I’m currently an HO DC person, but will be converting to DCC with the upcoming layout rebuild after the Holidays. Today I have several Stewart, Kato, Spectrum, Atlas, and other mid-price range locos - all DC without sound. However, over the last two years I picked up 5 BLI paragon DC/DCC locos with sound - 4 steamers and 1 RSD-15.
Well, the sound from the BLIs is (to my old rock & roll ravaged ears) absolutely outstanding! I literally smile when they start up and respond to the Quantum Engineer. WOW !!!
But herein lies the “problem”… I find myself not wanting to run the quiet Stewarts & Atlas, etc., and would much rather run the BLIs. Sound is definitely contagious - something you didn’t know you needed until you got it. Kind of like how we looked at color TV and microwaves many years ago.
So when I convert to DCC, its getting painfully clear to me that I’ll have to put a sound unit in each of the 5 F unit ABBA consists, etc., etc. In addition to buying and installing decoders for each, I’ll have to buy and install the sound stuff too!
Oh, one other thing… as others have alluded to on this forum, loco sounds can get to be too much noise after awhile. So with the DCC installation, it was recommended and I agree that each loco terminal track will have an on/off toggle so as to shut down the noise (and electrical draw).
Hey, I’m not complaining here - for I could certainly just stay with DC and sell off the BLIs and go “whooo, whooo” whenever…
Yeah, that’s been my experience, too. I’m slowly retrofitting sound into my engines. I put a single sound unit in an F7 ABA consist (in the dummy B unit) and now those engines get track-time. You don’t need 4 sound units in an ABBA consist, although some who have done this say it’s much better that way. But, in your case, I’d start with one in each consist and put the rest in later.
With a complete layout re-build, you’ve got enough work to do.
Lately my loco purchases have been sound loco’s. I enjoy running them but every once in awhile I turn the sound off just for a little peace and quiet. I don’t plan on adding sound to any of my diesels but my steam loco’s will have sound in the future.
I couldn’t imagine running a loco without sound anymore. But you will need a storage or ready track with a power off switch. I usually have 8 or 10 locos sitting around the layout, and when I turn on the power, it is a lot of noise. Some of them are on the fuel track, with a power off switch, but others are in various places around the layout, and are quite noisy. I have to address many of them and mute the sound. Some of the decoders remain muted, until I unmute them. But others, despite being muted the last time I operated, come on with full sound again, at power up.
I agree with all of the above - since getting my first sound loco I’ve only bought sound! The problem for me is that I have 100 or so non-sound locos - mostly BB Athearns!! The cost, and time (I’m 66) to convert these to sound is not within realistic limits, so my next pike, when we move, will be DC/DCC as my present 4x8 is. A DPDT switch chooses which power now, and the next pike will have DPDT’s for each block. I will get a few of my faves converted, but most will probably stay silent - and little used!![:)]
Despite the simplicity DCC allows, all my track will still be blocked, and because I have a lot of DC stuff to run and will take a long time to DCC-ize, I will still use DC. I have a couple of old modeltronics sound stuff runs on DC, so a couple of stuff on DC can be soundized albeit early version of sound… heh. powering off terminal tracks a must, but I can just hear the first time I power the layout on with all those DCC sound engines on… WHOOSH Grrrls chuff chuff knarl WHINE in multi stereo quadraphonic surround mezisound…
Old club layout used clamp and hold selenoids on turnouts when turned, power off the layout, and…snap …snap…SNSNSAP! all over the layout after a run session.
My tracks are blocked which I would highly recommend. As to the noise all you have to do is hit the “8” button on the DCC controller and it will kill the sound to that loco. Comes in handy when the steam, bells and whistles becomes deafening!
At present I have about 7 Sound intalls to carry out and was hoping to get it done over Christmas… I don’t think so[:(]
I’ve got about 6 diesel engines with sound and 6 or 7 without. At first I was amazed with the sound locomotives and couldn’t get enough. Well now I prefer both, with and without sound. Sometimes its nice just to hear the clickety clack as opposed to the monotenous hum of the diesel blaring down the track [:)]
So my future purchases will include some engines with sound, and others without. Kind of the best of both worlds.
I’m also not a big fan of retrofitting my non-sound loco’s with sound. I prefer to buy my engines with QSI sound already installed, because they are built right specifically for that purpose.
I’m strictly an Old Fart DC’er, though I did bite with the sound bug when BLI started releasing their dual-mode steamers. My problem is that the dual-mode steamers take so much voltage to get started, that if I was running my brass steam fleet, they’d be racing around the layout before the sound locos even got started, LOL! Needless to say, I got tired of the dual-mode steamers pretty quick (they’re all boxed up).
I do like sound, however, it gives another dimension to operating the trains. So what I did was get a Soundtraxx “Heritage Steam” module and install speakers under the layout. It doesn’t give the impression of a locomotive coming at you and leaving (it’s all pretty constant), but the module allows me to add and subtract a lot of sound effects (pumps, articulation, brakes, etc.) and still enjoy my strictly DC brass locos on the layout.
If I ever went DCC, which doesn’t look likely, given my rather large brass collection of OPERATING locos, I’d certainly want sound in each individual loco, though. Frankly, I first thought I’d get tired of it and that it was just a novelty. Nope. First thing gets flipped on when I go out to run the trains is that Soundtraxx. And I get a real kick out of backing the loco to the water plug and listening to the ‘gush’, LOL! [:P]
Lately, I’ve been taking the trouble to go through the “power down” sequence on my QSI engines. They remember that the next time the layout is turned on. When they come up, they give a quick release of air just to let me know where they are.
The other ones all come to life and stay that way. I’ve got all of my turntable and engine house stall tracks on toggle switches, though, so that’s my silent parking lot.
I always have to smile when other modelers have these revelations. For me I discovered controlling the trains and not the track in 1979-1980. I discovered sound (actually I was finally able to afford sound) in 1983. I do find it amazing that it has taken over two decades for these discoveries to propagate. I guess it just proves that Ecclesiastes (chapter 1 vs 9-11) is true.
At an operating session a few months ago I was running a train powered by a beautiful F3 ABBA set. I kept thinking something is wrong, what is the problem here. Hmmm… Ah yes, these units have no sound. They will be getting something (Phoenix if I can fit it), hopefully over Christmas break. Now If I could only add sound to the image below…
It’s true that once you get into sound it’s hard to go silent again. I know after moving and starting a new layout that I’ve pretty much only unpacked the sound engines. Still as has been noted you don’t have to add sound to each engine. Eventually I probably will end up with all units having sound but I find sound in a B unit of an A-B set of F’s is fine. I also use an informal “buddy system” where I’ll have a sound equipped engine that often runs with a non-sound one of the same type, like say a sound and non-sound GP-7.
Keep in mind too that sound roughly doubles the amount of power needed. I found (at least with my current layout’s temp wiring) that I could run two sound engines together, but a consist of three had trouble getting enough power. If you’re going to run an all-sound A-B-B-A set of F’s you need to be sure you have enough power to pull it off.
texas zepher This guestion is off topic.I see in your picture a helex . Could you tell me a little about it ((how big ?ratus?% of grade?so forth?) thank you others for my interup.
First it is not mine. I have no layout. This is just one that I regularly operate on. There are two nearly identical helix. Outside radius is 36" inside is 33.75" Each loop climbs approximately 4" so the grade is:
4" / ( PI * 33.75" * 2 ) = 1.9% on the inside loop and 1.8% on the outside.
Sound is indeed contagious. All of my layouts since 1979 have had sound.
CHUG–CHUG–CHUG–CHUG–WOO–WOO–CHUG–CHUG–CHUG–CHUG–WOO–WOO! I tried diesel but everyone told me it sounded too much like I was either blowing my nose or clearing my throat!
