Help with alternate sound systems?

[Anonymous]

Has anyone used alternate sound systems that can be installed in boxcars, B units or other cars that have room? There are a number of places I have seen advertsied (ie www.ittsound.com) that offer a small chip and speaker that provide realistic track sounds instead of spending $300 for a protosound upgrade. Any thoughts on these types of alternate sound systems?

[brianel027]

I think they're great especially on smaller layouts. Although probably none of them offer the paramount realism of the on-board sounds. The MRC Sound Station is a grand idea and a real kid pleaser (if you happen to have kids). There are limitations to what sounds you can make in combination with others, but for $50 you get a whole spectrum of train sounds that is a bargain compared to anything else on the market. MRC is also introducing a second Sound Station that makes more environment/landscape types of sounds.

Certainly the Lionel Railsounds separate sale box cars are also a bargain when compared to buying every engine equipped with the Railsounds. And there are companies that advertise sound boards that are pretty nifty. Granted, these tend to be specialized units, but they offer the opportunity to have specialized sounds that you can utilize into your own "animated accessories." Kinda of cool to have a factory with flashing lights inside (to mimic welding) and a smoking chimney and then sound industrial sounds to boot. And Bachmann makes the BEST smoke unit on the market for this kind of this... makes the Seuthe ones look like garbage. Bachmann nos. 2911 and 2951 at $5 each - a real bargain for what you get!!!

I've also made some of my own sounds, primitive as they might be. I've designed my own diesel horn, not as good as Railsounds, but eons better than any other low-budget electronic blurp included on low end engines. I took the ringers out of an old telephone and made my own warning bell than can be activated for either an engine or a crossing gate. Using some gears and noisey motors, I've got my own "industrial sounds" for a factory. I took one of the el-cheapo "mechanical sound of steam" ball bearing wheels removed from an MPC Lionel steam tender and mounted it to a DC motor which gives a much more consistant "chugging" sound than leaving it in the tender where the train has to run pretty fast to make it work. Again - this isn't Railsounds - but as I've been told over and over - it's very clever, does the job, entertains visitors and is a fraction of the cost.

There once was a time in this hobby where the things I like to do were very standard. Folks took the time and used some creativity. Now the hobby has turned to this ready-made package of Pillsubury rolls where you open the package and everything is ready to use. No muss - no fuss (provided what you bought doesn't have to be returned because it doesn't work straight out of the box - but that never happens!! [:D] ).
And I suppose the ready-to-go stuff is okay too... certainly convenient. BUT it's made the hobby more expensive and taken away some of the magic. There were no Railsounds 50 years ago, and yet somehow we all thought the trains were pretty realistic back then. It was a little thing called imagination. But we also live in a world where folks don't use their imaginations anymore... a quick visit to the movies, any toy department or watching TV will prove that.

I find it somewhat amusing how guys want to buy every engine with on-board sound - pay premium prices for it - and then turn it off!!! In the era in which I grew-up in that kind of thing was called plain stupid. I can't imagine the beating I would have got had I paid for something with my dad's money that I had no intention of getting his money's worth out of. Oh yes, back then it wasn't child abuse - it was "the board of education." [B)]

As my quote says, I run trains for fun. [8] I don't count rivets. And scale is a matter of perceived perception in my book. And even though I'm as old as many of the codgers you see at train shows, no one belives it - I look a good 20 years younger than I really am. I credit that to keeping my imagination. I'll take my primitive "suggested" sounds over anything else any day of the week. And I wholeheartedly recommend the MRC Sound Station to anyone who wants a spectrum of instant digital sound at a bargain price. MRC has a very nice product with that!!

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your thoughts. I have a nice collection of pre and postwar engines that have no sounds and I want to dip my foot into the sounds without paying $300 and finding that it is turned off more than it is on. I read a good article in this months OGRR talking about the difference between postwar transformers and teh current ones and I realized that I need a new transformer! Your suggestion about MRC is just what I need. I will certainly look into it, and from what I understand, it is compatible with Protosound and Railsounds, etc. so it might be the start I need. Thanks again for your comments. [:)]

[brianel027]

Red, you won't have to worry about compatability with the Sound Station. It is a separate, wall outlet powered unit with 2 speakers and a control pad. There are buttons on the controller for all the various sounnd options. There are some sounds that can be done in combination with eachother and some that can't. Volume is controlled from the speakers which are an attractive design and could be mounted above or below the train board. Maybe you can check various shops and see if you can demo one before you buy it. Even with it's limitations, it is a welcome option and very affordably priced compared to other systems.

From what you say, the Railsounds separate sale cars also sound like a good idea if you want that kind of sound in sync with your locos. Of course, you can alway buy the Railsounds box car and switch the outer shell if the roadname doesn't suit your taste. Lionel for example made a Conrail RS box car, but maybe you'd prefer the B&O for example. For around $100+ each, you can have steam and diesel sounds. Cheap, when compared to the cost of equipping all your locos with sound boards and speakers - the RS box cars and reefers are a good deal in that sense. But if you like the way the MRC Sound Station works, and if those sounds suit your needs, well that's the best deal of all.

Some of the unique sound boards from ITT are pretty cool for your own operating things... like putting the farm animal sounds with a barn. If you had an operating cattle car or horse car, that would be a cool sound effect to add.

[Bob Keller]

I agree that the Lionel RailSounds cars are a good alternative to buying a board and installing something in yoiur own freight car.

I would have thought they would have proven to be more popular than they have (otherwise there would have been an explosion of them in catalogs). Lionel did a very nice steam sounds tender a few years back, as well.

I bought one of the tenders and then discovered that it looked so much better than the postwar locomotives I was running it with, that I sold it!

Good luck!

[dmestan]

Maybe this is a topic for a new post, but what do people think are the most realistic sounds for steam and diesel between Railsounds, Protosound, and Protosound 2? I'm sure anything is better than the generic toy-like whistle that comes with. With Railsounds, can the crew talk be turned off (or is it activated separately?) I'd like the sounds of the loco without the crew talk. I've also considered getting a Williams F7, wondering how the TrueBlast horn sounds.

thx, Don