# Atlas Gold Vs. Broadway Limited



## HOTrainNut (Feb 17, 2016)

Hey guys ive been posting on here for a while now and seen lots of people who love their broadway limited products, however, I think I just got screwed by BLI hard. 

I sent in a BLI RSD15 with DCC and Sound in which the sound wasnt working. They sent me back a Locomotive with NO DCC and NO sound. So my question for the masses is.

Is Atlas Gold better than BLI or BLI still the best bang for DCC and Sound locos.


----------



## mesenteria (Oct 29, 2015)

Something is amiss. If there is one thing BLI has a very strong reputation for doing, it's repairing and returning locomotives, often when they are between production runs and you'd think parts would be scarce.

Contact them. I would call and talk to a human. You'll almost certainly get an initially positive outcome right there on the phone, and from there it'll be that five-six-week wait until your locomotive comes back repaired or replaced with a new one.


----------



## HOTrainNut (Feb 17, 2016)

Yeah their tech said I sent them a Stealth loco which is DC only. but both my box and the and the model number show its a DCC Sound loco. So I dont know what they sent me back unless they couldnt get the parts to repair it and didnt wanna upgrade it.


----------



## mesenteria (Oct 29, 2015)

Did you get the box off ebay or otherwise sold/resold by someone other than a BLI dealer/seller? I think someone has stiffed you, or perhaps you have forgotten that the item was going to be shipped to you in a box other than one that reflects its "Stealth" model status? Maybe the shipper intended to sell you a different engine, or he accidently used the wrong box to ship the item......................?? Something's wonky. I hope you can get it resolved. Otherwise, you can ask BLI to install a sound package or have someone do it with you purchasing an after-market decoder.


----------



## Joefrumjersey (Apr 16, 2013)

In answer to the OP's first question, my opinion is Atlas Gold beats out BLI every time.

As far as the silent BLI, they have not offered a DC based locomotive since their blue Line ran it's course. Something is wrong here. If it's a Paragon, it should be sound + DCC + other goodies.


----------



## Chip (Feb 11, 2016)

I have found BLI to be hit-or-miss. I have 5, two steamers, the Trackmobile, the 1920's style Track Inspection Vehicle and the Shark with unpowered B unit. The lil guys, the track inspector and the "mobile" are good runners and the kids love em! The Shark is excellent but one of the steamers(2-10-2) ran in reverse when it was supposed to go forward and vice versa and then died, a decoder should fix that. The other Steamer(2-8-2) is a CHAMP and is among my best runner/pullers! I don't have any Atlas at the moment so I can't say much about them.


----------



## Joefrumjersey (Apr 16, 2013)

Chip: I was mainly thinking diesel, in my reply. I currently have six BLI locos, 2 GG1s, an NW2, in diesel, and three steamers, PRR H10 2-8-0 and PRR I1 2-10-0, plus a Reading T1 4-8-4. The GG1s like to derail, the NW2 cannot pull more than a couple of cars on a grade of less than 2%, and the Steamers, all presented decoder issues when new out of box.
Once I reset them to factory default and proframed them their OK, but for the most part I don't use them.

Atlas, on the other hand makes a great running model. I have quite a few, and the only one that gives me fits is the H16-4-4 with a proprietary decoder.


----------



## HOTrainNut (Feb 17, 2016)

Yeah my box shows a Paragon unit with QSI sound. And the repair paperwork they sent me in return said it ran in both DC and DCC..... how. No decoder. And it even showed that the sound worked. I would NEVER pay $260 for a loco without sound and DCC, unless it was a brass model. So im really wondering it they mixed up my loco with another. They cant even find loco 6809 on their roster.


----------



## fs2k4pilot (Jan 5, 2013)

HOTrainNut said:


> Yeah my box shows a Paragon unit with QSI sound. And the repair paperwork they sent me in return said it ran in both DC and DCC..... how. No decoder. And it even showed that the sound worked. I would NEVER pay $260 for a loco without sound and DCC, unless it was a brass model. So im really wondering it they mixed up my loco with another. They cant even find loco 6809 on their roster.


Could you post a good quality picture of the label? I bought a BLI 2-8-2 that I thought had DCC and sound and it turned out to be a Stealth Line DCC ready engine. That became clear when I pulled off the tender shell and all there was was a PCB with an NMRA eight pin plug with jumpers in it. The label did say Stealth line, albeit in very tiny print.

And my collection of BLI engines is almost all Paragon II steamers and three diesels, and all have run virtually trouble free. The three diesels are two SD40-2s and a C30-7. They look good, sound good and haul well, on a par with Atlases, but both SD40-2s run a bit jerky. My steamers include one QSI-Titan-retrofitted N&W 611, one Paragon III Pennsy M1B (has gremlins when MU'ed, likes to reverse itself uncontrollably when running with other engines. Not totally sold on Paragon III engines), three P2-equipped N&W Y6Bs, one P2 equipped N&W A class, two Atlantic Coast Line USRA Light Pacifics, one ex-Reading T-1 4-8-4, one Santa Fe 4-8-4, one Union Pacific 9000 class 4-12-2, four Pennsy I1SA 2-10-0s (two with long tenders, and two with short tenders), one Pennsy J1 2-10-4, and the aforementioned Stealth line ACL USRA Light Mike, which is currently equipped with a Tsunami Medium Steam decoder.

Issues I've had with these engines have been few. One of my Y6s crapped its decoder, which had to be replaced, but because P2 decoder boards use quick connect plugs for all the wiring connections to and from the board, installation was a cinch and I was able to do it myself (note: take a picture of what wire goes where, because not all the plugs on each board are used in any given engine type, and the connections used also vary for type to type). One of my 2-10-0s picked a switch and had a hard short which made much smoke and burned insulation off half the wires in the tender. I ordered replacement wire harnesses and a new decoder for the engine and that fixed it. There was one issue with my 611 wherein the rear driver pair, due to lateral motion, would short upon returning to straight track from a left hand curve. I sent it in and BLI sent it back saying they had fixed the problem by replacing the rear driver pair. Now my ex-Reading engine is starting to have similar problems, so I'll end up getting a new rear driver set for that engine, too.

I also had one tiny issue with my Pennsy J1, in that it initially didn't pull very well. I solved that problem by removed the traction tire - equipped driver pair from the engine, removing the traction tires, cutting long, thin strips of electrical tape and wrapping them around the wheels inside the traction tire grooves, then putting the traction tires back on and reinstalling the driver pair. This had the effect of enlarging the traction tires just enough to put more of the engine's weight on them, greatly improving tractive effort. It will now haul 40+ cars up my club's helix track, which has an average grade of around 2%, but as steep as 5% in places.


----------



## HOTrainNut (Feb 17, 2016)

fs2k4pilot said:


> Could you post a good quality picture of the label? I bought a BLI 2-8-2 that I thought had DCC and sound and it turned out to be a Stealth Line DCC ready engine. That became clear when I pulled off the tender shell and all there was was a PCB with an NMRA eight pin plug with jumpers in it. The label did say Stealth line, albeit in very tiny print.
> 
> And my collection of BLI engines is almost all Paragon II steamers and three diesels, and all have run virtually trouble free. The three diesels are two SD40-2s and a C30-7. They look good, sound good and haul well, on a par with Atlases, but both SD40-2s run a bit jerky. My steamers include one QSI-Titan-retrofitted N&W 611, one Paragon III Pennsy M1B (has gremlins when MU'ed, likes to reverse itself uncontrollably when running with other engines. Not totally sold on Paragon III engines), three P2-equipped N&W Y6Bs, one P2 equipped N&W A class, two Atlantic Coast Line USRA Light Pacifics, one ex-Reading T-1 4-8-4, one Santa Fe 4-8-4, one Union Pacific 9000 class 4-12-2, four Pennsy I1SA 2-10-0s (two with long tenders, and two with short tenders), one Pennsy J1 2-10-4, and the aforementioned Stealth line ACL USRA Light Mike, which is currently equipped with a Tsunami Medium Steam decoder.
> 
> ...


I spoke with BLI and they found an order request from the hobby shop I bought the loco at had requested a new box. So the guy who sold it must has thought it was a sound loco. So I overpaid for it. Ive already sold that DC loco and lost my shirt, but its ok. It paid for a true paragon 2 DCC/Sound.


----------



## fs2k4pilot (Jan 5, 2013)

HOTrainNut said:


> I spoke with BLI and they found an order request from the hobby shop I bought the loco at had requested a new box. So the guy who sold it must has thought it was a sound loco. So I overpaid for it. Ive already sold that DC loco and lost my shirt, but its ok. It paid for a true paragon 2 DCC/Sound.


You might've been able to get BLI to put sound in it for you. They do have an upgrade service for replacing the decoders in older locomotives.


----------

