Trainworld has a great price on these right now, and I’m thinking of picking one up. The market really doesn’t have much “short steam” available, and I’d like to get something that will work on my 18-inch radius curves. Does anyone have one of these? How do they run, pull and sound? Thanks.
MB,
Over a year ago I picked up 2 of them from Trainworld. Been very, very happy. For those engines at 129.99, it has to be the best deal today inout hobby. I had them ordred and with in 4 days, they were here. (NY to Phoenix, AZ) I have ordered from them on 3 occasisons, and have never had an issue.
I don’t know if a 4-6-4 qualifies as “short steam”?? It’s a pretty good sized engine, but is “short” compared to a Big Boy I guess. My BLI 4-6-4 went around the 22" radius curves I had in one part of my old layout, I would assume it would be OK on 18" radius but looks better the larger the radius. Plus it’s a passenger engine primarily, on 18" radius curves you probably are going to be running short passenger cars, so going with a smaller passenger engine like a Spectrum 4-6-0 might look better with 60’-70’ passenger cars.
Like one of the other posters here I’m not sure a Hudson classes as “short steam”, we are really really short on short steam in HO … now what we could do with is a decent couple of light Pacifics (B&M P2, P4, etc) and some good Moguls (B&M B15) and Tenwheelers (MEC O3, Rutland, NYC) in plastic …
… sorry [soapbox] I’ll get off it now [:D] …
… I have one of the first run BLI Hudsons - its one of my bigger engines (at least in steam terms). 18" is the absolute minimum these will manage, one of my tightest curves is 18" and it will go through it, just, most of the time without falling off . The later runs have an upgraded chassis and QSI electronics, the first run chip is excellent so the later ones must be out of this world. The main problem I have with my 1st run engine is that the tender wheelsets squeak horribly, I regularly dose them with loads of Kadee Greasem to keep it under control (its the electrical contact wipers which cause the squeak), I hope the later runs cured this irritating little problem.
I have all three models offered from Trainworld and couldn’t be happier with them. I am amazed to get such a high quality engine at such an affordable price. I am trying to figure out if I can swap the shell from my old Rivarossi Dreyfuss Hudson onto the BLI engine. If that works out, I won’t need to buy BLI’s version of it when it comes out later this year. I’ll also try to swap the Empire State Express shell.
I can’t speak to how it would handle 18" radius curves. I have nothing that small but my guess is you would be pushing the limits.
I have purchased from Trainworld a number of times; the only difference they do is a “sliding scale” on shipping cost rather than a fixed shippng and handling fee that many other mail order companies use.
I’ve got one of the early Hudsons, and installed the QSI upgrade chip a few months ago. So it crawls very nicely.
I don’t have any 18" curves, but it sometimes doesn’t like slightly rough trackwork, or #6 turnouts. My other steamers do better, including some BLI 2-8-2s and Spectrum 4-8-2s and a 2-8-0. I don’t think I’ve ever tried it through a #4.
MisterBeasley,
My BLI NYC Hudson was a Christmas gift (2005) from my wife. We purchased it from TrainWorld a year ago. It has seen a lot of running time in the past year and I have had no issues with it. The Hudson pulls my 12-car mixed consist of heavyweight and streamlined coaches on the flat BRVRR layout without strain. The sound is awesome. Just a little too loud out of the box.
My BRVRR has a few 18" radius curves on the sidings and in the reverse loop. The Hudson navigates them without any problem. I even use Atlas Snap-Switches for turnouts. No problem there either.
I programmed it with my Zephyr without difficulties, contrary to many others, so I understand.
I have dealt with TrainWorld on many occasions. Their prices are the best I have found for many items, locos to structures. Their service is good, even if the people are a little ‘brisk’. From phone order to delivery, NY to OH, in 2-days if I order in the morning.
Go for it. The BLI Hudson is a great loco!
Since BLI advertizes that the J1 will handle a minimum of 18" curves, you can feel confident with that assertion. However, mine did not like my 18" EZ-Track curves. When I upsized to EZ-Track 22" curves, all my derailments stopped. I later learned that I had not been particularly adept at laying the individual sections cleanly, but that is another story.
As for the loco, itself? Marvelous. Very nice detail for plastic, and it pulls well. Factory setting for sound volume is at maximum, and they tell you that. It is irritating, to say the least. The CV value for maximum volume is 15, IIRC, and my ear is happiest with a value of 9 or 10.
I braved the ferocious 1-inch snowstorm in Massachusetts to go out to my LHS for some flex-track. I took a look at the in-shop layout, and what to my wondering eyes should appear but a BLI Hudson, parked on a siding. I asked to see how well it took the 18-inch curves on the inner loop of the layout, and Gerry’s son Mike obliged.
Unfortunately, the answer wasn’t good. The engine itself had no problems, but the tender’s front wheels couldn’t stay on the track. I couldn’t see anything obvious wrong with the track, and the tender derailed in multiple locations. Since his trackwork is probably better than mine, I’m afraid this is one of those bargains-of-a-lifetime I’ll have to pass up. The engine/tender combo may work on a perfect 18-inch test track, but in real life it may be just a bit too unreliable for me.
It does, though, remove the dilemma of supporting my LHS vs. buying this thing at Trainworld for half the price. So, Walthers and P2K, when are you going to give us a Pacific with sound?
I wonder if the had the two close-coupled. The BLI drawbar for the J1 has two holes, I believe, so he may have had it hooked up tight, and therefore the tender hadn’t a hope on those tight curves.
Do these engines have a wire harness that runs between the engine and the tender? I’m talking about one where it’s all the wiring from the motor, lights, etc. back to the tender for a decoder? The reason I ask is I have a couple of Athearn Mikados in HO that have a rather thick wiring loom that affects tracking of the engine and tender. Since I don’t (and never will ) use DCC, I just re-did the wiring between the two to the absolute minimum. Since you’ll probably run DCC, you may have to find a way to loosen-up the wiring somehow.
Basically what happens is that the wire harness is so stiff that it will provide some lift to the tender and keep the front truck from resting properly on the rail head.
Selector may be right on the close-coupling. The rear platform of the engine was very close to the tender body, and may have been interfering. I wasn’t aware of the 2-position option, and I don’t think anyone else in the shop was, either.
Jack, I think there was a lot of slack in the cabling between the loco and tender. Of course, if the wires were stiff, that could have led to some springiness between them which might be a problem. Most manufacturers are using very flexible wires these days, though, when they have situations like that. I’ve got a P2K 0-6-0 with sound in the tender, and that has no problems with its cables.
… just to add to my earlier post ad comment about te draw-bar and wiring issue:
The tender will derail on 18" curves in the short coupled position every time - it sometimes takes the rear loco truck with it too. In the outer position it is much more reliable and I find that it is the loco driving wheels which occasionally derail on the tight radius especially if taken too fast! But this is why real railroads put speed restrictions on tight curves …
Unlike the Athearn Genesis Light Mike and Pacific there is absolutely no issue with the wiring harness on the BLI Hudson or Light Mike. The Athearn locos problem is to do with the shrink wrap they put round the wires - trim this or install your decoder in the loco and the problem is cured.