Now that PCM has officially announced their AC-12 on their web page, will Intermountain continue and bring out their AC-12 that was on display recently at the LA show??
How come most every time an engine is announced, it is duplicated by someone else??
Knowing Intermountain quality and PCM starting up from BLI, which one do you think will be the best quality and sound???
My small bunch of BLI steamers all arrived with flaws, some major. Except the N&W A class, which only has problem of being incapable of running slow. And from my experiences and all the stories I hear about BLI stuff, I don’t believe the PCM will be any different. Yeah, a $700 loco that runs rough in reverse, has a flickering head light, and has many details glued on misaligned. [:(!]
Right now I’m plotting for the Intermountain unit. Hopefully it isn’t prototype articulated.
Competition cannot exist with duplication. This is why you frequently see at least two, maybe three different manufacturers making models of the same engine. BLI 's address is right next to PCM, so it is hard to believe these companies are indipendent. Bli’s articulated offerings (AC-4 and the YA) have had good write-ups, but both of them utilize diesel engine construction where both “trucks” rotate under the boiler in the same manner that diesel trucks rotate under the body. This enables the engines to negotiate sharp curves but they look very unprototypical doing so (as do many other brands, such as Trix and Rivorossi). Intermouintain has annouced that their offering will use the proper articulation (where the set of drivers mounted under the firebox is rigidly mounted to the boiler and the other set of drivers can swing back and forth).
PCM’s Website makes no mention about which type of articulation will be employed oneither the AC-12 or the YB engine also announced.
Well, much as I like BLI (which, let’s face it, is the same as PCM), I’m going to be interested in what Intermountain’s AC-12 does. I don’t need another AC-12 (I’ve already got two older Akanes that are just fine, thank you), but with Intermountain’s announcement that theirs will have the proper articulation, it will be interesting to see what minimum radius it can handle (the Akane’s will handle a 24" with no problem). And given the quality of detail on the Intermountain freight cars that I have, I think their AC-12 will probably be a real beauty. Also, since Intermountain is going to offer the AC-12 with sound, it will be interesting to see which manufacturer remembers to include the famous ‘talking pumps’ that were characteristic of every SP AC beginning with the AC-6. If neither manufacturer includes that sound, then you might as well not buy a sound unit at all.
Tom
a simple solution to this. Buy both. Then you don;t have to worry about it.
James
Tom
I rather doubt either manufacturer will get the whistling pump exhaust correct, but then it might just surprise us all. I tend to like the intermountain so far since it will be the proper articulation, but it will probably require a larger radius for sure because of that.
BLI did get the AC4 whistle correct and it is SP for sure, but they did not work on the pump exhaust.
Those old Akanes just keep running. I have one but is also grinds coffee, or sounds like that is what is going on. Have you worked on your gearboxes or do you have the newer ones??
http://markschutzer.com/Cab_Forward/Cab_forward_index.htm
Bang, check out this site on modernizing an Akane AC.
It is.
Bangert1–Actually, the pump exhaust on the AC-4/5 is about right, since they were side mounted and not in tandem. The ‘talking pump’ began with the AC-6 when Baldwin mounted them in parallel on the boiler face. I remember being a kid in Truckee with my cousin, when an AC-5 came through with a train and my cousin (who knew everything, LOL!) remarked that they just ‘didn’t sound right’. He was used to the AC-6’s and up, since the 4’s and 5’s were pretty much a rarity in the Sierra by the late 1940’s.
I’ve got four Akane articulateds (two AC’s and two M-4 2-8-8-4’s), all dating from about 1964 or so, and all with the original ‘open’ gearing, and I’ve never had a problem with grinding. Two of them (1 AC and 1 M-4) have NWSL can motors in them, and I’ve replaced the rubber tubing connections in all of them with A-line articulated connections (the kind you find in Athearn diesels). If you still have the original open-frame motor in your AC, you might want to clean the contacts with alcohol and a toothbrush, sometimes gunk builds up in those motors and makes them noisy. I’ll probably replace the two open-frame motors eventually, but right now, they run just fine (if a little fast, compared to the cans).
But you’re right about those Akanes, they’re just bloody indestructable!
I’ll be interested to see the Intermountain when it arrives at my LHS. I have a feeling they won’t stay on the shelves long at all.
Tom
Thanks for the update on the sound. The short exhaust pipes for the later AC’s made the sound but the AC4 and 5’s had their exhaust piped from the side probably up near the stack.
I have never used my Akane Cab Forward, but it would require a motor replacement if it was needed for service.
I was raised in the mid west on PRR, NKP and IC steam and did not see the any of the SP engines run until the 4449.
The AC4 BLI does a good job overall of creating the past.
Is there any railfan who has acquired PCM AC-12 Cab Forward? What are your impressions about it?
No one has bought the PCM Cab Forward since it’s not yet out! It’s currently scheduled with a delivery date “TBA” (To be announced) so my guess is early to mid 2008 but could be more delayed. I have ordered 2 of the DCC/Sound versions but I’m okay with the delay which gives me more time to get other stuff and save up.
Intermountain just released their model but I believe there is already a thread about it…
The PCM 2006 advertised the AC 12 using a prototype picture, which means they did not have a pilot model at that time. Most of the dealers have dates this year for the PCM AC12 and I was informed by a dealer they were due by early summer this year. That can all change with just an announcement of a slip in schedule, which happens fairly often now.
It should be a great runner like the PCM Big Boy, but I would hope they get the sound correct for the AC12 unlike the PCM Big Boy sound.
Update! A dealer has confirmed the PCM HO version of the AC 12 is on hold in the schedule for now. I have no idea of what that means, but it is not on its way soon.
This really is disappointing since they just showed the # 1 scale AC12 recently at a train show.
They announce the HO version and then build the # 1 scale. Sort of strange to me.
Broadway Limited is doing the G-Scale while PCM is doing the HO Scale.
With the new production philosophy PCM has they probably are waiting for more orders to come in before they commence the production process. As said I have 2 on order and while I would like to get them as soon as possible I don’t
Broadway Limited and Precision Craft Models are essentially one and the same; they are owned by the same person, Bob Grubba, who bought out his partners some years ago. Mr. Grubba formerly worked for Lionel and then for MDK Trains. He has many years experience in the model railroad business, as a search on Google will disclose.
According to many sources, Factory Direct Trains, the online store selling Broadway Limited and Precision Craft porducts at deep discounts, is in the same family-literally–as it is reputedly owned by Mr. Grubba’s brother. That may account for its ability to sell product at far less than any other hobby shop could do. It doesn’t mean that there’s anything wrong with the products, of course.
Broadway and Precision both have some interesting products under development. Hopefully, they’ll both realize how counterproductive it is to advertise a product years before its introduction, when no one can accurately predict the intervening events that may delay or even prevent the availability of that product. That sort of advertising campaign and some memorable lapses in quality control as well as many, many avoidable design flaws, have caused some modelers to distrust both BLI and PCM’s ability to deliver.
Almost all of the questions raised in the forum about PCM and BLI can be answered with some quicck research on the internet. That’s true for most companies, so that a lot of the speculation and excess badnwidth might be avoided.