Interesting, my Bachmann 2-6-6-2 is one of my stronger engines, and is used to haul 36 car ore trains with no problem. Mine was an earlier one so it came DCC-ready with an 8-pin receptacle, but wasn't set up like more recent ones with an enclosure in the floor for a 1" speaker. I ended up having to move some things around inside to make it work with sound, including removing the flat sheet weight that was on the floor of the tender to make an area for the speaker. I did add weight where I could, but it was still a bit light and this did cause some pick-up problems. Since I used a TCS WowSound decoder I added one of their "Keep Alive" units, and that solved the problem.
gmpullmanI recall now that I did install a Tsunami2 Steam decoder in my Overland H-10. Perhaps I'll get some time to fire her up and make a short demo video. Cheers, Ed
Cheers, Ed
Hi Ed,
I'm sure you are/were busy with other more important things. Do you have time to post a demo video of the Tsunami2 decoder in operation? I am interested in hearing it. And no sweat if you can't...
Thanks,
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
doctorwayne Nice Christmas present, Tom. richhotrain ...I have a Bachmann Spectrum 2-6-6-2, one of my three favorite steam engines, but nowhere near the level of detail shown on that brass beast... I have one of the Bachmann 2-6-6-2 locos, too, Rich, but am not at all impressed with its performance....a fairly nice runner, but I have an 0-6-0 that will easily out-pull it. I did add a few details to it, and as much extra weight as was possible... I also added pick-up wires to both tenders, so with 28 wheels taking care of the loco's electrical requirements, it's unlikely to stutter on unpowered frogs, but they do add extra drag, which factors in the poor pulling abilities. If I had room, it'd be a good candidate for a dead line. Wayne
Nice Christmas present, Tom.
richhotrain ...I have a Bachmann Spectrum 2-6-6-2, one of my three favorite steam engines, but nowhere near the level of detail shown on that brass beast...
I have one of the Bachmann 2-6-6-2 locos, too, Rich, but am not at all impressed with its performance....a fairly nice runner, but I have an 0-6-0 that will easily out-pull it.
I did add a few details to it, and as much extra weight as was possible...
I also added pick-up wires to both tenders, so with 28 wheels taking care of the loco's electrical requirements, it's unlikely to stutter on unpowered frogs, but they do add extra drag, which factors in the poor pulling abilities.
If I had room, it'd be a good candidate for a dead line.
Wayne
And, you're right, pretty as she is, the Spectrum 2-6-6-2 isn't much of a puller.
Rich
Alton Junction
Spalato68 rrinker Something to note with ESU - they have (on the V5 anyway) a second chuff soound slot so you cna make any of their sound projects into simple articulated with a second set of chuffs. Or instead of assigning this second chuff slot to F8, assign it to another function key so if you have a compound loco that had a starting valve to operate in simple mode, you could do that - and switch to compound mode at speed. I wonder if the others have that capability? The ESU sound template pack has a NYC 6 chine whistle in it. --Randy Thank you for this valuable info. Such feature was offered for highly appreciated PCM Y6b in 2006 with ESU Loksound (2nd gen?) (details here, under "Sound system"). I do not think any other decoder manufacturer offers such feature. Hrvoje
rrinker Something to note with ESU - they have (on the V5 anyway) a second chuff soound slot so you cna make any of their sound projects into simple articulated with a second set of chuffs. Or instead of assigning this second chuff slot to F8, assign it to another function key so if you have a compound loco that had a starting valve to operate in simple mode, you could do that - and switch to compound mode at speed. I wonder if the others have that capability? The ESU sound template pack has a NYC 6 chine whistle in it. --Randy
Something to note with ESU - they have (on the V5 anyway) a second chuff soound slot so you cna make any of their sound projects into simple articulated with a second set of chuffs. Or instead of assigning this second chuff slot to F8, assign it to another function key so if you have a compound loco that had a starting valve to operate in simple mode, you could do that - and switch to compound mode at speed. I wonder if the others have that capability? The ESU sound template pack has a NYC 6 chine whistle in it.
--Randy
Thank you for this valuable info. Such feature was offered for highly appreciated PCM Y6b in 2006 with ESU Loksound (2nd gen?) (details here, under "Sound system"). I do not think any other decoder manufacturer offers such feature.
Hrvoje
The PCM loco should ve a Loksound 3.5, I have a couple of the Reading T1 4-8-4's they did. A friend had some actual recordings from when one was used for the American Freedom Train which he cleaned up to make compatible with Loksound sound files, so mine have had some of the sounds replaced with the actual sound (though AFT 1 had a multi-chime passenger whistle and my locos are in service models so I kept the banshee type whistle it had). With two of the real thing undergoing restoration for operation, we may get a full recording of a working T1. ESU has already done a recording from R&N's 425, an ex GM&O 4-6-2.
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
richhotrain...I have a Bachmann Spectrum 2-6-6-2, one of my three favorite steam engines, but nowhere near the level of detail shown on that brass beast...
Stix, thanks for posting that info on the sound decoders that would work well on my Bachmann Spectrum 2-6-6-2.
richhotrainI have had a Bachmann Spectrum 2-6-6-2 for years but it is no-sound. I want to convert to a sound decoder. Is TCS the way to go?
I've liked TCS decoders for a long time as they're one of the easier decoders to program - it's all pretty straightforward in the instructions that come with the decoder. Some brands just give you the basics and then tell you to look up the rest online. Of course TCS now does the "talking" programming with their sound decoders which is very nice.
However, I do have engines with other sound decoders like Soundtraxx or ESU Loksound and they're very good too.
Hrvoje,
Thanks for your input and personal experience on the Tsunami2 decoder.
As mentioned previously, there is a slight hesitation per driver revolution at low speeds. However, that may be due to either 1) the locomotive wobbling because of the insufficient number of roller stands, and/or 2) the drive needing a good deep cleaning & re-lubing. I'll perform 2 and then re-evaluate.
I plan to eventually paint & detail the Mallet. For the meantime though my focus is on isolating the motor brushes, deciding upon a sound decoder, and installing a front headlight.
Tom,
I have Trix Mikado with Tsunami 2 inside, I tried yesterday how it sounds in articulated mode and compared it to sound from video that gmpullman linked above. When I selected chuff No. 7, it sounded very close. It is not easy to make a video with just one hand and controlling the locomotive with another on just 2 pieces of flex track, therefore I did not create a video. I can try if you insist, but I do not guarantee for quality -:)
I think Tsunami 2 is very capable decoder and you will be very pleased both with motor control and sound.
You only have to check first if the drive mechanism is completely free from any binding, because no decoder can compensate that. Locomotive on your pictures looks amazing!
I asume you will paint it by yourself?
Both of the ones I got off eBay are Accurail USRA twin hoppers.
I'll look forward to the video, Ed. I've always liked the sound of the Tsunami steam decoders. It's the motor-control that I've been less impressed with. As mentioned, I've read on here that the Tsunami2s have improved motor-control; hence why I am willing to give it consideration.
tstageP.S. Ed, I just picked up a couple of more hoppers off of eBay last night
I do like the looks of the Accurail offset-side jobs
I recall now that I did install a Tsunami2 Steam decoder in my Overland H-10. Perhaps I'll get some time to fire her up and make a short demo video.
Ed,
Yes, 1978. I have three NJ Custom Brass locomotives and all NYC:
All three are very nicely detailed. #1 & #2 I converted to DCC earlier this year, as you might remember.
I'm excited about the upcoming article in the Central Headlight on the Mallets. I'm hoping it will shed more light and information on these interesting locomotives.
P.S. Ed, I just picked up a couple of more hoppers off of eBay last night and am now only 6 shy of the minimum 50 hoppers needed for the "official" coal drag - LOL.
I had scanned this page of the NYC diagram book but didn't post it with the other:
NYC_NE-2_1920-1989 by Edmund, on Flickr
This lists the engine numbers and class.
My mom and dad were married in 1946 so, in their honor, I'll have to find one of those NJCB locos, too I have a few other models imported by them and they definitely rate in the "Overland" class of model. I think yours is from 1978? It certainly compares well to anything produced today.
Speaking of the hopper, I can only suppose it was spliced in there to alleviate axle loads on the Alliance branch? That is one of those little operating details that gets lost in the mists of time.
Glad to see your engine generating so much interesting dialog here
Regards, Ed
Thanks for the great pics and info, as usual, Ed.
I learned from the few references that I came across in the Central Headlight about the NYC 2-6-6-2 Mallets that the NJCB rendering is a NE-2g, which you have pictured above and which only 10 were manufactured in that subclass. That will help with which road number range I have to choose from. Since my mom & dad were married in 1942, I'll probably choose that road number in their honor.
And I love what appears to be an NYC H-10 2-8-2 Mike behind the Mallet and hopper. Those Elesco FWHs over the front headlight really stoke my furnace.
Here's a beautiful photo that can be enlarged fairly well, Tom:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/127252990@N05/22440745727/in/photolist-Ac1FT6-ebQic8-ouiftU-otV942-2bmcCKw-oue34J-ocTT99-oupL6R-ouo6ou-oubHeo
Note the price tag is still attached (under the nut on the smokebox front at 7 O'clock
Also some data here:
https://archive.org/stream/americanengineer85newy#page/470/mode/1up
Another good photo, photographer unknown:
NYC_NE-2g by Edmund, on Flickr
gmpullmanI believe I have an old NYCHS Headlight around with some information on these. I'll take a look this weekend. NYC_NE-2 by Edmund, on Flickr Regards, Ed
NYC_NE-2 by Edmund, on Flickr
I did a search on my Central Headlight 1970-2017 DVD this morning and there were no articles about the NYC NE-2 Mallets; only references and tidbits of information. However, I just found out from Rich Stoving (ex-president of the NYCSHS) that there will be a "major article on all the NYC Mallets including the NE’s coming in the 1Q21 issue of CH".
Couldn't have picked a better time for that article to get written - LOL!
I just looked at my rolling stock roster, which I have in an Excel spreadsheet. Looks like I only have 42 hoppers - mostly 55-ton but a few 70-ton. Guess I'll need to get a few more to do this proper.
tstageWell, here's the new beauty & beast:
I am green (or is that two-tone gray?) with envy, Tom, yet absolutely thrilled that you have that beautiful monster living with you! Talk about a centerpiece in your roundhouse.
Now how about 50 or 60 NYC fifty-ton hopper cars so she'll be able to feel useful
I believe I have an old NYCHS Headlight around with some information on these. I'll take a look this weekend.
Wow, what a thing of beauty. I have a Bachmann Spectrum 2-6-6-2, one of my three favorite steam engines, but nowhere near the level of detail shown on that brass beast. Nice purchase, Tom.
Well, here's the new beauty & beast: (Click photos to enlarge)
I spent some time this past evening breaking her in on the roller bearing stands at various speeds - forwards and backwards. There's a tiny bit of hesitation and wobble at low speed. However, the wobble may be primarily due to how it rides on the roller bearing stands, as I could have used another set of four: Two under the center drivers and one under the lead & trailing trucks for support. A good cleaning and re-lubing will also help smooth things out.
wjstix FWIW I have a TCS sound decoder in my Bachmann USRA 2-6-6-2 and it sounds good to me. As Ed said, the NYC N class 2-6-6-2s were 'true' (compound) Mallets, so you would use the normal 4-chuffs-per-revolution setting on whichever sound decoder you choose, not the 'articulated' "chuff-chuff......chuff-chuff......chuff-chuff" setting that's meant to simulate a simple articulated where all four cylinders exhaust directly to the smokebox/stack.
FWIW I have a TCS sound decoder in my Bachmann USRA 2-6-6-2 and it sounds good to me.
As Ed said, the NYC N class 2-6-6-2s were 'true' (compound) Mallets, so you would use the normal 4-chuffs-per-revolution setting on whichever sound decoder you choose, not the 'articulated' "chuff-chuff......chuff-chuff......chuff-chuff" setting that's meant to simulate a simple articulated where all four cylinders exhaust directly to the smokebox/stack.
Thanks for that bit of info, Stix. Yea, my limited understanding about Mallets is pretty much what Ed wrote earlier - i.e. that the smaller, high pressure cylinders exhausted into the larger, low-pressure cylinders then out the stack.
Waiting patiently for UPS to deliver the Mallet. Will post a photo or two when I have a chance to unwrap it and take it through its paces.
Thanks, Ed. Yea, I ran across that same video clip last night when I was poking around Youtube.
The Tsunami2 "Heavy 3" exhaust chuff seems like it might be a good fit. I'm assuming you can switch out the whistles for alternative ones like you can Loksound and TCS decoders?
There is a documented 'tendency' for Mallet-chassis exhausts to 'fall into sync' as the engine works. There are physical reasons why this might be so, including why true Mallets have less runaway-slip problem when starting or working a heavy train; there are also people who believe the effect is partly perceptual.
Keep in mind that almost any true American Mallet will use an intercepting valve for starting. In practice this was supposed to admit a smaller quantity of boiler-pressure steam to the LP at starting and low speed so the two engines would develop equal torque (and neither, therefore, would tend to slip before the other) but in practice you see people get greedy and try to get highest possible TE by admitting full-pressure steam without limited-cutoff arrangement to what may be large cylinders. In any case the switch to compound has to come pretty quick as otherwise 'steam production runs out quick' with the colossal mass flow. Note that the intercepting valve system also often has special exhaust connections which would radically alter the sound when the intercepting valve is open.
There is also often a bypass system on the LP cylinders, for drifting, as otherwise there would be terrible action tending to nose or hunt the hinged engine. This was carefully documented and explained at some point in the restoration of C&O 1309.
I don't see how you model a locomotive like this without two separate decoders, with very separate programming -- in fact, without very special speed- and time-related programming for the LP engine -- and perhaps some careful thinking about whether you want 'hard' timing on one or both engines (e.g. with magnets, limit switches, and careful ritation counting in the driveline, or cams/optical encoders) vs. synthesized "chuff" timing and phasing based on speed increase or back EMF 'data'.
Here's the fun point: when the engine works compound with the intercepting valve closed, there is relatively little sound from HP cylinder exhaust -- as with the condensing Henschel class 25 4-8-4s in South Africa -- going into the receiver instead of out the stack making noise. So you'd get possibly-syncopated clanking from the two sets of rods, as if for two engines, but only exhaust sound for one, and that a bit muted compared to typical HP-engine exhaust. You might 'get by' with just one decoder making LPish noises if you could double the mechanical-noise speed -- and handwave the complex stuff supposed to happen at starting where there would be two exhausts.
Something you'd almost never get, though, are N&W A-class-style 'double licks' -- equal exhaust sound from two simple engines in variable phase. This seems to be what many steam decoders seem to use when simulating an "articulated locomotive" but it will NOT do for a Mallet ... except at starting.
tstageI've tried listening to a few recordings of actual Mallets while poking around YouTube and I've heard both synchronous and non-synchronous chuffs.
Others may have more information than what I can offer, Tom, and from what I gather the NYC NE-2 is a compound articulated. Therefore using the exhaust from the rear, high pressure cylinders fed into the larger, low pressure cylinders up front, then from there out the stack.
As such this engine's exhaust would sound just like any large locomotive (with lots more rod-clank, though) and the exhaust "chuffs" would not go in and out of syncopation.
https://www.american-rails.com/compound.html
I agree that ESU does fall short on their steam sound "projects. I have to recall if I've installed a Tsunami2 Steam decoder. I believe I do have one. The WOW sound is always a good choice for steam.
https://ctr.trains.com/photo-of-the-day/2018/04/nyc-2-6-6-2-in-west-virginia
Probably the only operating compound Mallet operating in the U.S. today is #7 "Skookum" built for the Deep River Logging and later the Columbia River Belt Line.
Unfortunately, she never really works hard enough to hear a good exhaust sound.
I did come across this excellent recording of Black Hills Central working up a 6% grade, now this should give you a pretty good idea of what your NE-2 sounded like
Congratulations on your new roster addition
Good Luck, Ed
Greetings all,
I recently picked up a brass NJCB NYC 2-6-6-2 Mallet that I'd like to eventually add sound to - i.e. once I ensure the motor brushes are isolated from the frame and wire the front headlight with a 0603 SMD LED. The locomotive already has a can motor so that will make things a little easier converting it to DCC.
I generally use and prefer TCS and Loksound for my sound decoder installs because of the excellent motor control. However, I read recently on here that the motor control with the Tsunami2 decoders is improved over the original Tsunami and am willing to give one of those a try.
From the Soundtraxx website, the new Tsunami2 TSU-Big Steam decoders offer three (3) non-Big Boy heavy chuffs vs TCS WOWSteam, which only has one heavy chuff offering. Loksound is still pretty spartan with their American steam sound files offerings so I only use those for diesel sound installs.
So, my question for you all: Will any of the heavy chuffs available from either TCS or Tsunami be adequate for a 2-6-6-2 Mallet?
I've tried listening to a few recordings of actual Mallets while poking around YouTube and I've heard both synchronous and non-synchronous chuffs. While it doesn't have to be spot-on, I would like the sound to be a reasonably good representation of what a Mallet sounds like in real life.
Thanks for the help in advance...