I heard on the N&WHS board that they are in the US and should be at dealers this week. I can’t wait to see/hear them.
I was notified two days ago it would be in on the 19th and ship to me on the 22nd. It will be interesting to see how the Y6b compares to my A and J by BLI, the first division of whatever they are calling themselves. .
Mine arrived yesterday, what a thing of beauty and a wonder to behold. The detail level is incredible and they got the uneven exhaust sound of the Y6b correct. They run great with my A’s. Bravo Zulu PCM!
Ah, at last, could you please tell me, is the sound set for simple or compound operation?
It is almost 100% certain that the sound for the Y6b will be in simple mode, but maybe Hiram can confirm that. Maybe we can get Soundtrax to offer a sound system with an option to simulate both compound and simple mode if we all email ask repeatly.
I thought the Y6 is a compound?
It is a compound design with the large front cylinders and smaller rear ones, but it can be run in simple mode also. The N&W built their Y6’s with a controlling value to start in simple with high presure to all four cylinders if they needed an extra boost, and switch to compound on the fly. The Engineer controlled the mode it was run in. Compound mode saved a lot of steam and they preferred to run them in compound mode much of the time.
The Y6b has two tractive effort listings. One for compound and one for simple. The simple tractive effort was much higher.
Simple 152,206 lbs
Compound 126,838 lbs
Front cylinders 39"
Rear cylinders 25"
The Y6b in simple mode really chuffed loud because of the 39" cylinders getting 300 lbs of steam but they were much subdued when in compound mode. I got to watch them in August of 1956 working mostly as helpers for the A’s out of Roanoke. It was a sight never to be repeated today.
I have a old audio recording on a small record (Remember those?.. the kind that spins and is read by a needle?) of a Y6b working hard and recall it well. That must have been a sight.
When I listened to the sound sample and heard that whistle on the PCM’s website I knew someone did it right. It is different rather sharp instead of the one I heard in the recording which must have been affected by a number of factors in the atmosphere before it got to the microphone.
If I understand you correctly, the sound sample is different than the orginal recording that you have on the 45 record, right?? The Y6’s had a slightly different whistle than the A’s if I remember correctly. O Winston Link has some good recording of both the Y6’s and the A sounds. It would be interesting to hear them again.
PCM might be using the same whistle recording from the 1218, which was a sharper sound than the whistle on most Y6’s …
The Sound whistle is very close to the .45 recording but sharper in timbre.
The engine that was on the recording labored over the mountain at a steady pace that was quite similar to what I can hear of the PCM’s recording that was a variety of speeds.
O Winston Link did us a great service with those images and sounds. I have to research either the net or forums to find them and see if he caught any Y’s in them.
Another recording I recall was one of the Southern Cresent as it labored up Front Royal. I wasnt sure if it would make it especially after it lifted the pop valve near the summit.
yep, looks like they’re showing up. I plan to buy one asap
O Winston Link’s Thunder on Blue Ridge hooked me about the N&W.
If I remember correctly, the N&W used two different length Hooter whistles over the years, but by the time of the Y6b’s, I think the A’s and Y6b’s had the same “longer” (I forget the darned length) whistles. I have the O. Winston Link audio set and they sound the same on there. A lot of the earlier Y’s had the shorter “Hooter”. If someone knows different it won’t hurt my feelings. ALL my books and everything are packed up now.
Does anyone have the programmer or even know if the LokSound decoder in the Y6b can be programmed to vary the chuff rate? I have to have one, and if the LokSound isn’t right, or can’t be made right, I will get a silent one and wait for the “right” Tsunami or whatever to come along. I want a nice deep compound chuff.
It seems to be in simple mode, it’s almost a roar in the sound paced to the speed. Just like the prototype recordings I’ve heard. They really sound great at lower speeds. I am very pleased with them, they’re worth the money, IMO. The detail is incredible, I’ve now stared at them for hours. I’m probably going to be listing my Rivarossi’s on eBay soon.
On mine I’m not sure how I’d be able to tell, as the front and rear drivers are in phase (in sync) so the chuffs would overlay each other in simple mode.
The guys on the NWHS mailing list have been whining big time that it doesn’t meet their standards, but I think it is a VERY nice representation of a Y6b and I have been having a lot of fun with it.
…and after all, isn’t that the whole point?
Hi All,
I just received my Y6B & DC Master contol. I am inpressed with the loco & its running qualities, but its sound & motor control seem a little poor.
Do any of you have the following problems?
HUMMING - The speakers hum, even when the sound is turned down to zero. If the sound is muted the humming stops.
When LOAD is set, & the loco is accelerated or decelerated, the chuff sounds like one one of those Disco Drums, not a Steam Chuff. OK once a constant speend is reached.
The chuff misses a beat occasionally.
The volume of the chuff does not increase as the loco accelerates to simulate load, nor decreases when the loco is decelerating.
When the Load is set the loco waits in one spot for longer then races foreward at a great clip. The mechanism is not binding, as it runs very smoothly at low speeds once running or when LOAD is not set.
Thanx for any help.
Today I visited my local US-Outline LHS (at Slough, to the west of London about 90 miles from here!!) and guess what - that had two Y6b’s in stock - how they got them this quick on the other side of the pond amazes me!!
They plonked one on their test track and I was amazed - I must have close to 40 sound-equipped locomotives - and this was the best I have heard. They changed the loco ID to from default to #2200 and I left the shop a very happy bunny - even the traffic jam experienced on the M25 (the London Orbital Motorway - often referred to one of the world’s longest parking lots!!) was worth it…
I like what I’ve got - congratulations Precision Craft Models…
I think your not going to achieve total perfection with any model. Theres always room for improvement and lets hope sound makers and DCC makers work this out.
I don’t know how some of the sound systems achieve their sync, my modeltronics
system used wipers on the drivers to get the chuff. I have a Bower Big Boy and I want to dual motor it, so if one set of drivers slip, you hear it!.
I emailed PCM about sound and how the N&W Y6b’s could get the whistles to scream. They thanked me and they would look at that in future models.
I hope they’re innovative enough to listen. I never expected PCm to make the Y6B and when I heard about it I was estactic.
I have 3 Rivarrossi Y6b’s and I want to replace them with the PCM’s but their pricey, so it will take me awhile and 1500 bucks…or whatever…
Mardamkit,
I am very interested in the N Scale steamer M1b. I would be using it with Loksound at lest at first in DC and was wondering how the DC Master controller works. It looks as though the DC Master only controlls the bell the horn (or whistle in the case of the steamer) and an aux button. How is the steam chuff controlled? How about any other sounds like shoveling, steam release, braking or coupling?
Thanks for any info you or anyone else can provide.
Gene
Was just looking at the PCMs website and found no link to listen to their sound systems…where’d you folk see that?
Them’s some beautiful steamers,thats for sure and certain!!
I received the shrink wrapped 2006 PCM catalogue and their offerings esp the Brass steamer (tho expensive) is georgeous. The detail esp the movable detail is just amazing.
If these run half as good as they look they will be worth every penny!!
Gene