Installing Sound in a Non-sound Intermountain ES44DC Gevo

Model Railroader Electronics and DCC
1

Hello all,

First off let me say that I’ve done very little with model railroading, meaning when I was younger I ran

a single dc track with one locomotive running around an oval. So now 15 or so years later, I’m wanting to

really get into it with the DCC. As of right now I haven’t built a layout. I’m basically in the planning phase

and starting to build a locomotive roster. One of the locomotives I’ve purchased is Intermountains

ES44DC Gevo with DCC but no sound. So I’m wanting to put sound in it. I found the Tsunami sound

decoder I need for that unit. My question is can the decoder be wired in. I’ve looked for anything

showing or explaining how to install it, but haven’t found anything. So if someone could let me know

if its possible, I’d appreciate any help I can get with this. Thanks for taking the time to read.

2

HI! [#welcome] to the Forums!

Of course you could buy your own and hard-wire it, the Soundtraxx installation manual is here:

http://www.soundtraxx.com/manuals/tsuinstallation.pdf

I went to Intermountain’s web site http://www.intermountain-railway.com/IRCDCCDecoderInformationV1.2-2012.htm and located the info regarding decoders and found this:

Retail Customers Note: Direct plug-in (no soldering required) SoundTraxx sound decoders for InterMountain locomotives can be purchased from InterMountain. Call for pricing and availability information.

3

Thank you for the info. This is what I was looking for. Guess I wasn’t pushing the buttons right. [:$]

4

You’re Welcome. No need to apologize, we were all new at some point. We’re here to help.

5

I’m new to this too and was wondering when you installed those sound boards did you have to install resistors for the LED lighting or did the built in resistors on the lighting boards suffice? Thanks!

6

to use LEDs you will have to add the resistors your self. most led packages come with the correct resistors and instructions on useing them

7

If the ES44DC is like the AC version (and I’m pretty sure it is) the lights are provided by surface mount LED’s via light pipes. The LED’s are mounted on separate circuit boards complete with resistors. No additional resistors should be needed due to this configuration.

Also, you can file this in the “what it’s worth” category, but if you are going to get into sound, and the loco can be had with or without sound, you will be money ahead in the long run to buy the one with factory installed sound. You can do the math and see pretty quickly that factory installed is more economical, not to mention the “fun” of installing. If sound is an option on any loco I purchase, I always opt for factory installed. Saves me the hassle of having to order the decoder, speaker etc. since the chances of the LHS having what I need in stock are slim and none. My .02 cents worth.