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Precision Craft Models I1sa 2-10-0
The new I1 is a spectacular model. It is what we have needed for a long time, a good model of one of the most common engines of the Pennsylvania Railroad. This model looks good and runs even better.
There only one small problem. This rugged engine looks a bit like a sissy with the pilot wheel unpainted. The silver wheel looks toy-like next to the carefully darkened drivers and rods. A quick splash of grimy black paint and some weathering (you can never over-weather a decapod) and this engine looks just about right.
The engine pulls reasonably well with the traction tire. Adding much more weight may not be possible because the boiler is filled with a massive weight from the builder.
Thank you Precison Craft and Broadway Limited!
The I1sa only has one whistle but 2 bells. The auto rung by default and a hand rung bell accessed by CV changes. The LED lights are much improved over the orange lights of the M1,J1,and T1 locos.
I agree. This is a great model. I have mine pulling a 37 car (33 coal hoppers) and it looks great. It is very smooth running and the sounds are very good. I did notice that the water fill hatch on the tender deck is set backwards (to open towards the back of the tender) which means it would hit the back-up light and not lie flat on the tender deck. The model is designed this way because the portion of the hatch which fits into the hole in the deck is notched at two corners to fit the hole in the deck. I corrected this by filing notches in the remaining corners of the portion of the hatch which fits in the hole and then installing the hatch with the hinges facing the coal pile. I think BLI did a really great job on the model.
As a member of the PRRT&HS team that worked with PCM on this project, I’m going to jump in and make a few corrections and clarifications. First, I’m afraid that the history of the I1s/sa given above is not quite correct. The first I1 was built by the PRR’s Juniata shops in 1916 (not Baldwin in 1924). The 122 locos that followed it were also built by Juniata. Following these, Baldwin built the remaining 475 I1s. The Juniata built I1s are distinguished by their lack of a feedwater heater, which is quite noticeable on the fireman’s side of the Baldwin built locomotives.
Seconds, as a clarification, these locomotives were built with the drivers on the center 3 axles “blind”, but this led to derailments on tight yard trackage when the blind drivers fell off the rail, so flanges were added to the drivers on axles 2 and 4 in the mid 1930s to aid in keeping the locos on the tracks.
Finally, the water hatch was positioned on the short tender (90F82) based on photographic evidence showing the hatch open, leaning against the back-up light. Subsequent to PCM’s production run, other photos have been found that show it opening both towards the front and towards the back, depending on the particular tender. So the PCM model hatch position is not incorrect, although it may need to be reversed to model specific engines/tenders.
I have two of the I1sa’s, one with short and the other with long tender. Both have QSI and both can only be described as outstanding. They look, run and sound great in typical BLI/PCM fashion. Highly recommended.
I too am well pleased with the new I1sa locomotives. I have two units pulling a 50+ car coal train and it’s an impressive sight. They sound and operate correctly. BLI / PC are to be commended for producing this great model.
BLI / PC worked very closely with a committee from the Pennsyl- vania Railroad Technical & Historical Society to insure that the details, painting, and operation came out just right. This loco is a “must have” for any PRR modeler or enthusiast!
A member of my modular club put one of these engines on our layout during a recent train show. It ran pretty fast with no train behind it and the sound was good and loud. Pulling a heavy 47 car train it did pretty well but then a wire in the tender burned off which will require a return to the manufacturer for repair after an operational life of one hour, more or less. I had a similar problem a few years ago with my BLI Reading T-1 so it seems to me there’s a quality control issue here. Nevertheless, the I1 has great potential and will be welcomed by Pennsy freaks everywhere!
A beautiful locomotive, smooth running with a great sound system. I do not have DCC but have been able to make operational adjustments with a DC pack and Quantum Engineer. I removed the driver with the traction tire as it caused a minor bounce in the movement. I have not noticed any significant decrease in pulling power and the bounce disappeared. Well worth the price.
This is an outstanding model, well worth the three year wait. My locomotive (short tender, modern headlight) ran great right out of the box in DCC mode. It started moving at step 1 (128 step) and can be operated at unbelivably slow speeds - perfect for switching. The default momentum feature takes a bit getting used to, but makes operating the engine more interesting. The biggest surprise is the sound of the “banshee” whistle. The sound appears to be dead-on, however. To hear the real thing go to the Western New York Railroad Historical Society’s website. They have a recording of the banshee whistle from I1sa #4483, the only I1sa still in existence (currently preserved in Hamburg New York).
If you are interested in learning more about the operating characteristics of the prototype (and other PRR steam locomotives), pick up a copy of “Set Up Running, The Life of a Pennsylvania Railroad Engineer” by John W. Orr (Penn State Press). Mr Orr’s father, O.P., operated almost every type of steam locomotive owned by the PRR over the Williamsport Division,Elmira Branch. He provides fascinating information about the various locomotives and the general operations on this part of the PRR system. Although the I1sa was a great puller, it was apparently very rough riding and not favored by the engineers.
I own a hobby shop in Pa (Modelers’ Depot) and have sold 6 of these locos so far. I test ran one on our display layout and was quite impressed. The overall quality was excellent and the sound was fantastic. I’d highly recommend these locos to modelers.
Updating my prior report, I removed the pads on the bottom plate under the first and fifth axles, and now my engine is pulling a 50 car freight train. That’s quite an improvement in traction. The more I examine the engine, the more I am impressed with its level of detail, especially in places that are hard to see. BLI really did its homework on this model.
Yay!
Here is the current status of the 6 PCM/BLI I1sa engines that have passed through my door.
Summary: Out of 6 engines, 5 were found to be defective out of the box. The 6th developed a short later. That makes 6 out of 6 engines defective. Out of the 6, 1 was returned to the dealer, 4 were returned to BLI for repair.
Note: Decoders were reset to factory default before reporting problems. All issues were found running the engines on DCC, however, DCC vs. DC is not a factor for most if not all issues found.
- 089 #4268 There was a minor bind in the drivers. I found one of the bearings on the main driver was stuck in the slot in the frame. Bind was fixed by filing on the outside of the bearing for a better fit in the frame. I changed to the non-traction tire driver set and added some weight. Engine now pulls 50 bowser hoppers on level track with no traction tire.
After several hours of operation this engine developed an intermittent short evidenced by sparking at the drawbar connections. The drawbar is connected electrically to the left rail on the engine. I found the source of the short was the pickup on the front tender truck, which picks up power from the right rail. A part that keeps the pickup wipers in alignment was missing, allowing the pickup to short against the metal tender frame, thus the short between the tender and engine via the drawbar. I removed the pickup wipers from the front tender truck to resolve the issue for now.
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091 #4440 Engine has intermittent short causing DCC system shutdown. Headlight flickers and backup light inoperative. Returned to BLI for repair.
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088 #4471 Exhaust not in sync with drivers. Too many chuffs per driver revolution. Engine does not respond to DCC speeds the same as others. I swapped the tender with a known good one to isolate the problem. To my surprise, the problem followed the engine, not the tender. Returned to BLI for repair.
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880 #4324 Engine arrived with right eccentric eith
I am pleased with the loco’s detail and operation as well. I am only slightly disappointed that PSC and Quantum did not opt to include both the Banshee and the three-chime whistle (as found on M1a’s) as I thought they were going to do. I seem to remember them polling modellers about this several months before production. I guess everybody voted for the Banshee!! While it is true Pennsy, I personally never developed a liking to it.
Operationally, however, at least so far, I am extremely pleased with mine.