Broadway-Limited Problems

[DocGeoff]

Just before Christmas I purchased a Broadway-Limited SP E7A. It arrived a few days after the holiday and I was excited when I put it on the layout and the sound rived up. But unfortunately that's as far as it got. The engine ran horribly. Stalled, stopped and shuttered forward and didn't do much better in reverse. Hardly pulled it's own weight either. I contacted Broadway-Limited and did get an immediate response from the service department . I am awaiting a return authorization form to send it to them for repair or replacement. I hope the warranty will make it right. This is the first of their products I have purchased and look with anticipation to a speedy resolution. It is their final exam. I was poised to purchase a PA A-A set but I am going to wait to see the results of making my purchase perform as expected and doing so in a timely manner I will keep all Trainboard members informed as to the progress and I hope successful outcome of Broadway-Limited support. If you have had similar experience with the Paragon2 engines let me know what transpired in your dealing with Broadway-Limited.

[Nato]

    I had no problems with my original Precision Craft (now Broadway) GN E-7's one DCC one not. DCC loco is slower on DC layout,but sound works fine. I recieved two Broadway DCC UP E-8/9's. On Wasatch N Scale club layout at last show they ran very slowly on DC power hesitated at some spots on the layout and did not pull a 12 car train very well. Contrast this to running them in DC on my medium size home layout "Go Figure!' They start slowly,but diesel  and brake squel sound work, they run smoothly with no stalling and they pull a dummy B and 12 cars no sweat. I have had no dealings with Broadway,but have to assume they will make it right. Nate Goodman (Nato). Salt Lake,Utah.

[altohorn25]

I have two Milw E7's and they are spotty at best.  Even on the mod-u-trak layout, I've had problems with them when they go over turnouts or any spot on the track that is not totally clean.  The electrical pickup seems to be the problem.  Either that or the fact that they draw so much power for the sound unit that any burp in the power will shut down the unit.  If one of them shuts down, it takes a while for it to get back up to speed which plays havoc with the other one that didn't shut down.  Pulling power has not been a problem as my two A units will pull my 14 car Olympian Hiawatha fine on both my home layout as well as the modular layout.  The sound is great, just wish they ran better.  I probably would not buy any more unless I hear they have fixed the electrical problem.

I will have to say that their customer service department is excellent.  One of the two units I had fried the decoder right out of the box.  Got a nice gentleman on the phone and after suggesting some troubleshooting right on the phone, told me to mail it back and they would replace the sound board.  Got it back in less than 2 weeks.  Since I had him on the phone, I asked him about how hot the decoder was running; he said that this was normal because of the amount of power the sound decoder draws and I didn't have to worry about the shell melting.

Hope this helps anyone who is interested.

Nate Pierce