Saw the new BLI boxcar with mule sounds today... (Eval on Page 8+)

[mecgp7]

I listened to the sound demo they have on YouTube. We get caught up in rivet counting, but the sounds are unrealistic in their frequency. Having raised cattle all my life and transported them across the country, I can assure you that cattle don't make that much noise in transit. An occasional moo and that's it. You may get more unloading them, but not riding in a railcar or trailer. If you are hauling cattle and they sound like the BLI  car, there is something very wrong.

[ChristianJDavis1]

So do the animals freak out the faster I go?   

On the HO versions they certainly do. A friend of mine was running them on a club modular display and every time the train either stuttered due to dirty track or someone nudged the table, the "cows" would begin a dreadful symphony of disjointed and extremely loud "moos" that after a few hours of them making noise every few seconds, I was ready to not hear them anymore. In honesty, though, it was a neat feature for about a minute...

Sometimes I wonder if we're out of touch with "mainstream" N scale.  Maybe Ken's right; maybe most people won't care and will buy them up.  Maybe we're just on the fringe.  I imagine these would have a niche in N-Trak for shows.  One wonders if the mooing falls in and out of synch when there are multiple cars.

If they are anything like the HO ones (which I doubt they would make them too different), they will. As stated above, with enough cars they tend to make enough noise to prove as constant noise pollution. The HO ones also do not have adjustable volume (according to their owner), so they are even louder than the trains. I am curious to see what anyone here's first impression of the sound of these cars until I myself can hear one in action (but hopefully not for too long).

When was the MT (or Atlas) stock cars originally tooled?  Sometime in the 70's, right?  Is there any probable reason why this tooling/model looks like this?  Is it a new technique, like 3D printed molds or something?  I'm just trying to understand why this is such a huge step backwards.

I just so happened to have an AHM N scale stock car made in Yugoslavia that also has open slats, and still looks much more impressive than the new BLI offering. I also have old Minitrix cars from Postage Stamp train sets that look better. It is a shame to see things like this from a company whose HO offerings tempt me to switch constantly. Recently, though, their business model and overall attitude is turning me off from them as a company altogether.

[peteski]

I listened to the sound demo they have on YouTube. We get caught up in rivet counting, but the sounds are unrealistic in their frequency. Having raised cattle all my life and transported them across the country, I can assure you that cattle don't make that much noise in transit. An occasional moo and that's it. You may get more unloading them, but not riding in a railcar or trailer. If you are hauling cattle and they sound like the BLI  car, there is something very wrong.

I get your point but if they made the sound realistic, it wouldn't be interesting enough (as for most of the time the car would be silent).  Our layouts are usually selectively compressed and many run their operating schedule on a fast clock. So the mooing frequency also gets selectively compressed.  You wouldn't want to spend all that money to only hear a single moo every 2nd loop around the entire layout, would you? 

[Chris333]

Too bad they will only know how many they sold and not how many they didn't.

[Dave V]

So the mooing frequency also gets selectively compressed.

Selectively compressed mooing...what a time to be alive!!!   



Edit:

Of course I actually have two of these around the house, so no decoder needed:

[wcfn100]

I'm just trying to understand why this is such a huge step backwards.

It's not one huge step backwards.  It's just the one small step over the last several years that [other  ] people finally noticed.  Of course, I'm curious now if anyone would have said anything about the stirrups if I hadn't.  I'm surprised no one's talked about the lack of letter boards vs. the HO model.  The resulting changes to some of the N scale artwork is interesting to say the least.

Even if the car had open slats and stirrups, it isn't much to get excited about with several errors and questionable design decisions.  I might still place it behind the aforementioned 70's tooled cars.

If it was possible for me to feel bad for PRR modelers, this car would do it.

Jason

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I'm still trying to wrap my head around WHY this occurred. Here are some random thoughts not necessarily in any order...
1. If they were doing this in the cheap why have separate ladders?
2. How does filled in details in any way make it easier to tool or mold?
3. Why the outrageous price... The athearn reefer had an msrp of 60 with etched details. It retailed for less than 50 in most cases.
4. Was this an oversight? Did they not check the samples and said "what happened here?!" because we sure are.
5. Just a general WTF at all the WTF-ery this model oozes from its filled-in pores.
6. Nice hole, BLI. How are you going to dig yourself out?

[nscaler711]

I'll just leave this here for all the comments on Lionel in N scale...

[mecgp7]

I get your point but if they made the sound realistic, it wouldn't be interesting enough (as for most of the time the car would be silent).  Our layouts are usually selectively compressed and many run their operating schedule on a fast clock. So the mooing frequency also gets selectively compressed.  You wouldn't want to spend all that money to only hear a single moo every 2nd loop around the entire layout, would you? 

Yeah, I get it and I'm sure it'll be fun for most. I  not a rivet counter, but I guess I am cow counter. 

[tom mann]

4. Was this an oversight? Did they not check the samples and said "what happened here?!" because we sure are.

I wonder if they got a good deal with the company that makes ornaments for Hallmark?  I can envision the "savvy businessman" mentality as something like "we can get these for 20 cents and they look close enough - change of plans folks".

[towl1996]

It also was annoying that I had seen him just a couple of weeks before at a prior show, the first time I had seen the model, and he told me then that the sound car was solid while the non-sound car had open slats. 

Wonder what happened?  Cost is the usual suspect. (As Mr. Mann alluded to in the prior post). But apparently there where plans for an open slat version. 

I guess the saying, "tripping over dollars to save pennies" applies here. In the long run how much was really saved and at what cost to a business' reputation?

[bbussey]

Not necessarily. I saw the pilot model in early June and late June, and the cars hit the market in July. That means the shipment in early June was at worst on the ocean and at best already in their warehouse. So Ken knew in early June that there was only one tooled body and yet told me something that I wanted to hear instead of what actually was.

[bbussey]

It's not one huge step backwards.  It's just the one small step over the last several years that [other  ] people finally noticed...

The regression of quality/accuracy has been noticeable and I've stated that on multiple occasions. Their best freight car is the N&W hopper. Everything since has had issues, some more than others, but the digression has been apparent. I'm not in the habit of comparing their N and HO models, but it's disappointing to hear that all of the HO models have been accurate (or rather, more accurate) than the subsequent N scale models. It is extremely disappointing to hear that the stock car is that inaccurate, slats/stirrups issue aside, when the previous HO model is a better representation of the prototype. Geez, missing letter boards?  Given the design of the model, there is no reason those couldn't have been molded in place. But the model was so poorly designed and executed, I guess it's not that significant in the broad picture.

[wcfn100]

The regression of quality/accuracy has been noticeable and I've stated that on multiple occasions.

But I'm not just talking about BLI. 

I'm not in the habit of comparing their N and HO models, but it's disappointing to hear that all of the HO models have been accurate (or rather, more accurate) than the subsequent N scale models.

The HO model has some of the same issues.

Jason

[towl1996]

So Ken knew in early June that there was only one tooled body and yet told me something that I wanted to hear instead of what actually was.

LOL, daaaaammmn, you must be one bad a$$hat.     You had the guy scared to tell you the truth.