Model Railroading > The Other BLI 4-8-4: Northern Pacific

My LHS will do mail deliveries which is good.
Arrived Saturday, decoder setup Sunday, photographer's special Monday.
I really like the looks and the sound of this engine.  The BLI software, not so much.  
There are quirks or as they might say "innovations" that do things I would prefer they don't.
One example: the cab lights come on when it is stopped, and that is why you see them on in the photo on the bridge.
If I could change one thing it would be to add a current keeper, it does occasionally stop if there is a momentary short, especially when tripping the circuit of the reverse loop "auto reverse".
But if you want a quick fix for late steam power, you should take a look a it.
All photos on my Southwestern Pacific, in the garage.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/16/20 19:17 by railstiesballast.

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Handsome locomotive, nice layout!
TC

I ran mine around on Saturday and did note the tendency for brief stops too. In doing some research, adding the BLI "GoPack" (BLI Keep Alive circuit) will solve that. It can be purchased for $30 and plugs into the decoder board.

https://www.broadway-limited.com/gopackpowercontinuitycapacitorpackwithplug.aspx

Set CV208 = 255 to keep the cab lights off.

I also recommed setting CV246 = 0 so the smoke unit is off by default at startup, F7 will turn it on and off.

I was making a number adustments to the locomotive earlier today, but the GoPack will make it virtually flawless.


 

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

Another something I like to do with all sound units is turn the master volume and the whistle/horn all the way to max (255), then lower the volume on most other sounds down, especially the bell. The idea is to make the whistle/horn signifigantly louder than the rest of the sounds. With most sound units on factory settings, the whistle/horn is hard to hear over the rest of the sounds.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/17/20 00:17 by funnelfan.

Ted:
Great suggestions, I'm going to do all of those.
I had set the whistle volume to what I thought was plenty loud while standing on the program track.  But when running it is kind of lost.
I had turned off the smoke at the switch after the first puff gave me asthma.
A couple of years ago I had weathered another NP steam locomotive and got a mild rebuke from a fellow old enough to be a witness: he said that up to the end the NP kept most of them looking quite sharp, including the white accents.  But I think the next time it is out of the box the cab roof will get a dusting of dark gray ash/cinders.

Wonderful scenery and a very fine looking loco. !