Broadway Limited BLI New York Central NYC J3a 4-6-4 Dreyfuss Hudson Review

[@trainman440]

Sorry for the reupload! I had the wrong title sequence and it bothered me enough to completely re-render and re-upload the video.

[@Tauschung]

My dad bought me this engine so many years ago and now I’m discovering my very large interest in model railroading, hopefully I can use this engine one day on a setup I’m proud of.

[@trainman440]

Thats really sweet! Yea this hobby is really fun although its pricy and some of the community can be rather toxic. But finding good deals and talking with friendly fellow modelers makes up for it! Enjoy!

[@JulianWatsonThe400]

I really want this locomotive. I don't even have a layout yet, better yet a DCC system. But I want it.

[@trainman440]

I feel you! Shes a beauty :)

[@gonebamboo4116]

Always like that history note

[@trainman440]

thanks!

[@jeffreyrule8143]

Great review. Thanks for sharing.

[@doge_sevens]

i have a theory that the vents on the front of the engine lead back to the 2 slits behind the smokestack at 10:50 for the purpose of lifting smoke (and looking cool)

[@trainman440]

Huh I actually never really thought about that, but that may very well be true! Good eye

[@doge_sevens]

@@trainman440 thank you! And good video aswell

[@trainman440]

@@doge_sevens thanks!

[@officialpennsyjoe]

They called the fin nose the "Spartan Helmet". And "Roman Helmet" too. Still, a beautiful engine.

[@trainman440]

Haha, I didnt know that, they do resemble those helmets though!

[@officialpennsyjoe]

Install a 1517 TCS kit!

[@James-Railyard]

I only got the Parajunk 2 because it has the tireless axle. Just going to put some putty in the boiler for the extra power.

[@trainman440]

That's a good idea, how does it pull?

[@James-Railyard]

@@trainman440 I don’t have the putty yet as I’m going to do that when I upgrade the sound. Currently it’s factory and only pulls about 5-10 cars w/o the tire. With the tire I’d say yours would be the same. I can keep you updated when I upgrade it.

[@trainman440]

@@James-Railyard sounds good! Yea, cause Id like to ultimately do that with all my engines but there simply isnt enough space inside these engines for more weight. Most of them already have a metal chassis that's meant to fill up the entire engine internals, so unless you cut some of that off and put in tungsten or lead, it'll be hard to find space inside these engines for additional weight. That being said, getting rid of the smoke unit is probably the first and most obvious choice.

[@James-Railyard]

@@trainman440 the smoke unit currently occupies the location of the boiler barker the engine will get, it will get two mega bass speakers too.

[@warbabyproductions]

GhOsT oF tHe RaIlS

[@NYC20thCenturyLtd]

"So, yeah", "so yeah", "so yeah", "so yeah", "so yeah"... You get what I'm saying..?

[@trainman440]

Haha I get it, I have the personality of a parking meter, but hey people dont watch my vids for my terrible speaking or personality, they come for the info! So yeah... :)

[@kramvonatik8084]

Sadly, a potentially great model loco ruined by poor design. I was so happy when BLi announced this loco, I ordered two versions. They finally arrived and I took them to the club, attached the six very light coaches and ran it up a 2.5% grade. By the time it got to the top it was waddling like a duck. The traction tyre had twisted. I packed that one away & got the other one out. smooth on the flat, then up the hill & it waddled like a duck. Two failures out of two. I was hoping to order a Non-Traction tyre driver, but BLi don't make one. So now I have two very pretty display locos. BLi state "Impress your friends",... well they were impressed by how bad BLi Hudsons were and the conversation soon went to how bad BLi Traction Tyred locos are, with endless horror stories. I would love to buy more BLi locos, but not with traction tyres. Hey, wouldn't it be good if BLi put a set of Non-Traction Tyre drivers in the box. Never happen while they chase the toy train market instead of the modellers.

[@trainman440]

Did you return any of them? My par2 dreyfuss came with a traction tireless wheel. It was during their transition to paragon 3 is when they removed the spare wheel, so if you have the paragon 4 version it definitely didnt come with one. Yet another reason I recommend people to buy the older paragon 2 version...besides being cheaper and still the same engine. I never understood why theyre so keen on adding traction tires to engines, and will forever be against it but that all being said theyre still nice engines. I assume you contacted BLI customer service for the spare dreyfuss wheel? Im surprised they would be out of stock so quickly. Also, what exactly do you mean by wobble? Are you sure its caused by the traction tire? Granted I try to remove the tires off my engines whenever I can, the few engines that DO have traction tires on my layout dont wobble during inclines. Wobble may not look great on inclines but I dont think that warrants them being permanently set on static display only.

[@kramvonatik8084]

@@trainman440 G'day, and thank you for your reply. I did contact BLi and they didn't have any. :( The wobble is caused by the traction tyre, not staying in it's slot. It twists to create a high edge and so the wheel shape is no longer round, but oval; to some degree. I have reseated them, but it just happens again. It runs OK if it's pulling only one or two coaches. Quite frankly, I get sad/angry/frustrated, because I really love this loco, and it cost a lot of money, and it runs so badly; all because of that damn traction tyre. Again, thanks for your reply and now I know there are Non-Traction tyre drivers, I'll see if I can get a set.

[@trainman440]

​@@kramvonatik8084 That's really unfortunate, and I see what you mean. Honestly (and I realize this is a poor fix), what would be the harm if you simply glued the traction tire onto the wheel? Use some sort of weak glue that allows you to remove the tire if needed....but realistically, either youre going to run with this wheel, or find a traction tire-less wheel to replace it, so ruining this wheel isnt the end of the world. You can use bullfrogsnot as a glue, or any basic rubbery glue like silicon caulk...something thats easily removable. Or maybe try finding some smaller traction tires for a tighter fit? Just trying to be creative here..good luck!