American Flyer Horn - Diesel/Steam Sounds

[richhotrain]

Is there some type of horn mechanism available that would produce the sounds of diesel horns or steam engine horns or both?

I know that electronic devices are available for DC operation in HO/N scale, but I wonder if an AC type of unit is available.

Rich

[richhotrain]

Wow! That question can evoke a broad range of answers! There are vintage billboard steam/diesel whistles that are pretty good - by 50’s analog standards. The on-board American Flyer whistles are - well, okay by 1950’s technology if up to factory spec. There are DCC bells and whistles that - sound like - well, 21st century digital reproductions. There are 21st century on-board reproductions that sound amazing - given the right acoustical environment. I don’t have your sense of hearing, so I’m thinking that you should sample them and decide for yourself what sounds best to you. To me, I prefer the 1950’s technology, because it was pure and innocent. The modern digital sounds sound - hollow - to me. But that’s just me. Go to train shows and private home viewings. Experiment and spend a lot of money in the process .

Any suggestions or recommendations?

I am not sure where to look.

[richhotrain]

I have been doing some basic research on this subject. I had no idea that AC Gilbert actually produced sound products for American Flyer trains.

One such item is a Ringling Brothers Circus billboard, #577. Since this was actually a pre-war item, first produced in 1939, I assume that only steam whistle sounds are produced. Is this correct?

Anyone have any impressions on the quality of the sound?

Is #577 worth the purchase price, whatever that might be, or am I better off continuing my search for something better?

Thanks.

Rich

[lionelsoni]

An interesting feature of American Flyer sound is that they accomplished it simply by superimposing the audio waveform onto the track voltage. A loudspeaker in the locomotive or tender just reproduced the sound, with the 60 hertz attenuated by the capacitor that coupled the speaker to the track.

So, whether or not you like the original American Flyer train sound, it is possible in principle to replace the original generator by a modern audio source, driving the track from a low-impedance amplifier inserted in series with the track-power transformer.

[richhotrain]

Well, without sounding glib - everywhere - but mainly, within yourself, grasshoppah! Seriously, one can not make an educated decision without being - well, educated. Not a dis on you. It 's a preference thing and my preferences vacillate. I have gone the full circle from vintage to DCC and back again. Ack! Okay. Given my experiences, I believe that your preferences will evolve. Pick your poison. Start where you feel comfortable starting from and then come see me 5 - 10 - 15 - 20 years from now (Jeez I hope you can). It’s enough to make one want to stab themselves in the eye with a fork. Tastes vary with age. That is known. Your sensory gratification will vary with age as well. All I can say is that - for me - at my age - I opt for the vintage smell/sound/look. That takes me back. I THINK that the strongest sense is smell, followed by hearing, then by the visual - odd hierarchy, no? So, if my stock vintage American Flyer trains smell like they did back in the day - that is the strongest emotion that makes me feel like I was a kid again. And, if they sound like they did back then - wow; and if they look pretty much like they did back the - circle complete! Now; what is “back then” for you?

Yep, I know what you are saying. I model in HO scale and have several steam engines, as well as diesels, and the souind decoders are pretty awesome. The rivet counters go nuts for prototypical sound. Of all the sound equipped engines that I own, my favorites are the old fog horn sounds. As a kid, my parents took us to Mackinac Island and we stayed overnight at St Ignace. All night, I heard the fog hornings whining, and I could hear steam engine whistles nearby. That’s what I am looking for - - the kind of moaning sounds coming from the steam whistles.

Any way to describe the sound that emanate

[richhotrain]

An interesting feature of American Flyer sound is that they accomplished it simply by superimposing the audio waveform onto the track voltage. A loudspeaker in the locomotive or tender just reproduced the sound, with the 60 hertz attenuated by the capacitor that coupled the speaker to the track.

So, whether or not you like the original American Flyer train sound, it is possible in principle to replace the original generator by a modern audio source, driving the track from a low-impedance amplifier inserted in series with the track-power transformer.

Bob,

How did they accomplish sound in the accessories, as opposed to the loco/tender mounted speakers?

Rich

[Timboy]

Rich,

[Sturgeon-Phish]

There were a varity of billboard whistles and they sound pretty good. Very reliable and not that expensive. The diesel horn is so-so. They also put a whistle in a house on one of the All Aboard panels. Jim

[richhotrain]

Beautiful face on that billboard!

I was unaware of that one until Sturgeon Phish posted it. I like it better than the Ringling Brothers billboard.

I have been trying to resist purchasing too much “new” stuff for my American Flyer as I have been trying to simply restore what I had as a kid. However, I am setting up a layout for my grandkids to enjoy so a little extra won’t hurt especially if they have a button to press to make sound.

On my HO layout, they only want to run engines with sound equipped decoders. Now, why does that not surprise me?

[richhotrain]

I have heard the comment numerous times that if people are presented with a buffet of train layouts to watch and/or play with, they tend to gather around American Flyer vintage toy train layouts. Could be because of the nice paint schemes, bells, whistles, interesting interactive accessories, etc. Some also say that S gauge is the perfect gauge - in terms of amount of trains that can be run in a given space and looking realistic at the same time. Interestingly, a lot of fine-scalers will not permit their steamers to smoke, claiming that one can not accurately model smoke. That may be true, but I have always felt that a steamer looks ridiculous if it is not smoking and badly modeled smoke is better than no smoke.

Timboy,

You raise an interesting point. I agree that S Scale is the perfect scale for model railroading. When I decided to get into HO, it was mainly because it is so dominant that all of the vendors cater to it in terms of engine choices, structures, roadnames, etc. N Scale is way too small and, of course, O Scale, especially the hated three-rail Lionel, is not at all prototypical. But, unfortunately, S Scale rerquires too much scratch building for me.