hi guys… in this day, i watched some videos about lionel trains… one of these is with a berkshire locomotive with a tender with train sound… operating on a switch on the tender you can exclude the electronic whistle and include the air whistle… is possible to equipe my locomotive with this great sounds ?!? steam chuffing and electronic whistle… there is a kit to buy ?!? i can buy the tender with electronic sound but i want to know if exist any kit with this sound to up-grade any lionel locomotive !!!
There are a couple places you can purchase “sound” kits from, if that’s what your asking. ElectricRR.com has a basic add-on steam and diesel sound add-on that should fit about any locomotive. Lionel railsound kits can also be purchased through Digital Dynamics or Train America Studios. Both have websites. I doubt you would be able to retain the original air whistle in the tender, but it could be possible if there is room.
Doesn’t sound like you are interested in buying a railsound or trainsounds tender, but remember that one of these tenders could be run with just about any Lionel steamer from postwar to now, with no modifications.
I’ve mentioned this before, but if you want a very affordale sound systems (albeit with a few compromises and drawbacks) the MRC Sound Station 312 is a sure bet.
The diesel sounds are better than the steam whistle sounds, but for around $45 you get:
2 sets of diesel horn sounds, a couple of different whistles, plus another whistle with a little bit of chuff noise in it, diesel rumble, diesel bell, crossing gate bell, brake sounds, coupler sounds, chuffing sounds, freight train rumble and a freight conductor yelling “all aboard”.
Granted, you cannot use all sounds on top of each other. All sounds are push button activated: a drawback unless you have kids or visitors who will be thrillled to activate sounds. The included speakers are a little small for a Lionel layout, but I added additional speakers wired off the existing ones using extra old boombox speakers - which work supremely well.
Railsounds it’s NOT, but for the price you get basic sounds for any train you own. It’s a one-size-fits-all sort of system. Not perfect, but most one-size-fits-all products are not perfect. It’s simply an affordable all around way to add sound without busting the bank.
Sure you can have sound. Most times it’s not that simple to retrofit an engine not designed for it. I did a number of QSI kits early on when sound was in it’s infancy. These were very well built and reliable. Had a decent chuff rate as well. The problem is you didn’t state what you want to put it in. These were a tight fit in many scale locomotives. Some smaller steamers may just not have enough room. Remember the speaker will take up some space as well. Plugged into the stock QSI reverse unit and weren’t a bad install if you had ample room.
A full upgrade to Railsounds is an option. You mentioned steam. The Railsounds board needs something in the way of a switch to trigger the chuff rate. Seeing your engine has no sounds your only choice may be to mount small magnets to the drive wheels, tender wheels, or trailing truck wheels to trigger a magnetic reed switch that will enable the chuffing sound. Remember with everything residing in the tender these boards from whatever the supplier will need power. If your tender has pickup rollers your good to go. If not. You will have to devise a tether to run from the engine to the tender to supply the boards power.
I have no experience but have seen sound units from Dallee Electronics at some shows and they seem easy enough to install. You may be able to buy some MTH PSI sound boards from opperators that have upgraded to Proto 2. As long as you keep the battery charged they aren’t bad.
A lot of options. If your handy working on these things there are a number of choices that will work. The key is getting all to fit. I know Lionel offered some Railsound equipped boxcars. Can’t comment as I don’t own one nor have seen one in opperation. If you aren’t into scale locos and want all the bells and whistles as far as sounds. You may want to evaluate what your thinking of upgrading and the cost of adding sound. Versus the price of say a new or used MTH Railking engine with Proto 2 sound. I know many years
I saw a video by Jeff Trenholm of his new Hogwarts Express. He removed the air whistle mechanism in the tender and installed an electronic sound system with a high-pitched British sounding whistle. It sounds awesome and he said it only took him 5 - 10 minutes to install.
I do not trust my expertise to install some of these systems myself nor have the cash to get one of the recommended high-qualified outfits to install them for me - thus, I use variations on what Brianel suggests - an old MRC sound effects machine with slider for whistle and horn, chuff and diesel motor. I also use tapes of train and ambient noise effects - for things like a crossing gate, and old-fashioned whistles one blows through that the kids love. I have a hotel desk bell to sound for the trolleys.
now i have some base to starting my choice !!!