Generally I’m not happy with Paragon 2 plastic steamers, I thought the I1sa engine itself was far too fragile and not worth the money (the tender was superb though, extremely detailed, yet heavy at the same time).
The problems come in when you have to disassemble these things, depending on the model, they don’t come apart easily. My Paragon 2 I1sa wouldn’t run in reverse so I took it apart, granted, I’m not the best at this, still a novice, but I try to be as careful as possible with my hands. Well, that was a disaster. I’m not blaming Broadway, it could just be my lack of modelling skills, but that was the turning point for me anyway, no more plastic steamers.
Another problem engine was the hudson. I have seen three of these things new behind the display case, and all are missing a marker light that apparently broke off when being taken out of the box by the store employees.
I do like the detail that Broadway engines come with, however I still would prefer myself to see more brass hybrids or predominately metal steam engines. I think this level of detail doesn’t necessarily have to be lost in die cast if designed properly.
My paragon 2 brass Q2 is my favorite engine in HO, it ran great out of the box, never any problems. Great sound, slow smooth operation. But I agree the smoke is pretty wispy and unrealistic. Now I just turn it off most of the time because it leaves a sticky residue all over the boiler which is never fun to clean up. I agree with others that say smoke really doesn’t scale well in HO, there are some exceptions, but thats generally the rule IMHO.
If you really want great smoke, go Lionel. The engines are much heavier too. [;)]
Not to mention adding smoke units. Unless the smoke units is heavy Zamac like in the old Flyer HO steamers, having smoke as a feature robs the loco of room for more weight.
I have a few American Flyer HO locos with smoke because they’re nostalgic, but I would never run them on a prototypical model railroad. As others have said, smoke and HO don’t go well together, but if the OP wants his smoke unit operating, it sounds like he needs to tweak the settings or check for bubbles, a stuck fan, etc.
After the train we ran on the club layout this weekend, I would NOT say the T-1’s are lightweights and poor pullers. And that’s WITHOUT adding the traction tire set of drivers. It wasn’t a massive number of cars, but each one is weighted well above the NMRA spec - not sure WHY this was done, but someone did it, and we have a coal train that takes plenty of power to move. When it came apart 1/4 of the way back fromt he front and I tried to roll the rear 3/4 to couple it back up, I couldn;t believe the drag. I don;t see how anythign short of 4-5 powered diesels can move this, but it runs fine with doubleheaded T-1’s or 3 powered diesels.
A few were on the layout - I had my older PCM version and a couple of people has the new BLI ones. All ran flawlessly all weekend. Once person who bought a new one from us wanted to test run it first, so we put that on the layout, fresh out of the box, and it ran just fine as well.
ANyone can get a lemon now and then, but having been around a decent quantity of these locos, I’d say they are in general excellent runners and nicely detailed. Sure if you manhandle it you can break off details - you can on most P2K diesels and most any Kadee car, or a Branchline Blueprint model. I don;t hear a lot of bellyaching about that. The only one I’ve actually broken are handrails on a P2K FA -unlike most cab diesels where you can pick them up by the center of the body, there’s a set of doors with fragile handrails there. Contrary to what those outside the hobby think, finely detailed models are NOT toys and cannot be handled as such.
If you want real smoke coming out’n one of them there thingees buy yourself a REAL STEAMER!!![soapbox]
As for the complaining about their not pulling–they most certainly do! I have one that I picked up from a trainshow recently that actually hauls about 35 hoppers in one go–without slippage/crawlage[swg]
Coal smoke does not scale down to 1/87 very good. Water, smoke, and weight do not scale right. Water does not look right in HO so we use fake water. Try fake smoke if you want too. My advice would be to shut up and pull the smoke unit out and put some lead in the boiler.
Smoke in HO just doesn’t work. When I received my Paragon 2 I1sa, I immediately turned off the smoke. The RDG T-1 switch was inside the smokebox, so it took me a bit to turn it off, but I didn’t like it.
The locos themselves work well. I sort have become accustomed to the sound. The pulling power handles anything I can place behind it on my home layout.
No complaints what so ever about BLI locos, and I have 4 2 GG1s and two steamers, Hope they re-run the K4 and do an L1.
As far as contacting the manufacturer, I bought a product about a year ago, and finally was in position to install it. During the process, I damaged part of the unit. I contacted the manufacturer, priceing the replacement module. The manufacturer asked me to send it in, and offered to repair or replace the item, even though I screwed up. It always pays to contact the manufacturer first. before complaining.
I bought the BLI N&W y-6b . and I thought it was just awesome. It weighed so much I had to get a crane out to help get it on track. It did have some gearing problems to begin with ;but a call to the company took care of that promptly. Personally I like the smoke. I don’t turn it on a lot as it does leave residue and depleats the breathable air in the room,but to show to someone new or just to turn on for a minute or so I think it’s a cool thing. I remember what we had to work with 25 years ago and I really can’t complain to much about what the manufacturers are giving us today.
I am a big fan of BLI steamers and own a small number of them, no two alike. I will admit, though, that I am put off by the lack of QA in the hobby. BLI has had its share of problems over the past three years, but it seems that even the guys over on the Atlas forum are PO’d over some of that company’s latest releases. I wonder if that large factory in China is finally in the position to tell these companies to go pee up a rope if they don’t like the product. When you’re one of about three such enterprises in the orient, all of which are red-lined due to production orders, it places them in a position of power.
I agree with Crandell. There must be a breaking point where these companies have had enough of the poor quality of their products coming out of China. And eventually they will abandon China and move their production back to the U.S.
Come to think of it, is there really anything (other than model RR) of good quality that comes out of China? Uhmmm, NOPE!
with the massive transfer of product to Chinese manufacturers, some of them are in the position to set the conditions by now. I have been doing business with Chinese suppliers in past years and have encountered a lack of loyalty, low quality and ever increasing prices a number of times, up to a degree, where “in-sourcing” has become a viable option again.
I am not bashing Chinese manufacturers in general. There are some, who take pride in what they do and they do produce quality products - at costs, similar to what we see in the western world. But as long as “cheap” is the main buying criteria, we will see also a lot of “crap” coming from there. You get what you pay for!
Michael, there are already a number of businesses leaving China, for lack of quality, not meeting production schedules and greedy pricing. The German teddy bear manufacturer “Steiff” already did that some years ago…
I have an acquintance who is married to a Chinese woman and one of his in-laws is a Chinese businessman. He says new environmental laws, demands for higher wages, and other factors are beginning to drive businesses out of China. Many companies are now looking for cheaper labor markets such as India, Burma, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, etc., and are moving their production facilities away from China.