Almost there, but not quite: The Broadway Limited Imports PRR E6

THANK YOU FOR WATCHING!
Please follow: coal_country_modelco on Instagram for more content and updates on this model as well as other projects I am undertaking.
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Today I briefly look at the newly released Pennsylvania Railroad E6s #460 (Item 6700) from Broadway Limited Imports. A short unboxing followed by a closeup look at some of the details. However, as this model is needing to be returned, I did not have time to go into the kind of depth I would like to. Perhaps when the new one arrives from Trainworld I will take an even more thorough look at it.
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Let me know what you think in the comments below!
Suggestions and criticisms welcome as long as they are constructive, that's the only way I'm going to learn how to make better content!

[@grootsan]

Thanks for your video Greg ! I received my E6 last Tuesday which is not the Lindbergh but the BLI 6703 #1211. It looks a bit more sober like no red lines around the cab windows and just "pennsylvania" on the tender. Smoke switch set to off, NO smoke for me ! Two things I noticed are the two front driving wheels having traction tires which I think BLI should have left optional with a set of wheels with tires to be fitted if you want to. Second I have the impression that my front four pony wheels are a bit more shiny than yours which I doubt is prototypical. However fortunately NO imperfections nor loose parts and I am quite happy with it albeit it was far from cheap ! ($565 US including shipping to Australia). I still have to find out how it runs and sounds on my friend's layout. Cheers, Jan, Australia. I did subscribe 😊

[@greg_mmm]

I'm so glad to hear that yours arrived without damage, especially with how far it had to be shipped! If Broadway can iron out the little things like the exposed shiny metal parts and (yes I definitely agree) about the traction tires then the build quality is at least up to standard for sure. These things sure aren't cheap. Thank you so much for watching!

[@gonebamboo4116]

My guess it's circled the globe if it started out in communist China. It would be worth it if coming from South Korea. You are absolutely stuck if you get crap sent to you internationally. Believe me, I know.

[@davidhafer8623]

I’ve already repaired a paragon 2 smoke unit with paragon 3 smoke unit parts

[@jean-pierrepodik9638]

Hello! thanks for your video and the very nice steamlocomotive. Greetings from France.

[@greg_mmm]

Hi, Thanks for watching!

[@glennmaidhof6061]

Some smoke is better than no smoke and if there's to much smoke, the neighbors will complain.

[@dannagy546]

Ive got to ask, but realistically, what other options are their for locomotives like this E6 on the market, other than brass models?

[@user-mp2tl8zv2t]

Very good video and super lokomotiv. 👌 🤝

[@gmpullman]

I have the same Lindberg 460. Out of the box it would short my DCC breaker. I put it on a DC test track and it ran for a moment or so then the cab light, front pilot lights and headlight died. Decoder will program and engine runs fine in DCC. Tender lights work OK. Waiting to hear back from BLI about return or they can send me the parts if they OK me opening the engine. Short was obviously in light wiring harness. On many of my BLI steam the smoke unit is the first thing I remove completely. Larger engines I place a speaker in there, smaller engines I add weight. More than half of my P3 and now this P4 have had electrical or decoder issues. I have 3 P5as that all had to have motors and decoders replaced 😞 I sent BLI a repair request but it has been two weeks. I'm cutting them some slack since they might have to deal with Ian damage? Thanks for your review.

[@greg_mmm]

I'm really at a loss for words at how they continue to sell this level of quality at such high prices, and get away with it. I guess I'm part of the problem for buying one myself. Sure, they can be repaired with enough parts, but if a company sells you a product, it should work as advertised out of the box. Thanks for watching!

[@theinsanegamergeek]

@@greg_mmm Because where else will you get them? BLI is the only company left that makes smaller steamers, like this Atlantic, or pacifics, ece. Occasionally bachmann will make one and, well, bleh. The only thing made by the likes of athearn is the FeF or the big articulated engines, most dont even make steam engines at all. Having a monopoly is bad for the consumer.

[@michaelcudby787]

@@greg_mmm I have always believed, that the retailer should spend 10-15 minutes, testing all engines they sell., before they are sent to the customer.Even if the retailer put an extra ten dollars on the price to cover this time. What s $10 on the price of a $500-$600 loco?. Sure,they must be checked before leaving China, but we all know that anything made in China is no guarantees.

[@cliffwoodbury5319]

i wonder what boilers and other parts of the more demanding systems of a steam engine could me made of so they would be a lot less man hour intensive in modern times as im sure boilers could be made a lot better now.

[@atticafireman]

did the new engine smoke correctly?

[@thecapisoffyt]

How many drops of smoke did you put into the smoke unit? They already put some in for you, you may have over done with with the smoke cause you can see how heavy the smoke is by how it instantly falls

[@greg_mmm]

Yes, I was worried about that, but I also did not want to burn it out, so I initially only added two drops. That way it was enough to function but not overfill it in the event it was already added. Thanks for watching!

[@gonebamboo4116]

​@@greg_mmm Why on the world do they come defaulted to on?

[@theinsanegamergeek]

@@gonebamboo4116 Because they assume the consumer of a $800+ locomotive is smart enough to read the instructions first?

[@jamesmccarthy4777]

Beautiful looking steamer but I wouldn't take a chance on BLI for fear of inconsistent quality control. So I'll stick with Kato, Walthers, Athearn, Atlas, and Hornby.

[@nigelgresley87546]

Y’know…I wonder how the performance of the smoke would play out if the model had smoke deflectors, to channel it up and not around the loco smokebox

[@simonmcowan6874]

A very good review, do you watch " Sam's trains" a UK reviewer, ? This is very similar, well done like your attitude and filming.

[@gonebamboo4116]

0:39 classic BLI quality control

[@greg_mmm]

To batter an old saying once more, 'they just don't make 'em like they used to!' I never owned any of the older BLI's but the original Paragon's and even a few P2's were tough as nails and lasted forever. These new ones are just built to such a budget considering the asking price and lack of features and build quality. Thanks for watching!

[@michaelstrains4014]

@@greg_mmm couldn’t agree more. Currently I own a P4 Big Boy 4014. It looks nice, and even runs decent. But for $770 I would’ve expected sprung drivers, clear sounds, and a somewhat better smoke unit. Compare that to MTH’s last run of HO Big Boys that had FANTASTIC smoke, sprung drivers, and by far the best sound quality I’ve heard on a model train, not to mention it would take any track you ran it on. Oh, and it cost me $565. Only problem with MTH is the motors they were using went bad and kept blowing up the board in the locomotive. Crossing my fingers and hoping BLI’s model at least lasts longer than MTH’s.

[@w.rustylane5650]

I don't think I'd ever own a BLI locomotive as they are too expensive for an old retired guy on a fixed income. Besides I only do DC and not set up for DCC or sound. Personally, I do not like the sound of HO DCC as it sounds so tinny. Sound is a lot better in O gauge and upwards like G gauge. The BLI engines do have fantastic detail, but I was wondering if they are handled too much that the tiny parts would start falling off. Cheers from eastern TN

[@mattiasthorslund6467]

Call me picky but smoke never looks real on a model, even when it's working as advertised. The physical characteristics of smoke just don't scale. So I've never bothered with it. Also, a well operated stream locomotive need not make much smoke or steam at all, depending on weather and other circumstances.

[@RailTime1786]

Exactly don’t understand why people are stickler for smoke detail when it doesn’t even look prototypical. Even Marklin engines I have do the same thing as this BLI. The real locomotive have a cloud now a column of white smoke

[@leisureshoot]

indeed. it looks considerably better at O scale, although still not great.

[@steffenrosmus9177]

Problem on models: smoke comes always as an column and it is white. Good sound is more important to me.

[@mattstrainroom]

Shame the smoke is questionable - it sure is a very nice looking model! As an O-Gauger (and ex-HO'er) I've become quite jealous of some of the pieces available in the HO world nowadays. There is some really, really first class stuff being produced. BLI wasn't readily available when I was in HO but my local train store stocks some of their pieces, I've been very impressed seeing them run and handling them. HO looks very appealing these days...

[@KuanChunLiu]

I already damaged the smoking unit with several BLI locos. Obviously, their this tiny unit is not designed well and easily to broken in a sudden or … just after the unboxing.

[@gonebamboo4116]

no wonder they just put out a damage control KZbin video on their smoke units

[@user-pk5ol9sq1y]

Aw man no sound of the whistle?

[@johnhermanson5249]

A great looking model, but the BLI sound is not so good compared to TCS or Soundtraxx. And there it is, the smoke comes out from under the boiler. NG. I see this in lots of reviews.

[@brianmccutcheon3205]

almost a third of the video was just getting out of the box......fell asleep

[@blackrocks8413]

yeah, my own opinion...who the crap cares about the box....

[@kenamosjr.bo_51]

Very nice locomotive, now take it back to dealer and show video and have them fix that smoke- BLI has fixed 2 of mine no charge and seem to have good warranty repair service. I have about a dozen Paragon 3 locos and only 2 have needed fixing- not bad.

[@greg_mmm]

The replacement has just arrived! They didn't want to replace it or repair it, but later that week they posted a video on their social media of one working properly, so clearly they knew it wasn't right. This is my first BLI that has blatantly had a smoke issue, but then again I don't have many. I'm glad to hear you aren't experiencing these issues, it shouldn't be such a shot in the dark. Thanks for watching!

[@gonebamboo4116]

Two out of a dozen is 'not bad' in your book? Wow! No wonder BLI products are what they are.

[@gonebamboo4116]

​@@greg_mmm I'm waiting for my first BLI that DOESN'T have an issue

[@kenamosjr.bo_51]

@@gonebamboo4116 In fairness one came damaged-shipping damage. The other for a bad decoder- it would run and stop and go again after about 1/2 hr operating, not exactly something you would find when factory testing.

[@sd80mac]

I don't get why people get so hung up on firebox flicker/glow. It's not something you'd ever see unless you were in the cab.

[@jimflagg4009]

You have got to talk.

[@epiccsx]

Has he talked in any of his vids?

[@struck2soon]

Lovely looking model, but that sound is like something from 20 years ago…actually I think it is still the same sound file from 20 years ago! The smoke is truly laughable, if MTH can get a smoke unit to work properly then why can’t BLI? On balance I think I will by a brass version of the E6 and add my own sound.

[@jetporter]

I'm disappointed anyone is using those oil-based smoke machines in the first place. You've GOT to check out what a guy in Wales is doing recently- ultrasonic steam effects that make SCALE looking smoke that is perfectly synchronized, as well as working draincocks. His company is called TRS trains. I realize this isn't an option with this loco, and installation costs as much as the loco. But if you like your models with smoke, you need to check it out. He's got videos on KZbin.

[@stuartaaron613]

Trs Trains is the person. Very impressed by his work.

[@michaelfedora5630]

Thanks for sharing that. I'm up to my 15th broadway engine and yes there really pricy but we'll worth it

[@anilsoni42]

Yes me too having problems with the smoke not coming

[@kiwitrainguy]

I have five BLI steam locos that came with a smoke unit and only one of them works as it should.

[@n9323zmd]

You are having this smoke problem because there is too much smoke fluid in the unit. Seeing smoke come out of the bottom of the boiler occurs because there is a bubble in the smokestack. This is caused by the high fluid volume, just blow in the stack and smoke will come out. Run the engine for a bit and this heavy smoke problem will go away and look more realistic. Submitted respectfully.

[@kiwitrainguy]

Also there are two CVs that can be adjusted to set the amount of smoke produced.

[@Coolrockndad]

I was very disappointed in the quality control. Reason I say this is because I found 5 items I had to realign. The head light in particular needed to be realigned from looking way to high.

[@johnnyeveritt5695]

Howzit : Quite frankly; I would prefer a voice-over / narration than brief text-flashes that require reading ( WHEN you can actually see the text as there is limited colour-contrast with the background ); this whilst you are demonstrating the very topic / query as being raised in the text itself. Regards / John

[@user-lt6oh2bu7c]

I agree - so much of the text was unreadable, should have been obvious when editing. Otherwise good video.

[@joshfullbright7678]

smoke unit looks like crap even when it "works", I would never return a loco over such a silly feature

[@blackrocks8413]

meh, really don't care about smoke...

[@brianberthold3118]

Broadway Limited is whats wrong with model railroading ... over priced WAY overpriced and all they do is make rich people locos with that crappy DCC

[@MarkInLA]

Why, if there is sound from the loco didn't you just speak it instead of making us read the review ?!