Call me silly, but I thought that Beeps had a basic horn/whistle. Now I just got mine today and I love them, but a horn would be great.
Are there any basic soud packages i can install to add a little sound above the noise of my Fastrack track?
PS The BEEPs I got (Virginian and Alaskan) are still very cool.
Dan
PS I’m running them with a CW-80. will that transformer affect anything with regard to sound?
The April/May issue of O gauge railroader had an article on the beep sound board. I guess its from a company called “Electric Railroad” and its called the “Sound Commander” and runs for $49.95. I’m sure there are people on this forum that know of cheaper ones from other places though, so there may be better posts later on. But as for your question, yes they do have these sound boards available.
No, the CW80 cannot be blamed for not making sound. For those who are buying more than one Beep, Buddy, or the upcomming F deisel…it would make more sense to get a MRC (about $60.) separate sound unit that can be placed under/next to your layout. Since buying these engines may start a “instant love affair”, this would be the least expensive way to go. Joe
Right now Williams is selling their True Blast II horn and bell for 25 bucks. I was able to shoe horn it into a Beep after removing the speaker from its enclosure. It connects directly to track power so no additional boards are needed.
Pete
Pete,
Is it a nice horn sound ? Could put that in MPC engines as well.
Well, the sound quality is not the best but I find its OK. Its better than say, the new Lionel Docksider but doesn’t quite match a Post War F-3. I hope to improve the sound by treating the paper cone with acrylic matte medium (old speaker builder trick) and try and seal the enclosure I made for it out of the window insert. By sealing the back of the speaker you should be able to improve the low frequency energy and reduce some of the tinnyness (word??). I still think its a good bang for the buck though.
Because its powered by AC track power it will work in any engine you can fit it in.
Pete
I have the Electric Railroad Sound Commander and Beep Commander.
This upgrades the Beep to TMCC and sounds.
Oh and it really has a “beep, beep” sound[:D], as well as normal horn and bell.
Great kit.
Regards
Nick
Another option I use is the Lionel “railsounds” car. At $100 it is not cheap, however you can use just one car and all your beeps have sounds. I think the sounds are pretty good…better than “pre-command” electronic whistles but not quite as good as current PS2 engines.
Jim H