Model Railroading > BLI/Athearn SW1500's side by side

New BLI 2549, Athearn 2458 from a few years ago.

BLI paint looks a little dark inside but spot on in the sun. Athearn details are crisper. BLI unit sounds pretty good, runs smooth. Lots of sound for a little unit. LED lighting a touch to white maybe but ok. BLI unit seems slightly heavier then the Athearn unit to me but I didn't put them on a scale.. Overall not bad for $190.00 sound DCC equipped unit.

Chris

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For starters I would replace those hideous BLI horns then put lenses in those mty headlights. Otherwise these locos look pretty good.

Thanks for the comparison images.

Posted from Windows Phone OS 7

Go with Athearn

BLI is garbage. Might as well well be Bachman all over again.

obsessedfoamer Wrote:
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> BLI is garbage. Might as well well be Bachman all
> over again.


Not really too sure that is the nicest thing to say to say to Chris about the engine that he has obviously purchased and then taken the time to post his visual comparison on here for us all to see. Also, wondering what you have experienced with BLI that would support your statement in the first place?

Jim

Those are some huge coupler pockets on the BLI.

Nice pictures. Thankyou for taking the time and effort to post these, Gilbert.

WAF Wrote:
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> Go with Athearn

Agreed, I'd go with the Athearn one also.

Athearn looks the best.

Chris,Thanks for posting the pictures,it seems like the Athearn might have a little more detail then BLI,so witch one runs better,has more weight & pulls better.
I am not a fan of BLI as there products seem to be inconsistent even with the same type of loco. They seem to have some good ideas but Korea Brass make it funky for them & I hope the U25C is not like this

Thanks again Chris

Tim
Hanesworth

The Athearn looks so much more refined. I like the BLI detail on the radiator opening with the relief of the fan, but the opening itself looks to square rather than rectangular. The sunshades are way to long. I applaud BLI's effort. especially since it is my understanding that eveything below the walkways is a casting, making more likely to be a good puller. The Athearn's are to light. The BLI's have sound, right? How is it? I agree that the horn is far too large. Thanks for posting the comparison.

Mike

Thanks for posting such a great side-by-side comparison. Really helps people decide! Did the SP even have SW1500's with a whole handrail (no walkover / chain to an MU'd unit)?

nicknack Wrote:
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> Thanks for posting such a great side-by-side
> comparison. Really helps people decide! Did the
> SP even have SW1500's with a whole handrail (no
> walkover / chain to an MU'd unit)?

The Athearn model is correct. The Athearn also includes the drop
step. This detail was omitted on the BLI.

Larry

By the way, thanks for the photos.

Excellent photo comparison, and very interesting. Thanks for taking the time to post this for all of us who are interested. It answers a lot of questions for me.

Cheers,
Harry

Interesting comparison. I had hopes for the BLI units, but the details and body are unacceptable to me. The horn is LOL, and the sunshades, coupler pockets, and red emergency lights are way off from the prototype.

Thanks for posting the comparison views. The BLI horn does look really to large. I noticed the truck side frames look better on the Athearn unit along with the hand railings also look great with the detail on the end that has the bolt detail for mounting.

Stanley Jackowski
Valrico, FL

When and why did SP add partial skirts below the side sill at the top inside corner of the step wells? Clearly an add-on by Athearn, but I haven't noticed it before on prototypes.

Doug Stark

BN_FAN Wrote:
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> When and why did SP add partial skirts below the
> side sill at the top inside corner of the step
> wells? Clearly an add-on by Athearn, but I
> haven't noticed it before on prototypes.

SP 2450-2582 came from EMD with the decorative "falsie" frame gussets; no physical function, they were just a bit of "styling" EMD created for the SWs. Apparently they were more trouble than they were worth, and were removed within a few years after delivery.

Posted from iPhone