BLI and Proto E6s

The models are OK. On a scale of 1-10 I would give either one a 6 as far as all the mechanical stuff is concerned. As for the sound........the only word that comes to mind is horrible. You might just as well throw a hundred dollar bill off the top of a tall building, because you will get the same value received for it. The thing inside is nothing more than a cheap noisemaker that can only appeal to the same group that thinks a Marx tinplate engine with lithographed figures in the windows is realistic. For a toy train enthusiast it's fine, but if your interest runs to realism, don't waste your money. Realistic it isn't Been there Done that Think the sound stinks.

The Proto-2000 is the better of the two mechanically. It runs better and I believe it will last longer in service. My experience this far with BLI stuff is disappointing. ........F>

appeal to the same group that thinks a Marx tinplate engine< It's not the sound generator that's bad but the speakers. The only way this can be improved is go to "O" or "G" scale. As an example go to the Soundtraxx site and play a sample through you computer speakers (most are not good ones but they are much larger) and see what the same sound is like with a 1 to 1-1/2 inch speaker. Bottom line, if you want sound in the smaller scales you must be willing to put up with the smaller speakers.

Whatever the reason, the end result stinks, and the end result is the only thing that matters. The thing inside is also not a soundtraxx unit, but rather a QSI one. It doesn't matter if you play the QSI sound output through the sound system at Madison Square Garden, or the London Palladium Theatre it is still going to stink, because it is not the sound of an EMD 567 engine, much less a pair of them, which IS what is inside an E6. .........AND........ it is not the sound you hear from trackside, but rather a tiny "sound byte" of an EMD 645 engine inside the engine compartment that repeats endlessly. The whole thing is fatally flawed and poorly executed; in short, a piece of junk. The whole concept of sound effects on a model railroad is an extremely poor idea at the most basic level, and, like all bad ideas, only gets worse the more you try to force feed it to the application. The sound is too loud, the area is too small, the speakers are too tiny...........sound, like mass and time simply cannot be scaled. Another bad idea to be put into the box with magnetic couplers and tossed into the dustbin. ........F>

I have to disagree, here. I believe it's the quality of the speaker and the baffling that makes the big difference in HO scale. I purchased a 1 watt rectangular Miniatronics speaker and built a custom baffle for it. It sits below the front fans on a GP9. The covers for the fans have been removed, and the sound is GREAT!

Thank you for your inputs. You have given me worthwhile things to consider.

Peter Margenau

These are the speakers I use, with baffles stuffed with cotton (usually

OK folks my BLI E6s just arrived. Comments before they are even on the track. The LL lift rings while looking _slightly_ better are very fragile. The BLI lift rings while still having a hole through them appear to be more sturdy. The paint on the B unit is correct for my era, stripe on the bottom curves down at the end. The LL unit does not indicating a much later paint. The BLI unit has a bright silver on the sides simulating stainless steel and the LL unit does not. The BLI A unit has the stripe on the top front pointed, on the LL engine it is curved. The BLI engine has a number in the number board while the LL engine does not. On the top rear of both units the (I think water heater for steam) on the BLI unit has two round [vents?] and on the LL engine there is only one. Not sure here what is correct!

More later.

I think the only way you're going to get close to this in HO scale is SoundTraxx' new concept - SurroundTraxx - a system that uses stationary speakers and transponding decoders.

Frank Eva DCC Models