BLI Alco RSD-15

[peteski]

I'm going to go all Peteski on you and tell you to go back and re-read my original post 

-Mark

What would be the fun in that?     Besides, there you didn't mention that the front coupler was ok.  Am I supposed to assume that?   

Just kidding Mark - I have to admit to problems with comprehension of the written word (and as I'm aging it's not getting any better).

[Rasputen]

I inspected mine more closely and I found that one of the couplers had the two halves glued together.  This made the coupling force very high.

[C855B]

Evidently my issue is with the actual coupler. I put the bad rear coupler on the front and the problem followed it.

Gosh. That was easy. I'm replacing all of mine with TSC anyway.  :shoulder-shrug:

I was hoping the rewire fairy was going to visit tonight, but I need to finish reverse-engineering what's there. Have the basics solved, but lighting wires go everywhere and there's a mystery third connector underneath the board with a single gray wire defying tracing at the moment.

[kiwi_al]

I'm still waiting for mine to arrive - 18 days and it's still in the US 
Still it gives you guys time to sort out all the problems for me!!

[rrjim1]

I have 5 RSD-15,  3-SF, and 2 BLE. Checked all 5 with a MT gauge, a couple were just a tiny bit high but not enough to cause any problems the rest were spot on. 

[wes_sutton]

I'm still waiting for mine to arrive - 18 days and it's still in the US 
......

I'm glad I'm not the only one.

[kiwi_al]

I'm glad I'm not the only one.

Yep I'm sharing your pain!!!

[robertjohndavis]

After seeing what Aurora has done with the HO scale SD60F, the bar is raised. I hope they move into N.

I did not order any of the BLI RSD-15’s yet due to budget (I blew through it) but there are a ton of nice videos out there and the sound seems OK.

It seems there’s a large anti-BMI crowd here looking for things to go wrong.

I have 20 BLI locomotives from the first PRR M1 up to a few with P4. Of the 20, I had one speaker go bad and one board lose its ability to retain an address. 2 had pickup issues requiring me to set things straight. The only other issues I have had were due to operator error.

Of the last 11 Atlas DCC locomotives I have purchased, two had bad decoders upon arrival. 7 ran like crap. 2 are OK. I returned a few, sold a few and kept a few to improve.

Maybe I am just having different luck, but I will still buy BLI locomotives while avoiding Atlas. I am awaiting my first ScaleTrains locomotive, which hopefully will run better than their covered hoppers.

[peteski]

After seeing what Aurora has done with the HO scale SD60F, the bar is raised. I hope they move into N.

Aurora?  They still exist and make H0 model trains?

It seems there’s a large anti-BMI crowd here looking for things to go wrong.

Sounds like you are lucky.  That crowd you are describing is not looking for problems with BLI - the problems find them. 
The BLI sound decoders are also not generally liked when compared to other brands (like ESU or even Soundtraxx). While the BLI locos do have some mechanical deficiencies (like narrow gauged wheels, or overall mechanism design) or electirc pickup issues, the main gripe of that "crowd" is that they force their decoders (unwanted by them) down the modelers throat.

If BLI offered DC-only locos, likely a large portion the gripes would disappear.  How would you like to buy a model of a loco only made by BLI, just to remove a $100 decoder and throw it in the trash, or try to pawn it off on someone, just so you can install a sound decoder of your preference?

Going by the BLI's recent poll, they seem to be aware of those grumblings, and might be considering offering DC locos. I sure hope they do.

[C855B]

Aurora?  They still exist and make H0 model trains? ...

Different and new company. Canadian: https://na.auroraminiatures.com

[peteski]

Different and new company. Canadian: https://na.auroraminiatures.com

Interesting. Never heard of them until now.  Probably because I am into N scale.  Funny when contemporary companies use names similar to the vintage, long gone companies.  Like Rapido Trains, and now Aurora Miniatures.

[bbussey]

Evidently my issue is with the actual coupler. I put the bad rear coupler on the front and the problem followed it.

If the coupler is in an MTL 1015 style box, I would simply swap in MTL 1015 couplers.  BLI couplers are a hybrid of the MTL and AccuMate designs.  I wish I could swap 1015 couplers into the P5a electrics, but they have the two coupler components mount directly on a post cast into the frame.  The version in the P5a plays well with MTL couplers but not with themselves, so coupling two P5a electrics together is problematic.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Interesting. Never heard of them until now.  Probably because I am into N scale.  Funny when contemporary companies use names similar to the vintage, long gone companies.  Like Rapido Trains, and now Aurora Miniatures.

I know! I saw a review of their stuff on Youtube and was like "Wha?".

First Rapido, now Aurora... what's next? A new IHC? I guess Con-Cor isn't technically dead yet, so I guess it'll be 5-10 years since we see a new one.

[MK]

AHM Models????   

[reinhardtjh]

I know! I saw a review of their stuff on Youtube and was like "Wha?".

First Rapido, now Aurora... what's next? A new IHC? I guess Con-Cor isn't technically dead yet, so I guess it'll be 5-10 years since we see a new one.

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