Broadway Limited HO scale Paragon2 Hudson J1e steam locomotive

Out of the box, this is a good looking locomotive. It appears to match very closely with pictures that I have of similar locomotives. One negative that immediately grabbed my attention was the lack of heft of the locomotive in my hand. This will be problematic as the rear driver is already fitted with a traction tire. In order to improve the pulling performance, I’ll need to add weight in the boiler.

Following are some of my preliminary observations.

Weakness/needs work:

-Front pilot/coupler is a disappointment; inoperable on a locomotive at $250.00?
-Weight; feels like it could use at least 2 oz. comparing to some of my mountains. It will pull six full-length passenger cars on a 1.5% grade around a 30″ radius or about 10 freight cars before it begins to slip. I expect that more weight properly placed will help improve performance.
-Limited motor control programming for decoder; I realize BLI may want to simplify it for their own reasons, but give those who want to customize motor characteristics the ability to do so; ie QSI/Revolution & Soundtraxx Tsunami

-For dcc users a bunch of other sounds to use; chikens, saw mill, city etc…??? These options seem like a gimmick. BLI could have built more motor control configurations to customize! [repeat]

strengths/good job:

-Looks great! I haven’t measured or counted rivets, but it certainly compares well to photos. The Hudson is a fine looking locomotive, especially when it has a nice paint job highlighting the detail of piping, appliances etc.
-Runs really smooth after adjusting the motor voltage CVs. It will creep along at slow speeds and run smoothly at higher speeds. A short break in period and these engines run flawlessly.
-Sound quality is pretty good. I’ll be putting the speakers in enclosures which should dramatically improve sound.
-Tender pick ups are pretty decent; uses similar pick ups as the Walthers heritage locos.
-I personally like the puffing smoke [I have oils that smell like pine]; kind of cheeky but I like it.
-Did I mention it looks great?

All in all a very good model. Right now I would buy just the locomotive with no sound or decoder if I could, and install either a QSI revolution or Soundtraxx Tsunami. For the modeler who want wants to be up and running in a few minutes BLI delivers. For those who want more decoder customization you may be disappointed. I recommend this model based upon its looks and motor/mechanism; it is a smooth runner and will rack up the mileage on my pike.