Preproduction photos of the BLI's new N scale locomotives

[peteski]

I was going to post these in the Springfield show thread but since these are all close-ups of those locos I figured I'll put them in a separate thread.

Few things I'm questioning:

The traction tire driver seems to be driven by siderods (not a best design) while 2 other drivers are gear driven.  The middle 2 drivers are blind.  Was that really necessary on a 4-8-2 loco?  Was the real loco also built that way?

The Centipede has all the axles driven - that is good. One thing I didn't care for was the photo-etched train phone antenna.  It looks very flat (2-dimensional) and heavy-handed.

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[peteski]

more photos

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[reinhardtjh]

The middle 2 drivers are flange-less.  Was that really necessary on a 4-8-2 loco?  Was the real loco also built that way?

Yes.  Drivers #2 and #3 were blind.  Although a quick scan of Pennsy Power I has no mention of it, page 77 of Classic Power #8:PRR M1 says "Flanged wheels were used only on the front and rear driving wheels". The blind drivers are clearly visible in the test plant photo of #4700 on page 199 in Pennsy Power.  They are also noticeable in many other pictures in the book and the drawings in Classic Power clearly show the drivers to be blind.

[Rasputen]

That PE antenna does need some improvement.  The round mounting holes are also quite visible.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Just a few notes... That M1 did not have the drive installed. They are still working on that. They also may change the TT location.

The 'pede was the initial test shot and has a LOT of work to go. The etchings are just a rough in and not an indication of the finished product. This is at the same engineering phase as the FL9... still a lot of work to go.

At least we get to see their progress!

[chicken45]

Ladies and gentleman, the hype is real!

[jdcolombo]

I hope these are VERY successful models for BLI.  My PA-1's are excellent, and we need another player in the N-scale space.

John C.

[u18b]

So do you think we can finally take the M1 off the vaporware list?

[Scottl]

Looks pretty real to me.  And good looking at that.

What is with traction tires?  Are they really needed?

[peteski]

Looks pretty real to me.  And good looking at that.

What is with traction tires?  Are they really needed?

As much as I'm against them, with steam locos those are pretty much needed for the loco to be a useful puller

[Leggy]

I think this can only be taken off the vaporware list once one is sold second hand, then we'll know it really does exist .

[Scottl]

OK, thanks.  I always assumed these bigger steam units were quite heavy.

[peteski]

OK, thanks.  I always assumed these bigger steam units were quite heavy.

Steam engines are relatively light.  There is no solid fuel tank to be filled with metal ballast and the round cross-section of the boiler plus the see-through area between the boiler and frame don't leave much room for metal ballast.  Then nobody uses lead anymore, so the metal chassis is a lighter die-cast white metal alloy.  Also often there are fewer driven wheels than on many diesels.  All of that adds the need for traction tires.

[Scottl]

I had an old Lifelike GP38 and it had tires that made it wobble and roll down the track.  I assumed it was something that was not needed anymore, but you make good points.

[OldEastRR]

See the thread asking about how to get the Walthers/LL Berk to pull a decent train and you'll find out how good steam locos pull.