Have you noticed Lionel’s quiet introduction of “Trainsounds” in the catalog? Yesterday I purchased the new “Trainsounds” tender for use with my postwar locomotives and discovered that “Trainsounds” does not equal “Generic Railsounds.” I thought that this tender would have the same sounds as the NYC Railsounds Flyer train set had last year. Wrong.
- The whistle sounds more like a diesel horn then a steam engine whistle.
- The chuffs drop out when the whistle sounds only to resume a second later.
- The chuff rate is too fast.
- The sound quality is an improvement over the Mighty Sound of Steam from thirty years ago but is not close to Railsounds quality.
IMO, this is a step backwards for Lionel. They had a hit with last year’s Railsounds sets. Why the change? I thought Railsounds was what I was getting when I purchased the tender. I strongly recommend that you listen to this tender first before purchasing. I would not have purchased this product if I had done so and I will not purchase any “Trainsounds” products in the future.