Bachmann WOWSOUND, a total game changer

[spookshow]

I just received a newly purchased N scale Bachmann ALC-42 Charger equipped with TCS WOWSOUND. And just for grins, I tried something that I have never tried (and would never try) with any other brand of locomotive - I took it out of the box, didn't check the wheels for blackening or any other form of contamination, put it on track that hasn't been cleaned in weeks, set the throttle to speed step 1 and let 'er go. And 6 hours later, it's still running around my layout at a barely perceptible creep, and without so much as a single hiccup along the way

I used to think that we'd never have perfect performance in an N scale locomotive until somebody figured out a way to shoehorn actual rechargeable batteries into one, but now it's become clear to me that all you really need are some really good keep-alives. Now the question becomes, why doesn't everybody else get on board with this? I for one am getting pretty tired of spending half my train time making sure that wheels and track are all spotlessly clean

-Mark

[thomasjmdavis]

Mark,
Did TCS make an N scale version of the WowSound decoder for Bachmann, or did Bachmann figure out how to shoehorn the HO version (plus speaker, plus enclosure) into their Charger?  Granted, as a 'cab' type locomotive, an ALC-42 will have more space than a GP-9, but it still seems like a very tight fit given the specs TCS shows for their decoders.

[spookshow]

I don't know what the HO version of the TCS decoder looks like. This is what's in the ALC-42 and SC-44 -





-Mark

[C855B]

A 4GB SD card? Now that blows my mind.

[dem34]

I just received a newly purchased N scale Bachmann ALC-42 Charger equipped with TCS WOWSOUND. And just for grins, I tried something that I have never tried (and would never try) with any other brand of locomotive - I took it out of the box, didn't check the wheels for blackening or any other form of contamination, put it on track that hasn't been cleaned in weeks, set the throttle to speed step 1 and let 'er go. And 6 hours later, it's still running around my layout at a barely perceptible creep, and without so much as a single hiccup along the way

I used to think that we'd never have perfect performance in an N scale locomotive until somebody figured out a way to shoehorn actual rechargeable batteries into one, but now it's become clear to me that all you really need are some really good keep-alives. Now the question becomes, why doesn't everybody else get on board with this? I for one am getting pretty tired of spending half my train time making sure that wheels and track are all spotlessly clean

-Mark

Yeah. I would honestly trade sound for Keep Alive capacity. I've started to put Iowa Scaled Engineering micro keep alives in my personal fleet. Even with the tiny size its the difference between stutters everywhere creeping around the layout at 1 speed step.

[MK]

A 4GB SD card? Now that blows my mind.

That's probably the smallest they make these days.  Even hard to find 8GB ones.  They may not be using much or all of it.

[Dave V]

I feel like this thread is suffering without a demo video...

[Chris333]

So is it the WOWSOUND or those 4 big capacitors that change the game?

[spookshow]

I feel like this thread is suffering without a demo video...

It'd be an awfully boring video, it takes this thing 5 minutes to move 12 inches 

-Mark

[spookshow]

So is it the WOWSOUND or those 4 big capacitors that change the game?

I just look at it as one big package since the caps are built into the TCS WOWSOUND motherboard, but the actual keep-alives are indeed the nub of my gist.

-Mark

[peteski]

That decoder board sure looks custom-designed for that specific N scale loco.  And yes, those big Super Caps is the keep-alive unit which will have the model running few seconds without track power.  N scale locos do not use all that much power, so a "real" keep alive (not just a bunch of Tanatalum caps) will have the model powered for more than a millisecond.  Also keep in mind that this loco has a wide body so there is plenty of room iin there for sound and keep alive circuit.  There is much less room in smaller narrow-hood locos.

I suspect that the SD card holds the sound files on it, and maybe at some point TCS will come up with an app for a PC where you will be able to take that card out of the decoder, slide it into your laptop and upgrade or replace the sound file (or maybe even the decoder's firmware).  It is a bit more cumbersome than what ESU and ZIMO do, but still a valid way to keep a decoder up to date.  The computer technology is always darting forward and it seems that American DCC manufacturers are making progress too.

[kscessandriver]

That decoder board sure looks custom-designed for that specific N scale loco.  And yes, those big Super Caps is the keep-alive unit which will have the model running few seconds without track power.  N scale locos do not use all that much power, so a "real" keep alive (not just a bunch of Tanatalum caps) will have the model powered for more than a millisecond.  Also keep in mind that this loco has a wide body so there is plenty of room iin there for sound and keep alive circuit.  There is much less room in smaller narrow-hood locos.

I suspect that the SD card holds the sound files on it, and maybe at some point Soundtraxx will come up with an app for a PC where you will be able to take that card out of the decoder, slide it into your laptop and upgrade or replace the sound file (or maybe even the decoder's firmware).  It is a bit more cumbersome than what ESU and ZIMO do, but still a valid way to keep a decoder up to date.  The computer technology is always darting forward and it seems that American DCC manufacturers are making progress too.

Why would SoundTraxx have anything to do with a TCS decoder?

[peteski]

Why would SoundTraxx have anything to do with a TCS decoder?

Brain-fart. Fixed.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I just received a newly purchased N scale Bachmann ALC-42 Charger equipped with TCS WOWSOUND. And just for grins, I tried something that I have never tried (and would never try) with any other brand of locomotive - I took it out of the box, didn't check the wheels for blackening or any other form of contamination, put it on track that hasn't been cleaned in weeks, set the throttle to speed step 1 and let 'er go. And 6 hours later, it's still running around my layout at a barely perceptible creep, and without so much as a single hiccup along the way

I used to think that we'd never have perfect performance in an N scale locomotive until somebody figured out a way to shoehorn actual rechargeable batteries into one, but now it's become clear to me that all you really need are some really good keep-alives. Now the question becomes, why doesn't everybody else get on board with this? I for one am getting pretty tired of spending half my train time making sure that wheels and track are all spotlessly clean

-Mark

I actually had a similar experience with my new ScaleTrains SD40-2s. It was just one of the things that made me really appreciate the leap they represented over IM's attempt.

This experience here just adds more fuel to the "Bachmann is so weird" fire. Sometimes they get stuff SO RIGHT. They absolutely deserve a ton of credit for it.

[GM50 4164]

So @spookshow, would this be your first A+ rated locomotive you've reviewed? Enjoyed the review sir.