Kato or BLI Alco PA's?

[rrjim1]

IMHO, Go with the Katos.
If you can find a set of the LifeLikes, and the price was right, I'd go for those also. Good runners, strong puller, and usually cheaper. the pickup is the only thing that can cause issues.

On the last ones I purchsed I used Kato wheels. You will need to reposition the wheel on the axle. 

[bbussey]

I actually prefer the Life Like units over the other two.

[learmoia]

I actually prefer the Life Like units over the other two.

Just cause you could get them in multiple New Haven schemes..

[BrionO]

I have had some issues with BLI decoders not working and needing to do factory resets to bring them back.  I would also search BLI and zinc pest rot in deciding what to buy.  I have not experienced rot but apparently others have.  I am happy with my Kati and don’t have any Life Like.  For what it’s worth.

[propmeup1]

I have A-B-B-A set of BLI and Concor. The Concor out pulls by miles but no decoder or sound even though I may put decoders in.  I'm not very happy with the BLI engines. They stall a lot over turnouts and i've had two decoder issues where i had to send them back and wait 12 weeks each time.

[carlso]

I like Kato's PA's & PB's. Here is short video of my daylight with 3 Kato's and one unpowered LL E7B:

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Be well,
Carl

[brokemoto]

I'm not very happy with the BLI engines. They stall a lot over turnouts and i've had two decoder issues where i had to send them back and wait 12 weeks each time.

I have had only two BLI products:  the Penn Baldwin Centipede and the USRA light 2-8-2.  The steam locomotive is a nice product.  It has great slow speed control.  It looks nice.  The sound is pretty good.  The Centipedes were prone to stalling, despite all of those legs that you would think would maximise the electrical contact.  I had to send back one for warranty work.  The exceedingly long turnaround time is infuriating.

I still have the USRA light 2-8-2s.  I sold the Centipedes.

The only thing that I do not like about the Mikados is the flexing wires soldered to pivotting trucks on the tender.  B-mann uses the contact strips on its tenders, even for the DCC power.

[Lenny53]

Kato PAs proved problematic for me, they have a high center of gravity and tend to tip over going around curves.

[atsf_arizona]

I need to do the same thing. Did you have a part number or did you just call them directly?
Thanks, Jon

Hi, all,

See here for my photo-blog about replacing the rear wheelsets on BLI locos.  It definitely helps and worth doing.   

https://pbase.com/atsf_arizona/bli_n_pa1_wheelset_replace



But that having been said, the power-pickups on these BLI diesels, I can't reliably know for sure if this wheelset fix will 'make all the issues go away'.... it did on some, but not on others.   Seems dependent on the individual BLI loco in question.   

I have a BLI E6 that has never had a problem.

But I've had power-pickup issues on BLI  PA's, Centipede, E8, and Precision Craft E7.  Changed out the rear wheelsets on all of them except the Centipede (have never tried to resolve that one just due to lack of time). After all of that, the  "uncertainty as to whether I can get the problem to go away", today  I don't even consider more BLI diesels. Too bad, these diesels look nice, sound good, but if they don't run reliably, it's deal killer for me. Seems I have company.  I'm glad some others haven't had that experience - we all would love to know "what's different about those who have not had problems?"  I don't think we've ever established what the difference is.  But bottom line....  my BLI diesels have been nothing like the rock-solid electrical contacts that my Kato PA's (and Athearn FP45/F45, and other Kato's, and other Atlas) always deliver on exactly the same trackwork.   So, I don't think it's my Kato Unitrack. 

That all said, still do the wheelset swap as I described.  It clearly makes things better.  And maybe your results will be better than mine on an aggregate.  Hope so!

If anyone can establish "why some certain BLI diesels for some people don't have pickup problems but so many others do seem to have problems"... I'm all ears.

[rrjim1]

Hi, all,

See here for my photo-blog about replacing the rear wheelsets on BLI locos.  It definitely helps and worth doing.   

https://pbase.com/atsf_arizona/bli_n_pa1_wheelset_replace



But that having been said, the power-pickups on these BLI diesels, I can't reliably know for sure if this wheelset fix will 'make all the issues go away'.... it did on some, but not on others.   Seems dependent on the individual BLI loco in question.   

I have a BLI E6 that has never had a problem.

But I've had power-pickup issues on BLI  PA's, Centipede, E8, and Precision Craft E7.  Changed out the rear wheelsets on all of them except the Centipede (have never tried to resolve that one just due to lack of time). After all of that, the  "uncertainty as to whether I can get the problem to go away", today  I don't even consider more BLI diesels. Too bad, these diesels look nice, sound good, but if they don't run reliably, it's deal killer for me. Seems I have company.  I'm glad some others haven't had that experience - we all would love to know "what's different about those who have not had problems?"  I don't think we've ever established what the difference is.  But bottom line....  my BLI diesels have been nothing like the rock-solid electrical contacts that my Kato PA's (and Athearn FP45/F45, and other Kato's, and other Atlas) always deliver on exactly the same trackwork.   So, I don't think it's my Kato Unitrack. 

That all said, still do the wheelset swap as I described.  It clearly makes things better.  And maybe your results will be better than mine on an aggregate.  Hope so!

If anyone can establish "why some certain BLI diesels for some people don't have pickup problems but so many others do seem to have problems"... I'm all ears.

This might be why I have never had a problem with my BLI locos, all my 4-E8s and 4-PA1s have pointed axles ends that ride in cups in the side frame, not holes like early models. 

[peteski]

This might be why I have never had a problem with my BLI locos, all my 4-E8s and 4-PA1s have pointed axles ends.

Does that mean that the bearing/pickup plates on the sideframes have cups in which the pointy axles sit?

I'm asking because my BLI Centipedes have long pointed axles, but they still ride in holes (not cups) in the bearing/pickup plates.  Strange design.

[SF Chief]

I've got both Kato and BLI Alco PAs.  Both types run well, but I run the BLIs more often because they look better with more detail. I've had problems with a c. 2013-14 BLI E7, which sometimes stalls on turnouts, but that's not the case with the BLI PAs.  Rick

[randgust]

Good to see you chime in John, and to be honest, it was test-running John's PA's on my layout (before modification) that convinced me that the BLI's had something seriously suspect about pickup going on.   I'm glad it's solvable, as they sure look great.

[nickelplate759]

My BLI PAs (1st run I believe) run fine, but the sound has a nasty tendency to "restart" at the slightest contact glitch.

[kscessandriver]

Hi, all,

See here for my photo-blog about replacing the rear wheelsets on BLI locos.  It definitely helps and worth doing.   

https://pbase.com/atsf_arizona/bli_n_pa1_wheelset_replace



But that having been said, the power-pickups on these BLI diesels, I can't reliably know for sure if this wheelset fix will 'make all the issues go away'.... it did on some, but not on others.   Seems dependent on the individual BLI loco in question.   

I have a BLI E6 that has never had a problem.

But I've had power-pickup issues on BLI  PA's, Centipede, E8, and Precision Craft E7.  Changed out the rear wheelsets on all of them except the Centipede (have never tried to resolve that one just due to lack of time). After all of that, the  "uncertainty as to whether I can get the problem to go away", today  I don't even consider more BLI diesels. Too bad, these diesels look nice, sound good, but if they don't run reliably, it's deal killer for me. Seems I have company.  I'm glad some others haven't had that experience - we all would love to know "what's different about those who have not had problems?"  I don't think we've ever established what the difference is.  But bottom line....  my BLI diesels have been nothing like the rock-solid electrical contacts that my Kato PA's (and Athearn FP45/F45, and other Kato's, and other Atlas) always deliver on exactly the same trackwork.   So, I don't think it's my Kato Unitrack. 

That all said, still do the wheelset swap as I described.  It clearly makes things better.  And maybe your results will be better than mine on an aggregate.  Hope so!

If anyone can establish "why some certain BLI diesels for some people don't have pickup problems but so many others do seem to have problems"... I'm all ears.

I too wish there was some way to figure out what the issue really was. One day I'll run a BLI E unit and it's just fine and the next day it stalls all over the place. My Centipede never runs well, so it's more of a static piece these days. I really wish I could figure it out, I'll have to take a look at the wheels as you've posted to see what all I've got going on.