I love Rapido’s sound quality on their new F unit, but,…
I must be deaf, because I didn’t hear a transition at run 4 which I think should be really noticeable on a 1st generation GMD…
Anybody else notice this or am I just brain dead?
I don’t own one, but I know Rapido designed the sound system to sound as though the locomotive was put directly into run 8, like a prototype passenger train would do, instead of going through the notches. Though that’s possible to do with the sound system also.
I’m not sure if that’s what your talking about or not.
I know that the sounds for the FP9 were recorded directly from one of the Canadian FP9 diesels, which did a special run just for Rapido’s recordings. I seem to remember that Jason Shron had the engineer drive the engine in a way that more resembled the faster starts and stops that a model railroader will typically do, since that would make the sounds match up better when operating the models in the more confined space of a typical basement railroad. There’s a video (I think on YouTube) about the whole thing which was pretty interesting to watch.
One does not just ‘wipe the throttle to RUN 8’ - This something old steam engineers did and they found out real fast what ‘torque’ was! Also, electrical issues could happen. Most E’s and F’s, and early GP7’s had a ‘notching’ feature that made one step through the notches. As the electrical systems got more heavy duty, EMD got rid of this ‘feature’ so that engineers on GP’s could ‘kick’ cars when switching.
Jim
I was just paraphrasing what I heard from Rapido. If you watch the Youtube video I posted, the engineer notches directly to notch 8.
They still didn’t have enough tons on the drawbar to enable one to really hear the unit load up. Depending on which type of transition some F units won’t even make transition if the rate of acceleration is too quick. Even if it did go from step #1 to #2 you would hardly hear it in the cab because of not enough load. If they could have got 700-800 tons on the drawbar they would have had some true sound.
Dick Haave
Hi guys,
The FP9A has both options: straight to 8, which is how engineers ran these in passenger service when leaving stations, and going through the notches one at a time.
We were pulling 130 tons up a 2% grade, which I thought would reasonably recreate the feel of pulling four 65-ton cars on the straight and level. One FP9A would never pull 700-800 tons. On almost all services, another unit was added if more than five cars (325 tons) were being pulled.
Remember, though, every prime mover sounds different, especially one that is over 50 years old. I can hear the transition to 4, but it is subtle.
-Jason
Jason,
I’ll say it here in public…
Thanks for the Canadian! It’s exquisite.
The cars are absolutely amazing, and honestly, if it wasn’t for the peeled off car body stirrups on the locos, the set would have been absolutely perfect.
Im looking through my old books now… I’m sure I have a couple photos of a 5900 Selkirk pulling the Canadian through the Rockies… I’ve an old brass Selkirk I run, so I intend to recreate tat, for sure.
Even though I don’t model wet noodles much at all, I am looking forward to the GMD1… Anyone who spent any time on the Prairies will have a soft spot for those smoky old thumpers.
The world’s ugliest locomolive, but also, one of the most beautiful… Just make sure you get the clatter of those 567s under a huge load. Those things old work HARD in run 8.
That seems unlikely. Calgary-Revelstoke was dieselized very early. Although the Selkirks continued to work out of Calgary, they had been already been working east and north on the Prairies for several years by the time “The Canadian” was introduced in 1955. The smallish drivers were poorly suited for that higher speed duty.
John
I agree totally, except…
In one of those CPR in the Rockies books from a few years ago, there were two or 3 pictures of the brand new stainless train being pulled by a Selkirk.
I’m 100% sure of it,
CP_guy,
Go for it!
You’re the guy in charge of the CPR Texas subdivision.
Gordon
One does not just ‘wipe the throttle to RUN 8’ - This something old steam engineers did and they found out real fast what ‘torque’ was! Also, electrical issues could happen. Most E’s and F’s, and early GP7’s had a ‘notching’ feature that made one step through the notches. As the electrical systems got more heavy duty, EMD got rid of this ‘feature’ so that engineers on GP’s could ‘kick’ cars when switching.
Jim
Jim,Don’t under estimate what those former steam engineers learn to do with those early diesels…They learn things EMD and Alco never dreamed possible.
They knew how long they cound stay with the needle pegged in the red zone before damage would occur.
As far as kicking cars with the first geeps it was done on a routine bases.
Hi Jim,
See if you can find video of Montreal commuter trains when pulled by FP7s and GP9s. Or watch recordings of VIA Fs leaving Guildwood, Kingston or Dorval station. I assure you, the engineer pushes the throttle very quickly into 8 and the engine does the work. What a racket!
The sound is quite different from slowly notching up. I have recordings taken on board Montreal commuter trains pulled by GP9 locomotives, and the sound is almost exactly the same as the recordings of our FP9A going straight into 8. The only difference is the tone of the sound from the different shape of the hood. But the actual sound of the engine working is the same. It’s a big rev, then a drop, then an even bigger rev. My friend is an AMT engineer (hence the source of the recordings) and that is the way he and all of his colleagues drive the trains.
Very different from notching up over, say, 10-20 seconds.
When we were doing the GMD-1 recordings we asked the engineers if they ever put it straight into 8 like the passenger units. “All the time,” was the reply. “There is one bit of track where if we don’t go straight into 8 we’ll never get the cars moving.” So the GMD-1 decoders will also have the straight to 8 feature…
-Jason
All I can say is that it sounds exactly like I remember. The throttles would open, the engines would wind up, then it would drop for a second, then they would wind up again, as if the engineer was shifting gears in a car with a manual transmission.
I watched them leave the station many times, and since we lived about a quarter mile or so from the station, and they were cleared for 55 MPH in that area, there was a roar as they passed by. Full throttle to get moving. The sound of the model is spot on!
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Riding those commuter trains, there was a noticeable surge in the coaches when the FP7A went through transition as speed increased. Got to experience it between every station.
John