"Gold Series" Atlas S-2 ....whaaaaa?

[Bob Bufkin]

Yes Nate, I have but at least I could walk away quickly.

[SkipGear]

As to the "click clack" on the rails, some decoders will do that for you also. I have thought about equipping a car with a sound decoder and having a speed sensitive loop of a bad wheel somewhere in the middle of the train.

[Bruce Bird]

As to the "click clack" on the rails, some decoders will do that for you also. I have thought about equipping a car with a sound decoder and having a speed sensitive loop of a bad wheel somewhere in the middle of the train.

Ha- ha, that would be awesome!
Whump, whump, whump.................

Bruce

[Bruce Bird]

QFT. Onboard locomotive sound always seems naked without the clickityclack and rumble of the train behind.

Here's a thought- my father-in-law used to work for EMD as a design engineer.  They were studying noise abatement on commuter locos, so he was tasked to get recordings of scoots on the BN at various locations and speeds.  He grabbed his recorder, a bucket of KFC, a chair and a cooler of beer and headed for Westmont to gather data.  Even with the CWR the sounds of the wheels rolling overcame the loco noise at about 35-40 MPH.  Does that mean modern sound units are not prototypical?

I like this noisy thread...

[Bob Bufkin]

One sound I do wish they had would be the squill of wheels on a curve.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I had just watched this video. There is a LOT of non-engine noise present:

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That said, I personally like the bell and horn sounds because they let you replicate another part of the experience of operations.

[C855B]

I had just watched this video. There is a LOT of non-engine noise present:

/>...

Exactly. The railroad acoustic ambiance is a symphony, and requires an orchestra. What is being offered in these model-borne noise makers is maybe the 4th chair 2nd violin, 3rd bassoon and some poor schlub on triangle. You ain't gonna get Beethoven's 9th. 

[OldEastRR]

T MRC sound decoder for the Kato GG-1 has brake squeal, clickety-clack, plus other ambient noises -- the squeal actually automatically plays when the engine comes to a stop.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

So.... Atlas can put sound and DCC on an engine the size of the SW1500. Joe, maybe your engineering department can give them a call... Might even be able to share components and reduce costs.

This isn't a complaint... I will buy the engine either way. But, it would be great to have a drop in decoder when I go fully DCC.

[sirenwerks]

One sound I do wish they had would be the squill of wheels on a curve.

I would think that would be a static location sound, activated and shut off by an arriving and departing motion sensor with a fade in and out to match so it tapers on and off.

[Dave V]

I would think that would be a static location sound, activated and shut off by an arriving and departing motion sensor with a fade in and out to match so it tapers on and off.

YES...  Imagine a stationary sound decoder that just does squeals mounted under a model of Horseshoe Curve.  A simple block detection scheme triggers it to fade in as the train enters the block and then fades out when the last car leaves.

You're on to something!

[unittrain]

YES...  Imagine a stationary sound decoder that just does squeals mounted under a model of Horseshoe Curve.  A simple block detection scheme triggers it to fade in as the train enters the block and then fades out when the last car leaves.

You're on to something!

I actually was thinking the same thing. You could even have a small array of speakers so the sound moves. I think that is the best way to go to capture the actual intensity of sound generated by proto trains. You need to have the sound of the cars also the flat spots slamming down on the rails ect. I could even hook it up to my marshall amps of course you could easily have sound too out of scale then

[Scottl]

Isn't this what Soundtraxx does?  I agree it would be a great way to go. 

I could imagine how a simple light sensor and  sine wave circuit could modulate the speaker output to give the desired effect.  A more flexible version could be developed with a computer interface.

[Philip H]

Isn't this what Soundtraxx does?  I agree it would be a great way to go. 

I could imagine how a simple light sensor and  sine wave circuit could modulate the speaker output to give the desired effect.  A more flexible version could be developed with a computer interface.

You know . . . the stationary sound idea has been around a long time.  I remember reading about it i MR in the early 80's - using remotely controlled cassette tape machines, and it appeared sporadically before that in MR from the mid-50's I think.  The technology has just gotten smaller and more prototypical.

[reinhardtjh]

Isn't this what Soundtraxx does?  I agree it would be a great way to go. 

I could imagine how a simple light sensor and  sine wave circuit could modulate the speaker output to give the desired effect.  A more flexible version could be developed with a computer interface.

Not exactly.  "SurroundTraxx" uses Digitrax's Transponding feature to track the trains around the layout and direct the sound to speaker zones (up to 6 on the layout) in the area the train happens to be at that moment.

Info: http://www.soundtraxx.com/surround/surroundworks.php

The downside is it requires the Digitrax Transponding so your layout has to be wired for that and all your locomotives must either use compatible Digitrax decoders or have a TL-1 transponding decoder added.