Hello fellow model railroaders. Just acquired a Genesis Southern Pacific SDP-45 off of eBay, with no sound. Does the 1968 era SDP-45 fall into either first or second-generation diesel locomotives? I want to make sure I get the right sound for this locomotive. Thanks!
I believe the EMD SD45 series of locomotives are second generation, but I have no idea what would sound differently between these two.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Hi,
My choice for a sound decoder for my pair of SDP45s was the Tsunami-2 PNP EMD2 sound file which contains the twenty-cylinder EMD 645.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMD_SDP45
https://soundtraxx.com/reference/sound-samples/tsunami2-emd-2-sounds/
There are other sound decoders out there but for this particular installation I chose the Tsunami 2 and I'm very satisfied with it.
EL_3638b by Edmund, on Flickr
Hint:
Before you put the shell back on, cover the bright blue LED on the board with a small piece of black tape. You can see it right through the radiator fans Ask me how I know
Good Luck, Ed
The Tsunami 2 EMD2 lets you choose from about 8 or 9 different 2nd generation EMD prime mover sounds via simple setting CV123. Most of them sound similar with the big turbo whine.
You may have to check to see if the 20 cylinder sound is loaded onto the version you are looking at. The 20 cyl may have been a late addition to the T2 group, but I don't know for sure.
- Douglas
The 16 cylinder and 20 cylinder are all two stroke engines in these EMDs.
I cannot tell them apart in real life. Standing next to a Detroit Diesel 12/92 or an EMD 16/567, they all sound exactly the same to me. Once you get over six cylinders in a two stroke diesel they just sound like someone continuously ripping canvas in front of a 10,000 watt amplifier.
I hate the sound of two stroke diesels.
SeeYou190 The 16 cylinder and 20 cylinder are all two stroke engines in these EMDs. I cannot tell them apart in real life. Standing next to a Detroit Diesel 12/92 or an EMD 16/547, they all sound exactly the same to me. Once you get over six cylinders in a two stroke diesel they just sound like someone continuously ripping canvas in front of a 10,000 watt amplifier. I hate the sound of two stroke diesels. -Kevin
I cannot tell them apart in real life. Standing next to a Detroit Diesel 12/92 or an EMD 16/547, they all sound exactly the same to me. Once you get over six cylinders in a two stroke diesel they just sound like someone continuously ripping canvas in front of a 10,000 watt amplifier.
I like onboard sound, but the whine of the turbo in EMD units can be annoying. Alco and GE Uboat chug is much more appealing.
With my T2s, mostly GP40-2s and SD40s, which I believe have the same 16 cyl. PM, I change the sound from the standard motor setting CV123 to a value of 7 thru 9, which seems to have less whine and a more throatier sound. That may be the 20 cylinder PM sound, I don't know.
They sound a lot alike in the T2, but I think the high notes in the 20 cylinder PM version give way to more lower notes of traction motors and exhaust...reflecting more cylinders perhaps.
See you wrote: "I hate the sound of two stroke diesels..."
But nothing ever ran as well as those 2-stroke EMDs. Nothing.
The 567 and later 645 engines were the best diesels ever built for railroad service. Perhaps the 710 series too, but I never ran them.
Four-stroke engines just couldn't compare, even when they were running well. Maybe EMD has got their new one up to where it matches their older products.
The exception: straight-electric engines. The best locomotives of all.
OldEnginemanBut nothing ever ran as well as those 2-stroke EMDs. Nothing.
Bless all you guys that were locked in the operating cab of one of those annoying sounding beasts.
All my experience with EMD engines were in stationary applications, so we could walk away from them any time we wanted to. Usually the operating station was a good long way away from the engines.
Give me a natural gas fueled engine any day. If it must be diesel, at least be four stroke.
Thanks, Kevin for the input, most appreciated.
Thanks for the insight, most appreciated!
Excellent analogy, most appreciated!
I had to do the same thing with one of my Genisis F3 B units and thank you Ed for your input. Most appreciated!
Thanks, Doug for your input also. Most informative and appreciated by this model railroader.
Kevin,
Just for the discussion. I respect your experience and can understand why you found the 645-series turbo whine annoying.
Ironically, it's the opposite for me. But of course, I was a railfan that saw trains cruising by or, if parked, I'd observe for a short period time. Didn't hear them steadily for hours on end.
I found it so cool how starkly different the GE FDL's (deep chugging) and the EMD 645-E3's (turbo whistling) sounded in comparison. I tape recorded locomotives on SCL's mainline back in the late 70's (I still have the recordings on cassette tapes). The SDP40F turbo whines were loud! I suggested to a friend of mine, who has 2 Geneis SDP40F's, that he adjust the turbowhine on his units to a slighter higher level.
HOWEVER, when the F40PH's started arriving on the long distance trains with the rebuilt Heritage Budds.....HOLY MOLY! I saw why they were nicknamed "SCREAMIN' THUNDERBOXES"!. When they'd pull into the station, I'd take closeup photos but would move away as it was like standing near a Boeing 727! Amazing that it was the same prime mover with the same type of turbo, as the SDP40F and other 40-series units, but those high revs were a game changer.
My friend, Randall Hodge (r.i.p) who was an SCL engineer that ran the Silver Star and Silver Meteor told me years later that his hearing was permanatly damaged by the H.E.P mode of the F40's. Randall actually preferred running the SDP40F's.
I was amazed at how accurate the Run-8 sound scheme was produced for sound decoders. The actualy prototype sound was irritating, but hearing it in HO made me smile. Nice to have volume control as that is one sound schene that I'm glad is not on a 1:! scale
"I like my Pullman Standards & Budds in Stainless Steel flavors, thank you!"
Nothing quite like a Screamin' Jimmy. Bus Grease Monkey, while his wife was away, set up and recorded runnign his 6/71 in his bus on the governor. YouTube closed captioning translated it to music - music indeed. Nothing like the efficiency of a 2 stroke, that extra wasted do nothing stroke on a 4 stroke motor is just that, a waste of a potential power generating stroke. At least in road-going versions, the turbo whine of a 4 stroke Cummins overcomes the actual motor sound at anything above idle.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
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