BLI NW2/SW7

[peteski]

I've been very pleased with the louvers Archer makes.  Vinyl on a decal.

I doubt it is vinyl Ron.  It is some sort of UV-curable resin (probably acrylic) printed using an ink jet printing over clear decal film.  Tichy Trains uses a similar printing process to custom print their (extra-thick) decals.  Which gives me an idea:  design your own rivet/weld/louver patterns and have Tichy print them as custom decals. Voila!  You have your own rivet decals specifically for your project. 

[wcfn100]

Have you tried these?

http://archertransfers.com/AR88057.html

I have some but haven't tried them.  It would have been the next thing to try but then I got my printer.  Honestly it's the unevenness and lack pf crispness that puts me off.  Looks like a bunch of random squiggly lines sometimes when I see them used on a project.  But I could live with it if there was no better way.

Jason

[Jim Starbuck]

I’ve been very happy with the several Archer products used on various projects. Rivets, louvers, tread plate and panel lines have all worked well.
The row of louvers and the panel line above them in the gray are Archer decals on an N scale Shapeways shell. Actually, I shaved off the louvers and panel lines printed on the shell and replaced them decals. The intake grille is still part of the printed shell.
Apologies for the thread drift.

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[tehachapifan]

  !!! That unit ROCKS!!!!!

[Jim Starbuck]

!!! That unit ROCKS!!!!!

Thanks Russ!

[wcfn100]

Just an FYI, if you got an undec, check your parts bags.  I found I was missing 2 parts.  I emailed BLI just now, we'll see what their respose is.

Also, I noticed that for some reason, BLI didn't mold in the vent on the front of the engineers' side of the cab. 

Jason

[SD452XR]

One of my NP units came with a exhaust stack lower than the other. Must of been a mold issue. I emailed BL and even sent a photo. They are sending me a new part today.

[freedj]

How loud is the mechanism without the sound enabled? Can someone compare the pulling power to the Kato NW2?  I've got a tight helix and a little more pulling power would really be nice!

[greenwizard88]

I have a 315mm s curve (With 248mm straight track between it) just before a 2% straight grade, and it struggled pulling 7 cars At slow speed until they got out of the curve. With more power it was able to pull the cars up the grade and around a 2% curve

[peteski]

How loud is the mechanism without the sound enabled? Can someone compare the pulling power to the Kato NW2?  I've got a tight helix and a little more pulling power would really be nice!

Reply #33 and #52 in this thread (plus Spookshow's model review) offer pulling power info..

https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=48318.msg642308#msg642308

https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=48318.msg642671#msg642671

[Cajonpassfan]

I found the lighting to be quite odd.
When stopped both lights are on. When you select direction, the opposite light goes out.
Perhaps I just haven’t found the proper settings yet.

Yes, very odd. When stopped, both lights are on dim.
Good luck with finding the proper settings, see below.... An annoying “inconvenience” indeed.
I wonder is they can be rewired for both lights to be either on or off?
Otto

[tehachapifan]

Yes, very odd. When stopped, both lights are on dim.
Good luck with finding the proper settings, see below.... An annoying “inconvenience” indeed.
I wonder is they can be rewired for both lights to be either on or off?
Otto

Well, lights dimmed when stopped is at least part of Rule 17(?) lighting as I understand it.....although I'm not sure NW2's were doing that or not back in the day.

[jdcolombo]

Rule 17 (which actually is now GCOR Rule 5.9) is not just about light dimming.  It also quite clearly says that the FRONT AND REAR lights should be on at all times, with the headlight in the non-travel direction (e.g., the rear light if the engine is moving forward; the front light if it is moving in reverse) dimmed.  In the case of a consist or single engine coupled to a train, the rear light (e.g., the light of the rear unit facing the first car of the train) "may" be turned off.  GCOR 5.9.4

The rule also provides for situations in which the front headlight should be dimmed or turned completely off.  The headlight must be off in certain situations - for example, a train stopped on a siding, clear of the main.  See GCOR 5.9.1 and 5.9.2

Yard switchers typically have both lights on, but dimmed, at all times.

BLI is weird.  They make a great engine (the SW, the Mike), then hobble it with a decoder that can't do something that even the cheapest of the cheap decoders can do: keep the headlight on in both directions of travel.  Don't they have anyone on the staff that actually WATCHES prototype trains?  If you've ever observed yard switchers at work, or a local doing industry switching on an industrial spur, you would know that the headlight stays on ALL THE TIME.  It may be dimmed, but it is never off.

Sigh . . .

John C.

[Cajonpassfan]

Agreed John, BLI is weird, and I think perhaps no one there thought of using their P3 decoders in a switcher. Do’h.
But before we get too carried away about Rule 17, (and Rule 18 applicable to yard engines) please note that prior to cca 1952-54?, Rule 17 only applied by night, emphasis added.
I have hundreds of daylight photos of freight trains and switchers during my modeled era (1946-1951) and the daytime use of headlights is rare. As modelers, we like to turn on and dim the headlight because it’s cool and because we can, but the prototype didn’t actually bother to do this until later.
I’m not attempting to excuse BLI’s decoder inflexibility, just pointing out that Rule 17 (and18) didn’t apply to daytime running for many decades prior to the early 50’s.
Regards, Otto

[peteski]

Agreed John, BLI is weird, and I think perhaps no one there thought of using their P3 decoders in a switcher. Do’h.

The sad ting is that this headlight functionality could easily be addressed by (probably a simple change) in the decoder's firmware.  That is one of the nice things about computers - things like function outputs are controlled by the internal programming (not by hardwired circuitry).