My good buddy just got 2 broadway limited engines…a sw-1 switcher and penzy t-1 duplex. The sound aspect is really great and i would like to have that aspect on my layout. My problem is I model a railroad that I usually have to paint and decal my own engines. Can I buy a sound system and install it into an engine of my choosing ? I don’t have DCC just MRC walk around throttle.
IS there anything that I can hook up to my walk around that sences the input into the transformer and can operate it that way. I want my sound to be as good as the broadway limited and I want it to keep pace with the loco’s moves, starting, stoping slowing down…etc. What are my options if any ?
You have extremely limited options – either go DCC or you’ll have to settle for something made by MRC called, I think, the Sound Station, which goes under your layout and the sound does not move.
Broadway Limited uses a system known as QSI, which will work on both straight DC and DCC, but not as something you can install into your own locomotives. Proto 2000 and Atlas are also selling locomotives with the QSI system in them.
The only other system currently available is SoundTraxx, which operates only on DCC. ThrottleUp!, the company in Colorado that makes the SoundTraxx decoders, has been working on a new system called Tsunami which is supposed to be equal to QSI. They have been saying it will be available “any day, now” for the past 2 years, so don’t hold your breath on this one.
THERE ARE NO current provider’s of Analogue (DC) sound that use speaker’s in engine’s and use the track to carry’s the sound.
BEST BET is to puchase BROADWAY LTD. ENGINE’S or unit’s with QSI until someone make’s a Generic ‘sound car’ to be pulled behind a non-sound engine.
Don:
Not entirely true. If you want in loco sound, DALLEE Electronics has a very broad selection of in-locomotive sounds units for DC and AC – their selection is broader than the current DCC offerings, in fact.
See:
http://www.dallee.com/sound_systems.htm
Their in-loco sound boards are DCC compatible, although they are not DCC decoders, as such. To use their sound modules with DCC, you wire the function leads of your decoder to certain pads on their proprietary sound board.
Just buy an undec or decorated Boradway Limited model and repaint it in your personal railroad colors.
Bob Boudreau
I would purchase ATLAS or Life-Like P2K QSI equipped locos - considering BLI’s diesel record !!!
The QSI chip might soon be sold to individuals (QSI has a spin-off company working on this, I believe). It might happen before Soundtraxx has their new chip out - if so, one wonders if Soundtraxx will be able to stay in business !!!
If you decide to go the DCC route (which I would highly recommend since the starter sets are now less than a new locomotive) Soundtrax is a good option. However, things to consider: 1) Finding enough room for a speaker can be challenging in many diesels (especially the switchers), 2) The sound volume with the aftermarket installations is usually significantly lower than with a QSI unit .
I have the same question; I want sound, but I´d like it to be coming from an Athearn Genesis SD70MAC. Does anybody have an idea what to use for that purpose?
Sorry, but I can´t ask my LHS; I´m located in Germany, and all they have is (European) ESU Loksound…
firechief811,
Just a slight correction to your post. BLI came out with the SW7 and NW2 switchers, not the S1. Trainworld is planning on having them available sometime this summer for only $129.99. (That’s $50 off MSRP.)
Tom