Well, if he wants to get full use fo the sound he will. Otherwise he will just have prime mover and (maybe, depending on the decoder) some automatic sounds, like the horn tooting when starting off.
That's stillt eh dirty little secret, Sound and DC just aren't good together. The loco won;t even move until others, that do not have sound decoders fitted, are already moving at a decent clip, at least any halfway decent modern loco. Because the alternate would be the sound loco running around silently until it got to a certain speed, then the sounds would mysteriously start up. That's probably even worse.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Rambo2 I only have dc and do not have any experince in electronics
Doesn't the OP need to convert this to DCC for sound?
Mike.
My You Tube
How much pulling power do you need? My trains are about 5 cars long. I remove all weights (the chassis is heavy enough for short trains) and have plenty of space for the decoder and the speaker.
Reinhard
Look for a used P2K GP9 or GP18 with factory sound at a swap meet or train show. They're not hard to find and are usually reasonably priced. (If you're not too fussy, you can get a GP20 and just turn off the turbo.)
Then just swap the shells to get your desired road on the chassis with sound.
Once you do that, put the "wrong" shell on the non-sound chassis, take it back to that swap meet or train show (or that auction site) and sell it.
The end result is the road name you want converted to sound for less than what a good sound decoder and speaker(s) would cost. No electrical or soldering experience necessary!
I have yet to tackle any of my GP series Proto 2000 engines but I did a pair of SD-9s a while back and managed to squeeze two cube speakers in there:
SD_9-decoder-sp by Edmund, on Flickr
SD_9-decoder-3 by Edmund, on Flickr
There's just enough room on top of the weight to squeeze a Loksound Select in there.
SD_9-decoder-2 by Edmund, on Flickr
SD_9-decoder-sp3 by Edmund, on Flickr
I filed the old mounting bosses down but I don't recall having to remove any more of the weight. The second speaker is mounted to a styrene bracket and is suspended in the cavity of the cab.
SD_9-decoder-7 by Edmund, on Flickr
TCS has an excellent reference at their website with clear photos. Here is a look at how they did the GP-7.
https://tcsdcc.com/installation/ho-scale/2040
Good Luck, Ed
Milling the frame might not be necessary if you use 'sugar cube' speakers. Here is some information on them:
http://sbs4dcc.com/sugarcubespeakers.html
http://sbs4dcc.com/tutorialstipstricks/sugarcubespeakernotes.html
http://sbs4dcc.com/tutorialstipstricks/wiringmultispeakers.html
Many modelers have been able to install sugar cube speakers in very tiny spaces. This little 25 ton critter has two speakers:
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
I milled the frame on a Life like GP9 to make room for a speaker. Of course you need a friend with a milling machine. The soldering is not difficult, but if you've never soldered, you need some practice on something else.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Is it easy to do in a proto 2000 gp 9 or 18? I only have dc and do not have any experince in electronics