock Island customers might not open their wallets for this one.
You’re right in that BLI will be facing more competition as these other manufacturers jump onto the sound “wagon”. That’s good for us!
They also seem to have goofed on the color of the striping on the B&M E7A. It shouldn’t have a metallic sheen to it. I have heard, fourth hand, BLI is consider replacement shells. If so, that would be a tremendous effort of goodwill.
I have noticed a tendency on the 'net for modellers to bash BLI. It is true some models have had issues, but all the stories I have head have happy endings – the company makes good. Usually, the Internet rumor dog is worse than his bite.
Certainly, every major producer has had issues. Remember the “wrong” cab roof angle on the Atlas GP40’s? The never-in-service truck pairings on the early P2K BL-2?
Broadway has released a lot of product in a short amount of time. Hopefully, their learning curve will be accelerated, too.
In the meantime, they have produced some absolutely stunning steam models. The PRR M1 is an all-time great model.
they also messed up the blue on the Chicago & Eastern Illinois E7’s. every picture i have of C&EI E and F units show them being a dark blue, but the BLI units are very light…kinda like that old AHM BL2.
and the mistakes on the SD40-2’s are too numerous to mention. but i cant criticize those because the pictures are still only of preproduction samples. they have admitted that the fuel tanks will all be the same size. they are supposed to be shorter on the Milwaukee units. for the price they are charging, they should be correct.
then they come out with the Santa Fe steam loco on gray??? the excursion version of 3751 was never gray.
and they say they are only coming out with one body style of the AC6000…there are tons of differences between the AC6000’s owned by the different railroads.
and yes, i have expressed all my concerns directly to BLI. and yes, they do make some excellent steam locomotives. i think they really need to SLOW DOWN and think about what they are doing. i guess they think that just because they come with a great sound system, someone will buy them no matter what they look like or how far away from the actual prototype they are.
BLI, please slow down. you dont need to pump out model after model. take the time to do them correctly and you will have a heck of a lot more satisfied customers.
BLI are probably scrambling to make as much as they can now, while they can. All the other main makers are breathing down their necks with sound equipped offerings. For now they have been able to sell everything they have built without any difficulty as we all scramble to buy the latest innovation in factory installed sound systems. When other high quality makers hit the street, those that want sound will have more chices as to where to spend their hard earned hobby dollars. I suspect that the surge of activity from BLI is an attempt to get as many of these dollars off the table before the others really hit the market. What we can hope for is that if supply of sound equipped locos starts to exceed demand and the novelty of it fades that the pricing will start to pull back. It will be interesting to see how companies like Soundtraxx respond. I would assume that they are being hit hard by this market dynamic?
You hit the nail on the head with a sledghammer. Well put!
The novelty of sound will wear off as did the: VCR, Cell Phone, CD player and gaming systems like the Play Station. Sound systems will become a normal accessory for those that want it with even more options available.
This seems petty but being a “locomotive horn nut”, I’ve criticized BLI (even e-mailed them) because some of the prototype diesel horn sounds are incorrect for the particular locomotive or road that BLI would put on the market. ( I.E–NYC E7s were mostly honkers, and the majority of modern six axle CSX units have K5La horns or K5Hs). BLI apparently did the “one horn fits the entire model line” approach, perhaps feeling that most modelers won’t nit pick. With the horn websites that are up from clubs and collectors, this may change in the future. Matt Donnelly’s site is a good one.
BLI responded back telling me that programming the horn sound was a simple matter for them, but I’ve noticed that they’ve made no changes. I realize that’s it’s likely about cost. But as this technology progresses, we’ll able to pick, match, and choose particular sounds which is what Soundtraxx currently offers, however, not with the same dynamic quality sound as the QSI system, at least not yet. This is what the upcoming Tsunami decoder and Surroundtraxx are supposed to offer, however, they are expensive. Competiton and the novelty wearing out would benefit us.
I am looking forward to seeing more companies jumping on this bandwagon.
Actually, they “screwed up” because they didn’t bother to consult the Rock Island Technical Society and/or a RITS member like Jeff Prince, who IS the authority on RI paint schemes.
Atlas does detailed research using knowledgable sources to produce a quality product, and so should Broadway.
BLI is not alone in the horn area. Atlas is about to release a Train Master with entirely inappropriate horns for some of the roadnames. I alerted them to this in February, but they looked at me like I was nuts.
The BLI SD40-2 is a one-size fits all. Atlas has been getting away with this too, to some extent. Surely the new Atheran SD70MACs set the new standard for road-number-specific detailing.
We’ve come to expect an awful lot thanks to so many Chinese-made models coming with every widget glued on. I am worried that not only are we hurting domestic workers, but we are setting ourselves up for an expectation of price and detail that cannot last in the global market.
Oh, for an American made, P2K quality train with a Made in USA sound system.
Thanks Rob…I am getting a little tired of hearing the BLI bashing that goes on. IMHO BLI makes great engines! I am truely in love with my CB&Q E7’s! BLI’s customer service is truely awesome. I had a problem with some of the electronics in my NYC Hudson that had been in storage for a year…they sent replacement parts at no charge…one year later.
Yes I am not extremely happy with the grey paint on the ATSF northern, but I’ll deal or have it painted. BLI is the first to bring about QUALITY, road specific steamers. I agree that for the cost of these engines they should be as near perfect as they can be, but I will also give them the credit they deserve!
Thanks BLI and we could still use some D&RGW steamers! [;)]