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Article: The Broadway Flyer: January 2025

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The Broadway Flyer: January 2025

The Broadway Flyer: January 2025

Happy Friday, everyone!

Curtis Koch here, bringing you the latest edition of The Broadway Flyer newsletter.

2025 is shaping up to be an exciting year with fantastic new models, and we can’t wait to share what’s in store for you. In this edition, we’ll recap our big announcement from the Railroad Hobby Show in West Springfield, Massachusetts, give you a sneak peek at an exciting project we’re working on, and share a few other key updates.

There’s a lot to cover, so let’s dive right in!

 

New Product Announcements:

We at BLI are proud to announce the newest addition to the Brass-Hybrid series of highly detailed steam locomotives. We are proud to introduce the Boston and Albany, Lima, and Illinois Central Berkshires in HO scale.

Following World War I, the Boston and Albany railroad was looking for more sustainable freight power to handle the railroad’s grades at Charlton Summit and the Berkshire Hills at Washington. Back then it was not unusual for freight trains to use their 16 hour crew rules for traversing the 200 miles of main line.

 (PHOTO: The green on these renders is not the final color for the model. It's the closest shade of green our software can get to it. Don't worry, the color will be correct on the final model)

The railroad's answer was Lima Locomotive Works. With increases in train length and faster speeds needed to meet demands, the Ohio based locomotive builder took one of their "super 2-8-2" designs for New York Central and added an additional axle to it to create the first 2-8-4 in the United States. All in all, Lima built 25 A-1a's and 20 A-1b's for the railroad in 1926 and all were scrapped between 1949 and 1957.

 The A-1 featured 63-inch driving wheels, a working boiler pressure of 240 psi, and produced over 76,000 lbf of tractive effort from 28-by-30-inch cylinders. They ultimately were not suited for fast freight, but the A-1's proved to US railroads that they had a dramatic performance improvement over other steam locomotives on the line. They hauled heavier trains over the B&M's line more than an hour faster than their 2-8-2 Mikados.

In our first production run of A-1a's and A-1b's, we are building the locomotives in several different prototypical appearances. This includes the Lima Locomotive Works #1 and the Illinois Central 7050. We are offering these models in both Paragon4 Sound/DC/DCC with smoke, and our Stealth Series. Our Stealth series models are no-sound and DCC-ready. They come with a 21-pin decoder socket for easy decoder installation, and they come factory-equipped with an 8-ohm speaker.

All models have hand-crafted brass boilers, cabs, and tender bodies, and die-cast locomotives and tender chassis.

The order deadline for these locomotives is July 10th, 2025. With an estimated delivery of the Spring of 2026. Order today from your favorite dealer! Please note that orders placed after the order deadline are filled on a fire-come first-served basis while supplies last.

Next up we have an exciting announcement for you N scalers! You have been asking for these for quite some time and we are excited to bring them to you in 2026! 

Built between 1950 and 1953, the RF-16 Sharknose diesels were cab unit diesel locomotives built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works to the specifications of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Their distinctive contours were reminiscent of Raymond Loewy's design for the Pennsy's T1 class steam locomotive. Baldwin built a total of 160 of these locomotives - 109 A-units and 51 cabless booster B-units. In addition to the PRR, B&O and NYC railroads also operated a substantial number of the "Sharks".

The Sharknose locomotives were known as excellent "luggers". They regularly saw service hauling heavy ore and coal drags. The RF-16 Sharknose locomotives beat the F7 with 100 additional horsepower and tied the FA2 with 1600 horsepower. Unfortunately, they did not last as long as the F7's. With a few exceptions, most of the engines were retired by 1967.

In this production run, we are offering A-B Sets in 3 prototypically accurate paint schemes, along with additional A and B units available as a separate item. We are also offering two D&H Sharks as single A-units.

The railroads typically operated these in ABA configurations. Our A-B sets come with a Powered A-unit with Paragon4 Sound/DC/DCC and an unpowered B-unit with a lightweight frame. We also offer an additional single powered A-unit for each paint scheme where appropriate. This single unit has our full Paragon4 Sound/DC/DCC system. All of our models have road-specific details and lighting.

The order deadline for these locomotives is July 10th, 2025. With an estimated delivery of the Spring of 2026. Order today from your favorite dealer! Please note that orders placed after the order deadline are filled on a fire-come first-served basis while supplies last. 

 

Project Updates: 

We know a lot of you are curious as to when your models are going to arrive. As we have explained before, we share a factory with two other manufacturers so delays unfortunately happen more than we'd like. Here are some updates on several projects. 

  • The Boston and Maine, AT&SF, and SP T1a/T1b Berkshires are currently enroute to dealers! They left the UPS Warehouse in Los Angeles on Thursday, January 23rd  and were enroute to distributors. They should be in stores in a matter of days. 
  • Conductor's Club locomotives will be arriving soon! Due to the Chinese New Year Holiday, they are scheduled to be on the water in the next few days. As of right now the N scale Big Boys will arrive in February and the Challengers are estimated for March. We don't have an exact date as to when they will arrive to our warehouse at it can take anywhere from 4-6 weeks to ship by boat. However once they arrive our team is ready to send you your locomotives ASAP!

  • Our HO scale UP Kenefick Business Cars have completed production and will ship the first week of February, with shipping taking typically 4-6 weeks, we expect these to be in stores and on your layouts around Mid-March.

  • Our popular CV Setter is expected to deliver to dealers in April. 

  • Our HO Scale 5 car passenger car sets along with Business Cars and Combines will be arriving in April. These are scheduled to ship but like the club locomotives, it can take anywhere from 4-6 weeks to ship by boat. However once they arrive our team is ready to send you your locomotives ASAP!

  • N scale diesels are also expected to arrive to stores in the coming months. N scale F3/F7's will arrive to dealers in the next 7-10 days, our EMD E7/E8/E9's will finally ship in May, and our N scale NW2/SW7's are expected to arrive in April. 
  • Our newest samples of our HO scale Class D Shay in HO scale should arrive from the factory in the next few weeks. For those of you who don't know, we completed an adjustment on the tooling to ensure these locomotives can navigate 18 inch curves. It was a request a lot of customers with logging railroads asked us to tweak and we listened! We anticipate these locomotives to arrive this fall. 

We also wanted to express our apologies for these delays. Trust us, it's frustrating for us as it is for you. We never want to deliver a model to customers with flaws, we strive to make sure these models meet our standards and expectations. We never want to rush to deliver a model that doesn't meet our standards. We are always working with our factory to move things around and change shipping dates to make sure we get these models to you in a timely manner. We truly appreciate your patience and your understanding. 

 

In The News:

Our friends at The Steam Channel showed off our HO scale Diecast Metal SD70ACe's. These units have been quickly selling out! If you have been on the fence about whether or not to add one to your railroad, now is the time to act. 

 

On The Road!

This year, we are traveling more to several different shows and visiting some of the amazing dealers in their area. Below are a list of dealers we will be visiting throughout this year. All of these events are open to the public and we would love to see you stop by!

  • On February 22nd, I am visiting Train World in New York! I am going to be bringing several new samples including a few that we have not shared to the public! Stop by for the event, say hi and check out all the BLI offerings Train World has in stock! 
  • On Thursday April 3rd, I will be at Rocky Mountain Train Supply in Colorado previewing one of our new product announcements ahead of the Rocky Mountain Train Show. Consider it a "pre-game" to the actual show! I will be there from 2-6 PM. 
  • On June 14th, I will be at Midwest Model Railroad in Kansas City! We will have samples, take questions, run some trains, and more! 

To see the full list of shows/dealers we are attending, visit here. 

 

Samples, Renders and Updates:

In case you weren't able to see us at Amherst on the 25th and 26th, we brought many new samples to the show that garnered a lot of attention! One of the most talked about samples were the Union Pacific "Kenefick" Business Cars. On our layout, we ran the cars with WalthersProto Baggage car. This was to show our final paint compared to the Walthers model. We think we knocked it out of the park with the paint matching! 

If you're looking for some matching cars to go with it, consider our UP Power Car #2066 and Fox River Inspection Car. Those cars will be arriving later this year and dealers are still taking orders! So far orders have been very strong and we expect to announce more UP Heritage cars later this year. For those of you that model BNSF, CSX or NS don't worry, we are working on some for you too. We will have more details on that at a later date. 

Pictured above is a sample of our HO Scale PRR B6sb. These will be coming to dealers this summer. Right now our early ETA is for the July but that is subject to change. 

We have one more tease for HO scalers who love Santa Fe steam. Pictured below are updated CAD drawings to Santa Fe 2900 class northerns. There are still a few tweaks to be made to the model. We are going to have 2926 as it is today, and other road numbers "in-service" versions as well. Both the extension stack and regular stack are going to be in the box for you to choose. 

 

Delivery Schedule:

Below is our updated delivery schedule.  Please note that BLI will fill orders placed after the guaranteed delivery date on a first-come first-served basis while supplies last. We try and update the schedule once or twice a month, so check back here for the latest information.

 

 

Tariffs:

Before we get to our customer mail bag, we wanted to take a moment to address the many questions we have received lately regarding Tariffs. As of right now, we are waiting to see what happens. It doesn't make sense for us to raise prices to anticipate a Tariff only for nothing were to happen. If a Tariff is placed, we will act accordingly. Now let's get to your questions! 

 

Customer Q&A:

The last section of The Broadway Flyer is our customer Q&A! We didn't receive any questions via email, so we are going to start with social media questions. If you'd like to send your question via email, send your question to info@broadway-limited.com. Just be sure your subject line reads "Question for The Broadway Flyer." So it can be passed along. 

Most of the questions we get are about if we are going to build or make a certain locomotive or piece of rolling stock. If you have a model you'd like us to build, please fill out our Product Suggestion Portal. It's the best way for us to collect data on how many customers want the model you are suggesting, and if we get a high amount of requests, can influence us to re-arrange the timeline for when a model will be built. 

 

Q: "When it comes to prototype testing, what are some of the issues you come across and how do you go about fixing them?" - Matthew on Facebook

A: Good question Matthew! We usually receive several versions of samples. The first sample we get is to check the tooling and functionality. One of technicians from our service department is responsible for evaluating it. He takes notes of anything from missing details parts, jerky motors, derailment issues, etc. Once we get some painted samples we evaluate each paint scheme. We then test the functions of the model to make sure it meets our standards and then it goes off to Aidan our Sound Engineer and Software designer for further testing. Our third sample is what is the final product to come off the assembly line. We go through one final test to make sure it checks all the boxes and from there the factory goes into production. 

Q: "Since the new P70 combine and observation cars are being received very well and many are anticipating your plans for a Pennsy heavyweight diner would you consider eventually releasing a full prototypical heavyweight Broadway Limited set or even a streamlined set in the “fleet of modernism” paint scheme?" - John on Facebook

A: We aren't opposed to it! We do have other heavyweight passenger cars planned but we can't share those at this time. If we were to do a prototypical full length train, we would not do it all at once. It would be one car at a time. It's the same thought process behind our California Zephyr Cars and our Daylight Cars.

Q: "Is there any chance of Erie S4 Berkshires or anything Erie in the near future?" - CJ on Facebook

A: Just like the heavyweights, we aren't opposed to it! Currently it's not on our radar. If you and your friends want us to make a certain model, fill out the form on our Product Suggestion Portal. If we get a lot, we will certainly move it ahead of other projects. It also provides us data as to how many different people want a model. 

Q: "Can we see a PRR/LIRR G5 in HO to complement the other motive power for branch lines & commuter trains?"

A: We have gotten a lot of requests for the G5, we hope to begin development on them in the next few months with the assistance of the PRRT&HS. 

Q: "Are there plans on making rereleases of HO scale diesels like the ALCO RSD-15, in DMIR for example or the E9 as some appear now in preservation/excursion service like Milwaukee Road 32A in it’s current Hiawatha style paint to go with the Milwaukee Road 261 or Union Pacific 951 to go with the 844?" - Stephen on Facebook

A: We do not have plans for any of those locomotives in HO scale. E-Units have been recently released by several other manufacturers. We do have preserved/excursion versions of F units coming. These roads being the Norfolk Southern executive F units (see December Broadway Flyer for more on that), ACWRR and RBMN variations of those same units. If the NS F units sell well, we will explore additional NS executive cars.

Additionally we are also building the Chicago and North Western executive F units. sales on the CNW Fox River have been very strong so it could lead to future cars to offer.   

Q: "With the immensely positive reception to the Union Pacific Heritage Fleet Cars, out of the current line-up for production, which one has been the most challenging to create a CAD render for, and/or accurately replicate the details to?" - Matthew on Facebook

A: Good question! The hardest car for us to get measurements and dimensions of was our UP Power Car 2066. Since that car doesn't have original blueprints or drawings, we had to do some serious digging to find reference material that gave us an idea for height and length of the dome. We had the overall length of the car but the height where the generator sits was definitely a challenge to match up. 

Q: "Will there be any plans for Burlington Zephyr trains or the silver series like silver King or Queen locomotives?" - Adam on Facebook

A: We are open to doing passenger trains! Before we decide the next steps for any potential matching cars, we would like to see how the locomotives sell first. If they sell well, then that opens up the possibilities for other trains. 

 Q: "Just me being antsy but we need a "State of The N Scale" update. I keep hearing about a lot of N scale stuff in the works!" - Shane on Facebook

A: We do have a lot of ideas for N scale. We currently are wrapping up the UP Kenefick designs for N scale. We are also still working on a few diesels. This includes the SD45, GP30, and GP35. We do have several N scale steam locomotives in our plans but have not yet begun the design process on those yet. 

Q: "With the Announcement of the Fox River and talk of ATSF/BNSF and Conrail/CSX Inspection cars will yall be doing other road names? Like the CPKC cars or NS?" - Everett on Facebook

A: The ATSF/BNSF and Conrail/CSX Inspection cars are in the plans to do them accurately. We do plan on offering other road names using our UP Fox River tooling. We hope to have an announcement on those in a future announcement this year. 

Q: "Any plans on making the Missouri-Kansas-Texas H-3a pacifics and the Frisco T-54 mountains in Ho Scale?" - Tyler on Facebook

A: We currently have no plans for the MKT H-3a Pacifics. We do however have plans for the Frisco T-54 Mountains in HO scale! We were given the designs from Don Wirth who used to operate the 1522 in St. Louis Missouri. We have enough data to begin the design process but the locomotives won't be designed for a while as we have other steam locomotives in the works ahead of it. 

 

That does it for the January edition of The Broadway Flyer. Thanks again to all of you, our amazing customers! We loved seeing you all at Amherst this year and we look forward to seeing you at future shows. 

 

From all of us at BLI, happy railroading!
- Curtis and the BLI Team

Written by Curtis Koch

2 comments

Can BLI go to TrainLand in Lynbrook instead of the original TrainWorld location in Brooklyn?

Thomas

Is BLI planning to release the CB&Q EMD #5 diesel as mentioned in the October 2024 Newsletter?

Edward Rogers

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