Look at this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7POC17XQjYg&mode=user&search=
Do all postwar engines sound like that? I have no postwar engines, only pw accessories, and wanted to know if all postwar engines are as loud as that. Semms like the run alot louder and more rough than todays modern engines.
Grayson
A PW engine naturally will sound louder than a modern engine w/ eloctronic eunit and can motors. The open frame moter and solonoid in the e unit will always give off some noise. Depending how well the engine is maintained will effect how loud the engine is. Some e units are noisier than others as well. I have some engines that are pretty quiet and some you can hear a mile away. Some engines, like the early f3s are noisy no matter what. It is just their desighn. The prewar and early postwar spur geared locos can be pretty quiet. These are genaralities, of course. The sound, however, is a big part of the postwar lure. Frank will most likely point out that the noise is largely due to the fact the trains are being run on fast track and not tubular.
only on fast track
This is an early F3 with horizontal motors and a lot of gearing. They are affectionately known as “coffee grinders”. They supposed to make a lot of noise. Think of it as early railsounds 1.0
Ths spur drives are much more quiet like the beautiful 2025/675 or other late 40s locos.
Mike S.
Try it on an oval of tubular track and notice the difference.
Ah, the sweet, sweet sounds of postwar.
I don’t think that the presence or absence of spur gears explains the noise differences among locomotives. For example, the noisier horizontal-motor F3s differ from the vertical-motor ones mainly in having a spur gear train between the motor and the worm. And GG1s with vertical motors are noisier than F3s with vertical motors.
Pretty much comes down to a few things, While the Fastrack on a hard surface doesn’t help, it is more of a locomotive issue. How well is the engine lubricated? What type motor? I have some PW engines that sound nearly that loud, but more of them sound as smooth as a sewing machine motor. The E-units mostly sound as loud as that one, but it depends on the engine for me. I really love my PW Lionel. I do have some more modern items (too many if you ask SWMBO), but mostly the older ones.
Dennis
The horizontal motor F3 gear train is one of the loudest of then all. They eventually changed their F3’s to vertical drives which were very similar to what they were using in geeps and trainmasters. Although they were higher geared, the vertical motor design was cheaper for Lionel to manufacturer and quieter for us.
The vertical drive design carried into modern day engines. Can motors and tighter gear tolerances have made these drives even quieter.
I don’t consider that loud at all.
Jim
That sounds normal to me for postwar Lionel engines. I think that much of the sound comes from the plastic engine housing that acts as an amplifier for the vibrations. If you remove the body and just run the chassis around you will notice that it is considerably quieter. I think the cast steam postwar engines are quieter because the have a heavy cast metal housing that doesn’t amplify the sound.
I love the sound of postwar on tubular track!