Anyone heard if the GN S2s through BLI are a “go” project yet? I emailed but the response was kind of…vague…as to whether or not these would be built anytime soon. No response regarding if any number of pre-orders have been placed, etc. A little weird…top secret project? [:^)]
I’ve visited the S2 in Havre, Montana at least thrice, via AmTrak and would love to have one someday. But…no information has been forthcoming. Any BBQ buds of Mr. Gruba here? (Factory Direct Trains) It’s pictured on the BLI site and is one of the composite models.
Edit: I just looked again and the pic is gone. Maybe that answers the question. It was there not very long ago. If anyone has a way to ask Joe or BLI I’d be glad to know if it’s now a “dead” project completely or what. I called BLI a couple of weeks ago and their response was similarly vague…kind of odd as I’ve always received great communication and service through both outfits.
While FDT and BLI are “related”, did you try contacting BLI directly about your inquiry? You probably won’t get much of a different answer but…then again - you might.
I find it odd that this one loco, now on the books for a donkey’s age, is not officially found on their cancelled projects list. I think they are determined to wait this one out.
Crandall, glad I’m not the only one (who thinks this is a bit odd)! I think BLI had a better idea of what would “fly” for pre-orders when their forum was still up and running. It would at least be nice to know if there is/was any real interest or not. At $319 it would be a good value, but who knows by the time (if ever) the S2s get made and released…
Tom, sorry, I edited the original post and replaced Factory Direct Trains in the title with BLI once I realized that’s probably where I saw the pic and price initially…
According to one of the recent Great Northern Railway Historical Society modelers pages their sources are indicating that the project has been scraped.
I contacted BLI earlier this year over the S2 and Matt from BLI responded that yes they were still working on it and that they hoped it would be released in 2014. It will be a brass hybrid.
Don, they have also had the Union 4-12-2 on their books since 2009, and it has been due for supposed production at least eight times. It was delayed the last time from January until April of next year a month ago. At least it shows on their delivery schedule. The S2 doesn’t, so I think he’s blowing perfumed smoke…
Thanks Don7. That’s certainly a more specific answer than I got, which was only VERY vaguely “reassuring” without any specific date mentioned or any hint if they’d received pre-orders of a level that would ensure production. Appreciate the reply.
Guess, I’ll keep a watchful eye open. If they’re a lot higher priced than the initial listing, I’ll have to save my pennies or possibly reconsider. We’ll see if the S2 really happens in the coming year.
Regarding brass S2s, I don’t have the skills or time (or money) to remotor etc. and add d.c.c. sound right now. Getting the layout “finished” and doing some running to get Ops scenarios tested, is the lst priority. Maybe later on if BLI’s doesn’t come to market.
I got tired of wating as well and decided to go elsewhere, only option was brass.
I bought a brass S1 4-8-4 steam locomotive last year. I lucked out and only paid $160 for it. This was on E-Bay, bought it during the summer which explains why there were so few bidders, that was a steal.
Anyway, the locomotive is built by Tenshodo, I was amazed when I open the box and saw it for the first time. It had never been used and it was factory painted. It was in mint condition, it is a very heavy locomotive.
It is relative easy to isolate the motor in order to install a DCC decoder in it. While I did not do the install I did watch, it took about 3 minutes to isolate the motor and test it, then about 20 minutes to wire the Decoder.
I opted to have the DCC decoder installed in the tender, it would have been quicker to have installed it in the boiler but as I may add sound it made more sense to install it in the tender so that I could easily swap the decoder for one with sound.
It is a great running locomotive.
As far as the BLI S2, I would buy one of their S2 hybrides, if and when BLI release it, provided it was not overly expensive.
Although I´m not a GN fan, I really do like the GN S1 and S2. Don´t know which I like more though since they are pretty much the same beside driving wheel diameter. I realized throughout this year that both the S1 and the S2 were offered pretty often on ebay. Mostly by Tenshodo/PFM. My question about this model: Do these Tenshodo/PFM GN S1´s/S2´s have a can or an open frame motor? What about minimum radius? And what about the possibility to install a smoke unit? Possible or too complicated?
Besides the driver diameter, the other major difference is that the S1’s had Belpaire fireboxes. And longer tenders.
Tenshodo made a WHOLE LOT (over 4000) of the S1’s. I’ve got a couple of the early ones. They have open frame motors. Minimum radius is 22". There’s a boiler weight inside, so a smoke unit would have to deal with that. But, except for said weight, it’s just an empty brass tube.
I’m pretty sure detailing improved over time. Mine are kind of minimal. I’ve fantasized for years about fixing mine up. It’ll probably never happen. Mine have stainless driver tires and, combined with added weight, will pull a LOT of cars.
Precision Scale is producing the S1 currently. I’m sure they’re much much better than mine. And a wee bit more expensive. If’n I was a good deal richer, I’d pick one up, though.
The Tenshodo S2’s were the fancier Crown version, and weren’t produced in large number. I’ve got an Oriental (or maybe Overland) version, and it’s pretty nice.