Hello all…
There seems to be new sound decoders becoming available every day. I have been installing decoders in some of my older locomotives and I have an Overland brass Cleveland Union Terminal P-1a that I’d like to tackle next.
I wondered if there is a decent sound decoder available with sounds (or hummmmms) of electric locomotives. I have a Broadway GG-1 with QSI sound so I know there are some electric sound decoders out there… but where?
Any help would be appreciated, Thanks
Phoenix makes sound for several types of electrics including GE and GG1. I don’t know how well they would fit in HO models though.
Ignoring the obvious joke about there already being a source of sound for an electric locomotive (the motor - I know, it’s corny), were electrics loud enough to even be heard from any distance? I realize that you’d still want the appropriate coupler clang, brake hiss, bell clangs, etc., but I’d heard they were relatively quiet.
A friend of mine used to tell a story about standing on PC passenger platforms, turning his back on an approaching GG1, and not turning around until it was heard. By that time it was right on top of them.
As well as locomotives, there were EMU cars - which made distinctive sounds of their own. For example, the brake compressor sounded like a paint sprayer compressor on steroids. The whistles were also distinctive, comparing to a diesel horn about the way a piccolo compares to a bassoon.
The big advantage is that, even in HO (or, in my case, HOj,) there’s a nice, roomy carbody available to mount the components.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - soundless, for now)
We may need to wait for the Digitrax user-programmable sound decoders, and then some enterprising folks to start up a cottage industry to provide sound files. Unfortunately, the downloadable sound capability looks like it will require a computer interface to the DCC system, which few model railroaders have invested in. Does anyone know if non-Digitrax systems will support this kind of thing?
I have a beautiful brass doodlebug that I have been looking for a sound decoder to use. I have had no luck thus far.
Yes the G’s made noise. When one was coming at speed the catenary would start to sing a couple of hundred yards in front of it. If one blew it’s horn you thought the Queen Mary was coming down the tracks. The bell had a beautiful clang that was distinctive and when stopped you could hear the air blowers humming. On the other hand, those who ignored the Do Not Cross Tracks signs and use the underground passages sometimes had the same chance of success as bugs with windshields due to their quietness - particularly in snow and fog.
And my father in law, who worked the yard in Thorndale when GG1’s were still in service, says the BLI captures it pretty well. Definitely some sound, but not blatantly loud, capable of sneaking up on you just like the real thing.
Others though, like the E33’s and E44’s were LOUD. The GG1 sound chip won;t cut it for those. Only option available today is ESU Loksound, and getting some quality sound files to program them in yourself.
–Randy