Good Morning to All, without stirring anything up except alot of Opinions I have a Question… I recently Bought a BLI I-5 Brass hybrid, A beautiful Engine Runs so nice, but as far as there Smoke system leaves alot to be desired. I have a MTH Challenger & a 2-8-2 Light Mike no douhgt the Big Challenger chould produce more smoke than a Hudson but My 2-8-2 also outsmokes the Hudson 10x over. I bought 2 tubes of BLI smoke fluid for the Hudson but it rarely puffs anything out. I was getting ready to Buy the BLI C&O 490 but if the I-5 is any example of there smoke system I will probably buy another MTH engine. I Guess it is like when DCC and sound first appeared after running my first one I was Hooked. Now it’s Smoke so realistic with a Steam engine. Ok The Question for those of you who have Both MTH and BLI whats your favorite Smoker. Since the I-5 is my only BLI smoker at this time I have no way to tell if the I-5 is not working correctly or it’s just the difference between the two systems…
I have no oppinion on any of the products you mention.
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However as far is the title of you post goes… to smoke or not to smoke… you should put me into the no smoking group.
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Be aware, I also dislike sound, so I am pretty sure I am in the minority on most of these features.
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-Kevin
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The paragon 3s smoke pretty well. Is that what you have? I have a non smoker I-5 as well as the I-4 which does smoke but rather weakly. In fact it’s packaged up waiting to be shipped back to replace smoke fan. UGH.
Thank You Thats probably where my I-5 will be heading shortly…
Wow Kevin, your the first person I ever talked with that did not prefer Sound to non sound. But to each his own, Thanks for the reply…
I dislike sound as well. I have yet to hear halfway decent sound, it all sounds tinny and totally unrealistic to me.
BLI’s Rolling Thunder system sounds pretty awesome nothing tiny about it/ MTH’s engines are loud without any help from under the Bench but no railroad in model form will ever be able to recapture the rumble and roar of the real thing. I guess it’s all in whats makes you smile thats whats it all about, Great hobby, Good Fun, leads to some very Good freinds…
Make me the second person.
Not to get way off topic, or start controversy, but in a great many discussions on this forum over the last several years, a fairly large percentage have expressed a lack of interest in sound or smoke.
Those who vote “no” or “indifferent” regarding sound are easily 30% or more.
Remember, only about 50% are even using DCC.
Conversations about smoke are generally over 50% against.
Still DC, quiet, and smoke free in my world…
Maybe what you are missing is that many people are not going to limit their locomotive choices based on what MTH and BLI offer…
Sheldon
Bringing the thread back to the OP´s question, which was about smoke and not sound - this issue has been discussed a number of times in recent years. There seem to be more folks not in favor than there are liking it. In HO scales and even more in N scale, the smoke is, IMHO, far from even being a mile from what would look prototypical, especially with th old Seuthe-style smoke units, which evaporate tiny drops of a paraffine-based smoke fluid to resemble a puffing loco. Things look different when you move up in scale to the 1/32 or gauge one scale. Watch this:
I don´t think you could get any closer to the real thing, if the smoke would come out black from the stack and white from the cylinder valves and the whistle!
As good as it already looks, I don´t think I could stay longern than 60 seconds in a smoke filled basement!
Very Nice. I was not try to get an opinion of who likes sound or even smoke what I was asking is those who do run thses units that do have that option do you think the Bli’s fan driven units are better than the units that MTH uses. From my experience so Far the MTHunits out smoke the BLI’s hands down and my Challenger and My light Mike produce a very convincing smoke a very long way from the old Seuthe Generators. Since I just bought my First BLI with smoke I really have nothing to compare as to the difference in the two. There will always be those who do and those who do not with everything are own taste is what makes the Hobby what it is to me to you and everyone who enjoys watching that Train round the bend!!
My favorite? The one that doesn’t smoke. [:P]
I like the visual effect of the smoke, but the smell of it drives me away. I was at the Springield show a few years ago and I felt sorry for the vendors whose tables were next to the big MTH display with all its smoking engines.
The smoke particles will also settle on your layout and will require more attention to track cleaning.
No thanks.
Maybe a different title would have limited the unwanted responses, but you moved it up a notch with your own response of surprise that not everyone likes sound and smoke…
Sheldon
I shut off my smoke using the slide switch under my BLI steamers, of which I have maybe 17, as Job One. It doesn’t look realistic. Neither does real water. It flows about eight times as fast as it should in scale, or ripples the same way if it isn’t flowing and has that glassy smooth surface.
Even though I am a fan of BLI steamers, their smoke units can’t hold a smoking candle up to the MTH units. That’s where the comparison ends, because I feel BLI’s steamers beat MTH’s in realism hands down in most cases. Not in quality…they’re quite comparable, but the MTH units are intended to be a bit more toylike.
My opinion, 'bout as valuable as a pair of soiled socks.
Yea…but I bet if you set them on fire, Crandell, they’d look pretty realistic. [8D]
Tom
In my experience, the BLI smoke units are NOT properly set-up (programmed) from the factory! The fan is usually shut off at idle, so that litterally NO smoke comes out while sitting still. The fan only spins when the loco chuffs, which looks rather feeble. The fan-speed at idle can be programmed to turn at any speed you want, the chuff duration of the fan can be changed, if necessary, and the heating temperature can be increased, if necessary. Go online and download the Paragon 2 technical manual and look at CV’s 234-238 (I think). These things can be made look pretty good! As long as there’s nothing wrong, of course…
I quite agree, Sheldon - that title is utterly misleading! Well, the OP stirred the pot and now has to live with the answers.
That´s not far from reality. A steam engine not in motion hardly emits any smoke, unless the blower is turned on. When a steam engine is just coasting, the amount of smoke coming out of the smoke stack is also quite small.
If I may I haven’t seen any unwanted responces. I am glad so many people have chimed in and of course I got the answer I was looking for eventualy. For my money MTH will be the point of Choice for me when I am spending 600-700 dollars for an Engine I want the best that I can get. I have been a fan of BLI since they opened there doors for Buisness, but now that a good smoking locomotive is there for the Buying untill they step up there game a little I will have to look to Maryland. BTW I reset all the CV’s for the engine to try and obtain a good smoke affect it may be faulty, time will tell. Thank All of you for your replies it has made for some good reading and I am a little shocked about how many people do not like sound in there trains. But to each his own!!