BLI F3's/F7's Shipping

[peteski]

Position looks pretty close to me, but the lower edge of the windshield is definitely too high, thus the squinting appearance.
Not that I care, but the biggest issue I see is the size or diameter of the trainphone antennae.

Same here - I'm not a Pennsy modeler but I have noticed the same thing.  The rather stout brass etching also brings out the flatness of that part.  That's what I find most unrealistic.  I understand that a scale cross-section part would be very delicate, but I also find it funny that they they try to make the model more realistic by installing separate grabs and handrails, but then use a flat-etched train antenna.  Compromise, I suppose.

[Maletrain]

Are people now actually running these new locos, or have they all been "tested" and put away for later?

So far, we seem to have reports of running "wonkiness" from folks who intentionally ran these new units for long times and maybe with significant loads or cars (like the Spookshow rview), and reports of no issues from folks (like me) who have only run them around a test loop for several minutes with minimal loads, if any.  And the Spookshow reveiw found not problems with these short-time, minimal load tests.

So, the question in my mind remains whether I am going to encounter problems as soon as I run these locos for several hours with some cars.  And, will it matter if I accumulate those hours in one continuous run or over a long series of short runs?

I would take them to my club and run them for hours if I wasn't worried that some sort of interactions there with a different DCC system might be different from what I have at home.  But, I can't run them for long at home with significant car loads right now.

[Nato]

   A "Yuppers!" the side grills are installed inverted. I could tell the minute I opened the packaging on my Uncle Pete locomotives. Since I have only a wireless DC layout, but run DCC on the Wasatch N Scale pike/layout/model railroad a full scale test was not possible, but mine are not Wonkey. All three powered loco's run like DCC should on DC crank the throttle way up, you get diesel sound movement and the Mars Light is flashing on cab units when running. There were a couple of stalls  (dirty track) where the units did a reset (start up sound again, then movement). I only operated mine singly to test them. The dummy B unit , Egad old technology, is quite free rolling. They will be in operation at the NSE show on the WNS (Sounds like a radio station) layout. http://www.wasatchnscale.org    Nate Goodman (Nato).

[drbnc]

So UPs have a working Mars light?  Hold me back.  Ugh.  Maybe when they hit refurb.

[mighalpern]

So since I got 3 sets of these with the same road number.  Anybody got an idea how to modify/ replace the number boards
I haven't had a chance to take a super close look at this
thanks
Miguel

[Cajonpassfan]

Well, we got back from vacation and found my two Santa Fe F3 AB sets waiting for me. I've been a fan of BLI and own too many of their locos, pimples and all,  and I was hopeful that maybe these were going to be okay. Well, wrong, what a cluster f..k

Before I even mention the shell design issues, some QC items: one A has a broken rear coupler, the other a damaged front coupler. One B unit hops around on code 55 like it had pizza cutters, the other one is fine. WTH? One A unit sounds great (although LOUD) the other? High pitch whine, like they forgot the speaker enclosure. I could probably figure out each individual problem and fix it, but with a five C investment, I'm not inclined to mess with it; they are going back to daddy.

As to the previously noted shell issues, they really show on a light colored body. The early F3 "chickenwire" units had distinctive body openings (before Farr grilles came into being to cover them up). These are hard to model in N scale, but Kato did an okay job of it...with weathering, one could get the right "look" if not precise modeling. The BLI takes a giant step backwards, their designers obviously can't tell the difference between solid sheet metal and body openings, and to add insult to injury, they flip the whole A unit side backwards

There are some other issues I could live with, see pics of BLI next to Kato (maybe not a fair  comparison as I added some details to the Kato unit#19 some 20 years ago) but the basic design and proportions show through. Also attaching first a proto shot of what it's supposed to look like.

Disappointed, and miffed here.
Otto K.

[peteski]

Sorry to hear that you had such a bad luck with these models Otto, and thanks for the photo comparison.

[Cajonpassfan]

Thanks Pete! Well, of course I couldn't just send them back without trying to fix'em, can't leave bad enough alone
A few things I learned: the high pitch screech sound in one of the A's is the result of a damaged speaker; somehow a screw got "installed" in the membrane, see pic  Unfortunately, removing it doesn't solve the problem, a new speaker and enclosure should. The speaker looks to be about a 11x14mm in a custom enclosure.

Some people have noted the poor pulling ability of these units. Not surprising as they only weigh 78 grams (compared to my early Kato at 124g). I'm no fan of traction tires and I think there's a little bit of room for additional weight under the speaker/enclosure. Also, the dummy B's are a bit heavy, at 51 grams. Removing the extra weight (two screws, see pics) drops the weight to 38 grams; that should help a little without affecting tracking.

The B units have axle pickups with brass tabs, but no wiper plates above. It would take a soldered wire connection to the brass tabs to supplement the A unit pickups.

To be continued...
Otto K.

[OldEastRR]

I think it's perfectly fine that some people run N scale like toys. I am completely against model railroader manufacturers who think that's ALL N scalers.

[peteski]

Thanks Pete! Well, of course I couldn't just send them back without trying to fix'em, can't leave bad enough alone
A few things I learned: the high pitch screech sound in one of the A's is the result of a damaged speaker; somehow a screw got "installed" in the membrane, see pic  Unfortunately, removing it doesn't solve the problem, a new speaker and enclosure should. The speaker looks to be about a 11x14mm in a custom enclosure.

Well, if we all fix problems in brand-new locos ourselves, the manufacturer will never know they have quality issue. But on the other hand I can relate (I would be doing what you are doing).  I just can't help myself.    Hopefully you will still point BLI's tech support or customer service to these posts so they are aware of the problems.  So the screw was attracted by the speaker's magnet and was preventing the speaker "cone" from moving freely ?  I wonder how that happened?

[Cajonpassfan]

Agreed, but I do like to tinker as well. I managed to salvage one good AB set by swapping a set of trucks (with broken couplers) between A units. Interestingly, the trucks have "clips" holding them in place rather than pins, and they are easy to remove, see pics. Not a bad design, actually. So now I have one bad AB set with issues that's going back, and one good set to play with.

I've just ran the good set with a seven car (all Katos) passenger train on my long 2.2% grade with no issues or slippage. As I noted in an earlier post, I removed some weight from the dummy B unit, so I'm sure that helps. An ABBA set with two dummies should have no trouble handling a 12-car Kato trainset on my layout.

I wonder whether the B unit could be rigged to provide additional pickup to eliminate any hiccups, since they'll be running together anyway...

Hope this is useful to some of you guys that own these units.
Otto K.