HO, Small switching shelf layout 2’ x 8’ Have ordered the Bachmann EZ DCC from Wholesale Trains $62.00 will be here shortly. Thanks for your help. Can some one suggest a small 1950"s Switcher with sound and DCC for a reasonable price? I am modeling the 50"s.
Thanks again for your help! DON
Broadway Limited SW7, about $150. Athern MP15AC, About $190. Have them both in UP and both run and sound great. [tup][tup]
A lot of railroads used GP units as switchers. Atlas and Proto 2000 (Walthers) have HO scale GP units on the market with sound and DCC. A GP7 would be appropriate for your time period.
I can also reccomend the Proto 2000 SW line (replace traction tire wheel set with all steel). Let’s not forget the ATLAS MP15DC, a real sweet heart. The only thing I would reccomend here is that you set the CV’s for volume of horn, bell and engine exhaust compressor to lower settings. I do no know how easy that is with your DCC command station. Ask your hobby shop owner if he could do it, only after you verify that they are competent. Most are.
Also MRC has a drop in simple sound conversion for ATLAS S2 and S4. I have this as well and am quite pleased with it. Again turn the volume down to improve fidelity and if the command station is not CV user friendly see if the hobby shop can handle it.
Chris
Chris
And, to switch from diesel filters to steam filters, don’t overlook the very special Walthers Proto 2000 Heritage Series 0-8-0 with sound. That is a wonderful steamer owned and vouched for by tstage (Tom), one of our moderators. I believe Jon Grant has one or two, and he is highly likely to sing that model’s praises as well.
Check trainworld and modeltrainstuff, discounttrainsonline, whosesaletrains, plus internethobbies may have some for a good price…I dunno in any case because I am not in the market for one.
The MP15 suggested by a few people is WAY too modern for the 1950s. The first year they were produced was 1974.
You didn’t mention if you wanted steam or diesel. I like the Proto Heritage 0-6-0 and 0-8-0 locomotives. There is also the BLI SW7 that I can recommend.
Mine predates DCC, but it;s still an awesome engine, and it does fit the era for most places. Also, there’s a growing field of RS3s ou there. Dunno if any have sound, yet.
Don,
Glad to hear that you’ll be getting your new DCC controller shortly. I think you’ll enjoy it’s simplicity for what it can do.
On switchers, Crandell and others are right. The Proto 2000 0-8-0 is a real sweetie.
Click picture to enlarge
Not only is she a good-looking locomotive, she absolutely crawls along on DCC at speed step 001. [:)][tup]
I’ve seen them as cheap as $250 w/sound. M.B. Klien and Trainworld.com are good places to look. I picked up two DC versions off eBay for $80 and $90. (Reg. $250) Course, they both came w/o sound.
Conversion to DCC was very simple; plug 'n play. Adding a decoder with Back EMF (BEMF) is essential for great low-speed response. Maybe one day I’ll add sound to mine. I’ll probably go with Loksound though.
For an all-in-one diesel, the BLI SW7/NW2 would be a good choice. Factory Direct Trains had a really good sale on them recenly. (Yep, just checked. The Spring Clearance sale is still going on. FDT has them for $125 - w/sound)
Don, hope that helps…
Tom
I model GN in the Cascades circa '47-'50 and my two BLI NW2 switchers are kept very busy on Free-mo setups yard work. They are a joy to operate around 50% volume. For industrial work I use one of them or a GP7, but I usually use the Geeps for locals. For mainline freights I have a 4 unit FT that has one of the B’s gutted and filled with a soundtraxx decoder and 2 speakers. The sound unit has CV’s 3 and 4 set with “0” accel/decel, the other 3 units are powered and have Digitrax decoders with CV’s 3 and 4 set at “10”. Once you get used to the momentum/ inertia they are beautiful to operate. Enjoy! jc5729 John Colley, Port Townsend, WA
I am currently doing “stage one” of what will eventually be a pretty large basement layout; for now it’s an “L” shaped shelf layout 12-16" wide, approx. 10’ x 12’. I’m using a BLI NW-2 I’ve had for a couple of years, and for a diesel switcher it would be a great choice for your situation. It runs very slowly (max speed is around 30 MPH) and smoothly.
I often run it back to back with a Proto SW-7 that is not sound equipped. One unfortunate aspect of your Bachmann DCC system is I don’t think you can change CV’s (except maybe for address??) so you may not be able to “speed match” engines so they can run together…but then again, on a shelf layout, you really only need to run one engine at a time.
For steam the LL/Proto 0-6-0 or 0-8-0 would be great, but don’t overlook the Spectrum 2-8-0. In the fifties it wouldn’t be that unusual to see an old consolidation being used in yard switching or serving local industries. It’s available with sound from MicroMark for under $150 IIRC.
Prisoner 3437763 IvanHen. Have you had any problems with the MRC sound decoder in your Athearn?
Driline, No I havn’t had any problems with the MP15 or my Challenger. I must say that when I bought my MP15, the first one the LHS put on the test track ran forward but only had sound & lights in reverse. Hey, my brother-in-law rebuilt a Vega with an aluminum 4 banger and I once dated a girl that had a Pinto that never burned!! Sometimes you get lucky!![:-^]
i think there’s a sale at Walthers forthem, 199
I’ve got a Proto 2000 0-6-0 and a Proto SW7, both with sound and DCC. I kept the traction tires on my SW7, and may at some point install them on the 0-6-0 as well. Both are excellent engines, but they need the traction tires to maintain grip on the rails. Neither is particularly heavy. Both have plastic shells, and the SW7 in particular suffers from a lack of space for internal weight, as it was removed to make room for the speaker.
The sound and running characteristics of both of these engines are awesome. The detail level is very good, too. The steamer, in fact, is the reason I’ve been working to dual-era my layout so that I can run both 1960’s and 1930’s. Yeah, it’s that good.
Careful. If you find yourself looking at which Jordan vehicles are on sale in the monthly Walthers flyer, and you start thinking how neat the high brake wheels are on those old wooden box cars, chances are you’ve caught a case of Steam. There’s no known cure, so you might as well enjoy the disease.
Those Vegas were like a bic lighter. “Disposable”. My buddy and I used to drive around his in high school. We used to run over garbage cans, old thrown out christmas trees, tires, you name it with this car. It was one green turd.