BLI T1's

[Cajonpassfan]

I don’t own a T1 (and I sent back the M1) but I do love my BLI mikes, including their P3 decoders. So if any of you fine gentlemen want to sell me your undamaged BLI Mikado boards and replace them with TSU’s or Loksounds, PM me please and let’s make a deal. I’ve made this offer before but so far, not a single taker...
Otto K.

[jdcolombo]

I don’t own a T1 (and I sent back the M1) but I do love my BLI mikes, including their P3 decoders. So if any of you fine gentlemen want to sell me your undamaged BLI Mikado boards and replace them with TSU’s or Loksounds, PM me please and let’s make a deal. I’ve made this offer before but so far, not a single taker...
Otto K.

Hi Otto.

I’ll take you up on it.  I plan to replace the Paragons with Loksound decoders.  But that project is about 10th on my list right now.  Spring 2020.

John C.

[Cajonpassfan]

Hi John,
that’s perfect, because I have many other projects ahead of me as well, so it’s not like I need them right now. And I still have a couple of your old Tsunamis to use.
But I am impressed that you can do a hundred projects by Spring
PM me when ready to discuss please.
Otto

[C855B]

Honestly, this makes a lot of sense, but you also wonder how much they lose from people who won't buy any of their products because of their decoders. ...

Given the way BLI defends their sound-only business, I'm relatively certain they have worked the loss into their calculus. Hobby products have thin margins at nearly every point in the production chain, and BLI, after de-prioritizing N for nearly a decade ([...cough cough...] M1a...), realized there was heavy demand from train runners for on-board sound. So much so they could lock-in a 25-30% MSRP increase with relatively little invested up-front in R&D, especially when compared to tooling costs for the hardware parts.

They simply cashed-in on a trending novelty, which is good business as long as the market is there. When and if the demand for on-board sound fades, I suspect they'll adjust accordingly and the "sound premium" will decrease to a shoulder-shrug.

For myself, I buy models. In the case of the my most recent BLI acquisition, they offered RR-specific details, which meant fewer locos set aside for detail work. That was worth the extra cost to me, although they are still on the bench in pre-op for their laryngectomies.

[mmagliaro]

And all along I thought that BLI was a manufacturer of model train rolling stock, locomotives, and an occasional novelty item like shoes, or scale models of water towers, and that a decoder was just one of the model's features. 

Don't be ridiculous!  They make that natty mooing stock car!   
(truth be told, I have one of those, a Christmas present from my wife, and I do enjoy it occasionally... I ripped the awful BLI body off it and put one of the special-run NP stock car bodies from a Lowell Smith car on there, so now it looks really good, and it still
"moos"... LOL!)

[peteski]

And all along I thought that BLI was a manufacturer of model train rolling stock, locomotives, and an occasional novelty item like shoes, or scale models of water towers, and that a decoder was just one of the model's features.

Don't be ridiculous!  They make that natty mooing stock car!   
(truth be told, I have one of those, a Christmas present from my wife, and I do enjoy it occasionally... I ripped the awful BLI body off it and put one of the special-run NP stock car bodies from a Lowell Smith car on there, so now it looks really good, and it still
"moos"... LOL!)

I did not mention that "thing" on purpose. 

[peteski]

. . .
They simply cashed-in on a trending novelty, which is good business as long as the market is there. When and if the demand for on-board sound fades, I suspect they'll adjust accordingly and the "sound premium" will decrease to a shoulder-shrug.
. . .

You think so?  DCC sound will fade?  I was under the impression that DCC (and sound of course) it the up and coming thing, and it was here to stay.  You think that DCC-sound will fade away, and modelers will go back to silent models? 

[DKS]

You think that DCC-sound will fade away, and modelers will go back to silent models? 

Well, speaking for myself, I sure hope so.

(I've never had anything but "silent models"...)

[peteski]

Well, speaking for myself, I sure hope so.

(I've never had anything but "silent models"...)

Should have I used "non-sound" instead?   

[davefoxx]

You think that DCC-sound will fade away, and modelers will go back to silent models? 

Not me.  I use DCC/sound on my layout and cannot imagine it any other way.  I was watching another modeler's video this week, and the realism was blown because the locomotive sounded like an electric razor.  Listening to a model of a second generation GE burble or an EMD purr as it sits on my layout brings an entirely different level of realism to my senses.  If I close my eyes, I could be back in Richmond, Virginia in 1991, hanging around Bryan Park Terminal on the RF&P in Richmond, Virginia while B36-7s and GP40-2s were being hostled.  Not to mention using the rules for sounding the bell and horn, along with the ProtoThrottle, just makes it all that much more realistic.  Oh, and using the dynamic brake on the branch of my layout takes me back to a railfanning trip to Saluda, North Carolina in 1994 when a pair of practically brand new SD70s were in full dynamics coming down the hill.  Yes, sound just brings back all of these memories.

You all should enjoy model railroading as you see fit.  My way is what works for me, and you should do what works for you.  But, I won't be going back to silent locomotives.

DFF

[DKS]

But, I won't be going back to silent locomotives.

Yep, "talkies" have taken over, right?

[davefoxx]

Yep, "talkies" have taken over, right?

Haha!

[jdcolombo]

Yep, "talkies" have taken over, right?

It's a fad.  No one really wants to watch movies with synced sound.  What will the organ and piano players do????

John C.

[peteski]

It's a fad.  No one really wants to watch movies with synced sound.  What will the organ and piano players do????

John C.

Funny that the conversation veered towards silent movies.  I really enjoy watching silent movies live accompanied by a theater organ.  It is like time traveling.  I'm lucky to have some great venues with functional theater organs in my area.  http://www.emcatos.com/PipeOrganPopsAndSilentsInTheHouse/

As far as model trains go, I am all for DCC and sound.

[randgust]

I have to admit that having seen some of the BLI stuff like the M1's doing a creditable job, I can't entirely trash them, but I'm also a 'silent runner'.   BLI really turned me off years ago when I got to test-run one of their PA's.   Yeesh.   Looked great, sounded great, ran terrible.

Problem is that essentially, physics are just not your friend in N, and electrical pickup and tractive effort still win in my book.  The best sound out there is still pretty ineffective if it is on a stalled locomotive.    And way too many locomotives have become absolute lightweights that can't pull much of anything.  Decoder size has come down a lot (last one I messed with was an MT SW1500, wow!) to the point where that's not the big issue, but speakers sure still chop out more than their fair share of area that could be weight and the tradeoff still isn't good in my eyes.

I've got a small layout and I've added a lot of layout-based sound, and putting bigger bass-enabled speakers with Ardiuno boards has been great fun  and highly effective without compromising train length or performance.   I also have nothing against DCC and have full capability now, run it on my Ttrak modules, but have no intention of converting my main layout at this point.   I think if I was a Pennsy steam fan I'd have to cave to BLI, but between my itty-bitty logging steam and my ATSF diesel roster... nope.....     I figure at some point they'll possibly come out with an excellent RSD15 and I'll have to think about it, but if it runs as poorly as the PA1 my trusty old rebuilt and detailed Model Powers will still be on the point.

I've been at this long enough that I remember my good friends Con-Cor PA1's, and they were just bulldozers - noise and all.  But a powered A-B was virtually unstoppable and there weren't enough cars most times to determine what they could pull.   They always were assigned track-car cleaning duty first run.    My bulldozer set is an an original ABBA set of powered Kato F's that do that duty on my layout, and they have managed to keep my hidden track polished clear for years.