The 2010 first run N scale Broadway Limited Paragon2 sound-equipped PA1s and E8s are beautiful and the sound is great.
Unfortunately, there has been much internet model railroad forum chat that reports these locos can suffer from poor
electrical pickup - they're prone to stop on turnouts or certain trackwork, and of course, at that point the sound cuts out also.
The internet chat about this includes this thread: http://forum.atlasrr.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=60708

My friends at the San Diego Society of N Scale (SDSONS - http://www.sdsons.org/ ) at Balboa Park, San Diego,
California, USA, told me that by replacing the rear traction tire wheelset with a regular non-traction-tire
wheelset, the electrical pickup is much much improved (see the above thread, the comment
by "SSWJIM", one of the long-time SDSONS members and a great modeler). Others on internet
model railroad chat forums have reported same resolution to this electrical pickup problem.

I called BLI and got a replacement regular wheelset, tried this modification, and it DID help
the electrical pickup a GREAT DEAL. Pickup is still not foolproof, but significantly better
than before.

The reasons apparently are: the BLI PA1s don't use the Atlas or Kato style needle point axle cups
for electrical pickup - they use round axles which "ride in holes". Combine that with a rubber
traction tire may be just uneven enough to be out of round.... these factors combine to cause the truck's axles
to encounter situations where all electrical contact is broken. And of course, with traction
tire wheelset, you only have 5 axles's worth of pickup, not a full 6.

By putting in a regular rear truck last wheelset, this not only adds a 6th pickup axle,
but more importantly it places the truck's axles exactly even with the other five axles.
The combination of both apparently removes enough variation in the trucks' axle electrical
pickup, to noticeably improve the electrical performance. Others have reported similar results.

These locos are heavy enough that lack of traction tire well worth it in trade for smooth
running without stopping.

Hence, if you experience this same electrical pickup problem with your BLI PAs, E8s, or PCM E7s,
you can try calling BLI and obtain a regular replacement wheelset from BLI parts dept. Having
done soe, then you can use the pictures here to see how to replace that wheelset and
likely improve the electrical pickup of your N scale Broadway Limited PA, E8, or
Precision Craft Models E7s (i.e. the original N scale BLI E7s with the LokSound decoders
from 2007). (I also include photos of installing non-traction-tire wheelset in PCM E7s, which
has a different truck under-clip mounting arrangement than the newer Paragon2 E8s and PAs).

Without a doubt, all us N scaler's believe these BLI Paragon N scale models are great in
detail and in sound. The above Atlas Forum thread points out BLI is aware of the issue and hopefully the
future 2H2013 runs of these models may show some improvement? In meantime, this modification seems
to help.

John Sing, ATSF_Arizona, August 2013
Modeling the Santa Fe's Peavine Line (Ash Fork to Phoenix, Arizona) in N scale