I've just purchased a Fox Valley Models, HO Steam 1935 Milwaukee Road "Hiawatha" 6 Car Train - Powered, DCC Ready set. As I will be running this loco in DCC does anyone know of a sound decoder with prototypical 4-4-2 sound files. Or something close?
Thanks
Jim
The Milwaukee Road class A 4-4-2 was a 2 cylinder steam loco, so a Tsunami sound decoder from Soundtraxx or a Loksound decoder from ESU should do the job nicely.
Sir Madog, If I chose a Soundtraxx decoder, would I need "Small Steam" or "Medium Steam"? I have seen recommendations for a 4-4-2 wheel arrangement in both.
Despite being "only" a 4-4-2 loco, the class A was quite a big engine, so I´d go for the "Medium Steam" decoder.
You should also look for a decoder with an air horn for the whistle. That's what the Milwaukee used on the HI's. Have you gotten yours yet? I have one on order so maybe I should call Fox Valley.
So does anyone know of a "Medium Steam" sound decoder that has a horn?
By the way, I purchased the Hiawatha set from Hiawatha Hobbies. They said their order had arrived and they would be shipping them on Sep. 29th.
I just purchased the HO Fox Valley Milwaukee Road Hiawatha Set yesterday. It is a beautiful set. The engine ran very well. But I did have trouble with some of the passenger cars on our club layout yesterday. They derailed on some of our curves. I believe the passenger cars may need more weight. Otherwise it is a great train. Has anyone else has similar problems?
Depot Jim
Any of you guys mind posting a pictures of the set. I've been looking for this steam engine for quite a while, but for some reason no major manufacturers want to do the Atlantic class.
My Hiawatha arrived today in the mail. Wow, great looking. I plan to install a medium steam Tsunami decoder in it tomorrow. To my knowledge this decoder only offers a wistle and not a air horn. Is it possible to add a recorded air horn to this decoder?
No I don't believe it is. You'll need to look at either LOKsound or the Digitrax SOundbug to do that. Both sell writeable sound decoders.
-Morgan
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Guys, here's an email I just received from Tony's Train Exchange.
Jim, Since the loco is not out yet I don't have any info on what will fit. The QSI Rev-U has the option of having a primary Whistle and a secondary Horn in the same decoder. http://www.tonystrains.com/products/qsi_solutions_main.htm Thanks, Norm StenzelTony's Train ExchangeQSI Solutions
I tried using a 28 mm speaker on the locomotive and found that it does not fit. Because of the wiring, it is hard to get an accurate measurement with my calipers, but it looks like a 24 mm speaker would fit. I do like the way the weight is used as a baffle.
I wrote emails to Litchfield Station and Fox Valley Models asking for DCC sound decoder recommendations that would allow for a horn rather than a whistle. I will let you folks know what, if any, response I get back.
Well, the FVM set hit my LHS. I wish I had the money for it, it's a beutiful set. The engine felt nice and heavy, and the cars weren't bad. A bit heavier than Athearn, but they are longer. So a tad on the light side.
Flashwaveand the cars weren't bad. A bit heavier than Athearn, but they are longer. So a tad on the light side.
I got mine last night and I agree that the passenger cars seem a bit light. I also noticed that on several cars, one of the wheels was pushed in towards the underbody, so I carefully pried the truck frame open enough to reinsert the wheel back in line. I figure this was due to shock to the boxes during shipment. I opened up the tender to examine the DCC-ready situation. After removing the water cap on the top center of the tender to reveal a hidden screw and get that out, it looks like you remove 6 screws to get the metal tender frame up off the tender base. Try a standard 24mm (I tried an unlabelled one on hand but be sure you measure yours first - don't trust my eyes here!) speaker to fit up inside a cavity formed in the frame. There appears to be plenty of room for the decoder to rest on top of the existing circuit board. I am still waiting to see if someone releases dedicated decoder/speaker setup for this beautiful engine! Anybody from Tony's got the line on this yet?
djcwardog
HO C&O and Southern passenger-oriented layout is a work-in-progress. Union Station gives plausible reason for other roads to visit. KATO snap-track got me running as I scenic sections at a time.
There's a photo of the train in the Sept 2010 Model Railroad News but it's not posted online that I can find. However it appears our friend Cody has gotten one....
Cody's Office 09/23/10
Photo's from Factory Direct Trains
http://factorydirecttrains.com/images/products/detail/photo01112edtDY.jpg
Go to their site, there's quite a few more.
... just made the link clickable!
Here you go!
[quote user="AustraliaJim"]
"So does anyone know of a "Medium Steam" sound decoder that has a horn?"
The Tsunami Heavy has the 4449 air horn, so would be your easiest path. The chuff should be OK because you can shape its sound with the spectrum filter. Don't know about the pump, etc., but doesn't seem to me that the Medium and Heavy are that different except in a few features such as whistles, bell and articulated options.
Hal
Thanks for all your posts guys.
Hal, if you read this what is a spectrum filter?
Cheers
Jim.
It's a multi-band equalizer; the Tsunami is the only decoder with one. You can change the tonal balance of the sound to best match the speaker/enclosure to the soundfile. Tsunamis have many other adjustments that are not found in other decoders.
just got mine thru concor, looks great, some wheels were off but quickly corrected. One truck had a brake cylinder connection broken, hanging on to the other side. Superglue is a quick fix. Looks like the tsunami is the one to use.
The instructions mention a lighting kit, asking Fox Valley now about it.
runs fairly well, I think a little speedy tho, I may look into a bit of gear reduction, seems to run with a slight wobble if a driverset might be off a bit, but test runs are fine. Ran aropund 24" radius fine. some of my lumpy track they derailed at or disconnected, I noticed some coupler height issues, will look into that. My Milwaukee terminal I have a planned 18" radius reverse loop, mostly for local freight work, but the passenger trains may have to be able to traverse this for the MIlwaukee depot, unless I can work out a broader radius somehow.
Or else the engine and observation get turned on the turntable.
I put a couple of shelf couplers between 2 cars, well, since my test track is a little lumpy, this stopped some uncoupling, I had to file up the diaphram for the larger coupler, the coupler design is wide swing, nice, I tried it on my 18" reverse loop and they coupled up, so 18 inchers, yer good.
So I guess I can reverse loop the train. Some of the coupler height variations, I found the frame end of the car shoved down, maybe from handling, I nudged it up, found that one problem when I had a high spike hitting a coupler, pushed the spike down and tweaked the car. After some layout and train tweakyness, it ran around with a good speed without a hitch even over some of the lumpyness. Train show this weekend I'll look for a decoder there.
I tried a DCC install last night. Somehow, even though I did a plug and play of a known good decoder, I let the smoke out of the factory circuit board - the blue-wrapped (inductor?) cylindrical object soldered in about halfway down the board and across it. Blue plastic now melted and engine inop - even on DC with decoder taken out - but the lights work properly... Upon further investigation I found that a tender pickup wire had been pinched between the metal tender frame and the plastic frame under it. The tender truck (with three axles) seems to bind a little as it rotates. Not sure if that caused the issue or not, but be careful out there!
So, anyone know the specs for the part I need to solder in? In the alternative, the frame has a clearly labelled 8-pin plug coming to it from the engine and those wires are traceable by number up onto the DC board as well. Maybe i can just solder in a proper sound decoder bypassing the factory DC board with the burned inductor? Yes, it is always fun!
Thanks - DJC
Got a picture of the board? If it's an inductor it's just there for RF supression and can be removed and replaced with a jumper wire. If there's an inductor there's probably a small capacitor or two parallel to the motor - for best DCC operation they should also be removed, but since they are parallel to the motor, no jumpers are needed.
If it's something other than an inductor, it will probably need to be replaced to make something - the lights, mainly, work properly, as it's probably a resistor to dropt he headlight voltage or a diode for the same thing and/or directional lighting.
This is a good place to remind people to first TEST your decoder install on the program track where the current is limited and it won't fry the decoder if something is wired wrong. If you can't program it, something is wired wrong, so do NOT put it on the main track.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Randy,
Thanks for the hints on next steps. Funny thing is - I did test it on my pgm track first and even programmed it successfully (Digitrax in 'Pg" mode) to take short address of 01 as this engine has the name "Hiawatha" and just that 01 on the cab side... When I put it on the main line it smoked up before I could get it off, go figure... I have a good photo of the board on the tender with the burned electrical device resting in front of it. It is aligned so you you can see above it where it goes on the tender... I do not know how to upload the photo but I am glad to email it...
Finally received my Hiawatha set in Australia a couple of days ago and I must say I'm disappointed in the loco. Both main driver sets wobble. The loco goes along the main straight like a dolphin. Although the axles are not sprung I have on wheel that goes up and down and one that goes in and out. I have contacted Fox valley but as yet have not had a reply. Also another weird thing, I installed a digitrax decoder and the loco ran terribly. It would speed up and slow down without me moving the throttle. I reset the decoder to factory default and it was just the same. I pulled out the digitrax and put in a Lenz Gold and the loco ran like a charm? Go figure! However it still bounces along the track.
Any one had the bouncy problem?
My LHS has had the new Hiawatha on display for about a week now. It's a very impressive looking passenger train to say the least. I hope they can get the bad drive wheel issue fixed.
This actually isn't the first time the Hiawatha's been released in plastic. Anyone remember the bakelite Rivarossi model?