Model Railroading > Broadway Limited Steam Locomtives

I have found these BLi steam locomtives to be very impressive in terms of sound and smoke with pretty good pulling power,
however, overall failures seem to be too common. We run for the public at the Randall Museum in San Francisco. The kids really like the smoke and sound.
I've had 5 BLI Consolidations and all have eventually failed by either freezing or constantly stalling.
This is my 2nd larger steam locomotive running well for the first time today.
Anyone else have any comments about BLI  steam locomotives with sound and smoke?

Regards, Jim Evans
 

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I've got two N&W Class A's and a Y-6b and never had any issues.

Of the five BLI locomotives I own, only the NW2 hasn't given me an issue. The others are on the shelf. Including two steam locomotives.

All my BLI locomotives are great running locomotives after changing decoders. I ran mine until they quite and then had Tsunami's installed and they are among my best runners.
Especially my UP 2-8-0 Consolidation number 618. I got to fire and run the prototype on the Heber line many years ago thanks to good friends of mine, John and Doug.
 

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY

We run a couple at the Palestine Tx museum, but changed out the deocders
for TCS WoW sound, and no issues thus far, and they get some miles on them.

Thanks everyone!
Looks like I'm going to need some new decoders as it appears clear that many have had issues.
Regards, Jim Evans
 

My son and I have 7 or 8 BLI locomotives and mechanically, they have given us no problems,  They only get used a few times per year, but this has been over a number of years and they don't show any signs of excessive wear or imminent failure.  Electronically, they're weird.  

Their original Paragon decoders (made by QSI) were OK, but each successive version (Paragon 2 and 3 - made by BLI now) has been worse.  They tend not to play well with DCC, sometimes control is lost while running, or right off the bat by failing to respond.  Other club members have had similar problems.  I have two GS4s and the sound is so out of sync and awful overall that I will be replacing the decoders with Tsunami 2s.  IMHO, Paragon 3 decoders are so bad that I take into account the price of a replacement Tsunami decoder when considering a purchase.

I have 2 BLI SD-9"s.  One has been trouble free. The other one has had 2 decoders replaced under warranty along with a motor.  I have 2 T&P E-8's which have been trouble free. 

I have 3 BLI steam locomotives and 6 BLI E units.  The diesels all seem to run fine, no problems, except the sound is more like a kitchen appliance than a locomotive, the decoders are being replaced as funds permit.

The steam locomotives have been more problematic.  The UP 4-8-2 had some issues and made a trip back to BLI for adjustments.  Currently it has gear noise that is quite noticeable at times.  The other steam locomotives are Blueline 2-8-2, one made a trip to BLI for repairs to the headlight circuit and the chuff. The other 2-8-2 seems to be fine.  Looking into replacing the decoders on all three with Soundtraxx for better sound quality and sound options.

Hope this helps.

Bob