Has anyone figured out how to make the “clickety-clack” sounds of metal wheels going over rail joints? I’ve operated on several layouts where your train (with metal wheels) would make the “clickety-clack” sound as it went over certain rail joints. I’d like to replicate that sound on my home layout but haven’t sat down yet to figure out how to do it. I think it requires the rail joints to be some minimum distance apart and maybe offset. If anyone has worked out a “formula” on how to do it I’d like to get it. PS: I’m doing HO scale. Thanks.
You could always cut a small groove in the track with a razor saw every scale 40 feet. Just the start of cutting through.
I don’t think i’d do any cutting or offsetting of anything when it comes to track work. That’s a good way to make good track work - not so good. MRC sells a sound system that has the clickity clack sound when the system is set to that mode. They are not very expensive and would be better than the time and risk taking you will do by cutting up your track…chuck
I suppose you could use sectional track, say 6" long straight pieces, and metal wheels on your cars. The more joints you add, the more places you have for electrical current failures though. Besides in HO I don’t know if it would be all that noticeable a sound, O or bigger, yes.
I have a section of track that makes this noise
what I have is a section with plywood and 4 or 5 turnouts in a row
wow its great and looks awsome too the rest of the layout is 1x8 and 1x6
Ken
I find that at most of my rail joints, there’s an ever-so-slight misalignment of the rail heads, which will naturally produce the click clack sound. Plus, I get it over all my commercial turnouts (Atlas C.L.). So I managed to produce the sound without even trying.
If you’re complaining about no click clack sound, you must have very good rail joints! Geez! Next thing you’ll be complaining that your wallet is too small for your $50’s and your diamond shoes are too tight! (J/K) [;)]
Seriously, the best way to get the sound is to put joints in your rail. I also use the Atlas rail joiners, which aren’t exactly the best in the world, so that might have something to do with it - I think the other brand rail joiners give you a cleaner, more precise joint.
Good luck!
Bob’s idea has a great deal of merit, I think. If you have used flextrack, but miss the clicking sounds, then cutting grooves every 8" or so may be the answer…if a lot of work. As for the size of the gap, I find my noisiest are those that are widest, but if they are too wide the truck wobbles. So, keep them gaps near 1/16" if you can.
You need some full gaps anyway if you have a wooden layout. Otherwise you could end up with some kinks when the wood shrinks during periods of low humidity.
Cut razor thin expansion gaps in your rails when it’s 100 degrees out, then wait for the temperature to drop to 40 degrees. They’ll open up to 1/8" and give you all the clickity clack noise your ears can stand![:-^]
Oh, by the way… If you decide to cut gaps in flex track, make sure you do it on straight sections. If you cut it on a curved section, the ends will tend to straighten out and you’ll end up with a slight kink in the curve, which will cause derailments and lots of headaches!
EDIT: This only applies if you cut all the way through the rail. If you just make a shallow cut in the rail head, it shouldn’t matter.
A couple of months ago, I was listening to a newly-installed sound decoder at my LHS. It was one of the high-end ones, like LokSound or Tsunami. It actually had clickity-clack as one of the engine sounds. It was very good, too.
I’ve got a big gap (by mistake) on a straight section in a tunnel. I don’t have any operational problems with it, but it’s very obvious when something crosses it. I actually use it to figure out where the train is in the tunnel.
Something else that will help make the noise with the cuts I’ve suggested is to have all metal wheels on your rolling stock. They do make more noise.
I just saw some on the clearence shelf at Hobby Lobby for $23.
Probably much much better than the tiny, tinny, high pitched clicky-click that HO wheels are going to make on HO track.
Several years ago I used a Dremel to cut grooves in the track on an HO scale club layout but it didn’t make enough difference in the sound to be worth the effort.
Wait one…That will depend on the era you model…Welded rail doesn’t have that much wheel sound not even at the joints…
My trains make a realistic clickety clack sound when they goe over the rail joints. Of course I’m in Large Scale and use metal wheels.
Larry is right.
The ‘clikety-clack’ sound was from a time when rail was in 40’ lengths to travel on flat cars. One can saw vertical grooves into the rail heads every 6" to get a 'clickey-click’ simulation without changing the 36" length or temperature expansion charateristics.
Be adavised that most mainline new rail today is continuously welded which eliminates ‘clickety-clack’ (to reduce maintenance and wheel wear), so I guess it depends on the ERA you wish to emulate.
One also needs metal wheels to do: and cork roadbed to soften the resulting ‘whirring’.
Side note: 40’ - 90lb.rail was typical mainline pre WW II and would model close to code 70 (or smaller). Today’s popular code 83 would be more typical of 120lb. used in welded rail.
Code 100 (150lb.) was never prototypical (look at photographs), and I think only used by one RR (Pennsylvania) and on one electrified mainline - and originally by Atlas to modelers - when it was the only thing available. It was a postwar version of British 00 gauge.
If I’m wrong on this, somone will correct me.
How about this from ITTC http://ittproducts.com/audio/hq205.wav
It is called track sounds. Might consider adding it to a caboose with one of those function only fleet decoders.
MRC’s recently released sound only diesel decoder “Sounder” has the rail clack as one of the sounds on it as well. Retail $35, can be had for $25. I know MRC’s reputation for decoder quality is less than stellar, but the price was right so I got one. It is very loud. Has worked well so far.
Just thinking out loud here…what would it take to modify a boxcar to produce those sounds? No electronics, just pure mechanics. I’m thinking some linkage tied to an axle that has rubber wheels (increased traction), part if that linkage would be a bell crank moving a peice of steel up and down on another peice. Scale would play a definite role here since the smaller the harder to make it fit and sound good.
Amen Bro! My layout is in an unheated garage, up at the cottage. Large gaps in the winter, and tight track in the summer.