Thanks for the review! My biggest issue with these is that they created the PRR prototype only and did not change the details for the SAL and NdeM units, just put the other railroad's paint on the PRR unit. SAL and NdeM Centipedes had two horns and flush marker lights, but they did not bother with this, which is frustrating for the price point. Good to see they fixed the traction issue. I have a Paragon 2 Centipede which had to be shipped back for warranty as it could not pull 10 cars on a flat grade. They replaced the entire chassis and it works better now, but is still not a great puller, especially for how heavy it is. For anyone who gets them, I would recommend a Kadee "shelf" coupler (SE or SF) for connecting to string line of freight cars, as they tend to not want to stay coupled (put one on a freight car too and they will not come apart)
Thanks for the information on these. I didn't know whether or not both units were powered or not. I was hoping that James would cover that when he placed the unit on the turntable, but he only discussed the molded plastic detail on the top and didn't cover the bottom at all, which I was curious about given the rather anemic Tractive Effort for such a large unit... especially, one made by Broadway Limited! I find it incredible that their steam locomotives with only 3 or 4 driving axles... can essentially double the pulling power of these units (I am assuming that only one of them is powered, but based on your comments maybe ~ 7 oz. was the combined T.E.), which would be even more amazing! That would seem to indicate that the😂 number of drivers is less important than the weight per axle on the drivers! I am also guessing that they didn't use any traction tires either, obviously. Your thoughts on all of this would be welcome James!
@@cheryltysver4819 (not James, but here we go), a buddy of mine has a pair of PRR Paragon 4 centipedes. Both are powered. BLI will usually specify if one is going to be a dummy unit, and I do not recall ever seeing anything about Centipede dummy units. No traction tires, but the P4 ones seem to be able to pull a decent amount (not the case for P2). He was able to pull a 40+ car train (no grades) just fine. One of the PRR units has the "trainphone" antenna while the other does not. BLI offers normal couplers or an optional drawbar for the two-pack. Only 3 of the 4 axles on each of the middle trucks is powered, which probably has something to do with the lack of traction. Between this and the front/rear trucks there is a lot of weight put on unpowered axles... There is space in the cab to add some weights if you want. If you are getting Paragon 4 units, they should be ok. But I would steer clear of the older ones.
I'm just now seeing your reply to my comment, Thank you for the comprehensive answer! Few other attributes can impress both the advanced and non technical viewer of these models... more easily than that achieved by running prototypical length trains on (club or other) layouts that will allow them...as evidenced by Broadways first steam locomotives... the N&W Class A's which were capable of pulling 170 car trains!
Thanks for the review! My biggest issue with these is that they created the PRR prototype only and did not change the details for the SAL and NdeM units, just put the other railroad's paint on the PRR unit. SAL and NdeM Centipedes had two horns and flush marker lights, but they did not bother with this, which is frustrating for the price point.
Good to see they fixed the traction issue. I have a Paragon 2 Centipede which had to be shipped back for warranty as it could not pull 10 cars on a flat grade. They replaced the entire chassis and it works better now, but is still not a great puller, especially for how heavy it is.
For anyone who gets them, I would recommend a Kadee "shelf" coupler (SE or SF) for connecting to string line of freight cars, as they tend to not want to stay coupled (put one on a freight car too and they will not come apart)
OMI did a run of SAL Centipedes in 1996. The models were imported factory painted and the production run numbered just 32 models
Thanks for the information on these. I didn't know whether or not both units were powered or not. I was hoping that James would cover that when he placed the unit on the turntable, but he only discussed the molded plastic detail on the top and didn't cover the bottom at all, which I was curious about given the rather anemic Tractive Effort for such a large unit... especially, one made by Broadway Limited! I find it incredible that their steam locomotives with only 3 or 4 driving axles... can essentially double the pulling power of these units (I am assuming that only one of them is powered, but based on your comments maybe ~ 7 oz. was the combined T.E.), which would be even more amazing!
That would seem to indicate that the😂 number of drivers is less important than the weight per axle on the drivers! I am also guessing that they didn't use any traction tires either, obviously.
Your thoughts on all of this would be welcome James!
@@cheryltysver4819 (not James, but here we go), a buddy of mine has a pair of PRR Paragon 4 centipedes. Both are powered. BLI will usually specify if one is going to be a dummy unit, and I do not recall ever seeing anything about Centipede dummy units. No traction tires, but the P4 ones seem to be able to pull a decent amount (not the case for P2). He was able to pull a 40+ car train (no grades) just fine. One of the PRR units has the "trainphone" antenna while the other does not. BLI offers normal couplers or an optional drawbar for the two-pack.
Only 3 of the 4 axles on each of the middle trucks is powered, which probably has something to do with the lack of traction. Between this and the front/rear trucks there is a lot of weight put on unpowered axles... There is space in the cab to add some weights if you want.
If you are getting Paragon 4 units, they should be ok. But I would steer clear of the older ones.
I'm just now seeing your reply to my comment, Thank you for the comprehensive answer! Few other attributes can impress both the advanced and non technical viewer of these models... more easily than that achieved by running prototypical length trains on (club or other) layouts that will allow them...as evidenced by Broadways first steam locomotives... the N&W Class A's which were capable of pulling 170 car trains!
Beautifully detailed model with great sound. Good job
I got the Paragon 2 version of the PRR and recently got the Union Pacific and Seaboard Versions, they are beautiful.
I got my band new BLI SAL centipede road number 4510
Good review. Are you planning to do a review of the new E6 from BLI?
are you James going to do a review on the N&W A class steam locomotive at all?.
Do they smoke?
nope
Just sold all lionel O scale not enough space. Ho is way to go.
first
😴 promosm