Hi,
Just getting into HO RR’ding.
I’ve purchased 3 steam engines (all spectrum) and really love them.
I’ve also purchased two Diesel engines; A Spectrum GP-30 and an Athern Amtrack AMD-103 N.E.Corridor.
I’ve noticed that both Diesel’s are exceptionally loud, compared to the quiet running steams. While all I hear with the steams is track noise, the deisels engines are whinny and vocal.
Is this normal?
Thanks,
~mike
Very common with Athearn engines. They have open frame motors, sloppy drivelines, and rough gears which leads to a lot of moaning and grinding. Some of the other brands, such as Spectrum, Kato, Atlas, and LifeLike’s Proto 2000 will get you away from this. Kato is pretty much the undisputed champion when it comes to running smooth and quiet. The Athearns will run a long time, and pull a pretty good load, but they draw a lot more power to do the same as the others, which is a concern when you start running several trains at the same time.
Hope that helped,
Greg
Dont worry about it. Just say you paid some one $500.00 for that sound system
James
What type of Athearn locos are they, Blue Box, RTR, or Genesis. The Blue Boxes are generaly noisy.
Victor
Happy Railroading.[swg][swg]
Thanks guys.
The Athern is the blue box version.
Athearns aren’t that bad. The b-b’s are a noisy but not too bad. The RTR’s w/ the new driveline are much quieter than b-b.
As far as the BB noise, there are some things you can do, but they are very involved and time consuming and you still wont get the same running quality of a higher quality loco. But BB locos will run and run and run. I have one on my layout that fell off of my old layout. The loco fell 7 feet down onto concrete. I bent the frame back into shape, reassembled the driveline and off she goes! It needed a new shell of course but the drive just wont quit. On the spectrum diesel, take the shell off and watch it run, is there a “wobble” in the driveshaft? Also check that the motor is level and fully secured in the motor mounts.
Mike-
This may not be much help, but at least it should be some confirmation that you are not alone…
After purchasing three Spectrum H16-44’s a few years back I was very pleased with their operation. However, I later bought two Spectrum GP30’s and was very disappointed with their performance. [:(] Similar to the experience you share here, the Geeps ran very rough and noisy. [:(] [As a point of reference, an average Athearn BB diesel runs quieter and much smoother than those Spectrum GP30’s.] Perhaps they can be tuned to run acceptably, but I haven’t tried. I would suggest getting a different manufacturer’s GP30 if you really like that model diesel and want to actually run it.
From what I’ve read here on the forum, the quality of locomotives in the Spectrum line (particularly the diesels) is hit or miss.
-Dave
You don’t say how old the diesels are, but I recently pulled some locomotives out of the box they’ve been stored in since 1970 to 1975, and few drops of 3 in 1 oil in the bearings, commutator and gears dropped the noise to a quarter of what it was before lubricating them.
In my experience my Kato and Proto’s are very quiet, my Atlas loco’s are a little bit louder but not annoying. My Athearn Genesis SD75I’s are very loud and my Athearn BB are very loud.
I have a Spectrum F40PH that’s a bit noisy. Of course that’s not surprising since the DPO (dreaded previous owner) never ran it…and most of the oil or grease went solid. Even after cleaning things out and replacing it…it’s still like that. It seems to be just this engine though…my much-older Spectrum F40PH is 1000% quieter.
Jeffers_mz
I would not use 3-n-1 oil for model locomotives. The oil has a base in it that will eventually cause the gears to swell and crack. This will take some time and
may not be noticeable for months/years but it will happen. Buy you some Labelle PLASTIC compatible oil and gear lube. Your equipment will last longer.
Thanks for the head’s up. Is alcohol safe to use to clean the 3 in 1 off before I use the Labelle?
Not even a comment. Am I the only one that thinks thats funny???
i like the noise it brings realizem.