"Not to split hairs, but you know, i think the sound on a real locomotive comes from the smoke box and cylinder area of the boiler, not the cab."
Hence the title of the post "behind the smoke box " maybe I should have been a little more explicit and said behind the smoke box door itself. That being said a speaker in the cab would still sound more prototypical then sound coming from the tender which unless your taking about an Erie Trixplex is pretty much sound free with the exception of some squeaky wheels now and then. Not to mention if you've ever stood any where near a real steam locomotive while under live steam you know that those things have sound pretty much coming from every where.
Not to split hairs, but you know, i think the sound on a real locomotive comes from the smoke box and cylinder area of the boiler, not the cab.
I have a Bachmann HO Shay with a 3/4 inch speaker and enclosure mounted on the back-head in the cab. It sounds really good.
Elmer.
The above is my opinion, from an active and experienced Model Railroader in N scale and HO since 1961.
(Modeling Freelance, Eastern US, HO scale, in 1962, with NCE DCC for locomotive control and a stand alone LocoNet for block detection and signals.) http://waynes-trains.com/ at home, and N scale at the Club.
I've even seen examples on larger scales (larger than HO) where a small speaker was placed in the STACK. I wouldn't see why it would be a wiring nightmare, it's exactly the same as putting two speakers in the tender, except one speaker has longer wires. It might be a mechanical nightmare depending on how difficult it is to get into the boiler shell to locate the speaker and run the wires, but if there's already a working headlight the boiler weight usually has a notch in it for the headlight wires, the speaker wires could also be run through this space.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
This is from a theoretical point of view, since none of my steamers have sound (yet).
In a large steam engine, particularly articulateds, the smokebox may be a good location for non-bass speakers. The boilers are quite large in diameter, and it is difficult to effectively transfer extra weight in the very front of the boiler to the drivers. And the separation between the front cylinders and the speaker(s) in the tender is significant.
All these factors reverse when going to the 2-8-0s and smaller of the 19th Century. The tiny diameter of the smokebox will hardly hold any reasonable speaker. The cylinder block saddle provides a path to transfer extra weight in the smokebox and boiler front to the front drivers. This is important because most smaller models are tail heavy to begin with due to motor location. And the smoke box isn't so far from the tender that the sound isn't obviously coming from the wrong place in the smaller models.
Just my thoughts, I'd like to hear how your experiments work out.
Fred W
Well I am admittedly ain't the sharpest tool in the shed but I know enough to not mess with my brass engines or pretty much any of my steam locomotives. So anything I will be working on will be something like a Proto Y3 for example. I've already emailed my brass guy and asked him what he thought about the idea. I've done a lot of research regarding sound and I am amazed at the variety of speakers and enclosures etc. available. I am kinda surprised that none of the manufacturers have put speakers there with the exception of Rivarossi, they really aren't known for being front runners in the field.
I have looked into it with brass locomotives that have Vanderbuilt tenders. On a SP 4-8-2 I wound up putting a round speaker above the fire box against the cab bulkhead. I re-motored and was able to get enough room for it to fit. I had 1" diameter to play with. It came out real nice and the sound was better than I expected.
The next one was a Southern Pacific P-10 4-6-2 with a Vanderbuilt tender. I was going to fit in an oval speaker behind the smokebox but I could not get it to fit right either. I wound up putting the Tsunami decoder behind the smoke box and the speaker about the gear mechanism. Tight fit but I got it all in there. Again the sound is not bad at all.
Next up will be a Southern Pacific M-4 2-6-0 with a Vanderbuilt tender. I will fit the Tsunami 3/4 amp in the boiler area and the speaker in the roof of the cab. There is very little room to work with. I agree in that they do sound a little more realistic with the speaker in the loco versus the tender as I have them both ways. Davids Idea sounds good if you have the room and access to the tender.
Hum? you may have something there but I'm envision a bit of a wiring nightmare........lol
was running one of my Y3's last night equipped with Tsunami TSU1000, and the sound quality is great no complaints but something has been stuck in my craw since reading a posting regarding the speaker location in a Rivarossi big boy which is located behind the smoke box door. The poster commented that this is where it should be mounted as this is where the sound comes from on a real locomotive and not the tender. Well you know he's right and I believe it would sound much nicer but something tells me in most cases if one were to attempt to mount a speaker up there he would be opening Pandora's box. The newer sound equipped big boys come this way so it's a slam dunk to up grade to a better speaker but has anyone ever tried it on any other type locomotives?