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Okay, so I've been on a quest to add realistic sounds to my American Flyer trains... CHEAPLY. I've found trainz.com (and Amazon) both carry TrueBlast II steam and diesel sound boards, which include a sound board and a speaker with baffle, for under $34. These work with a Lionel Whistle Control button or Sound Activation button. (or a homebrew button)
The sounds are realistic enough, although I don't like two things: 1. The diesel horn and steam whistle play for 6 seconds after you press the button. That's 3 seconds too long in my opinion. 2. The bell sounds like a sound file looping. The cut at the end of the bell sound isn't silent, so you hear DING cha-DING cha-DING where the "cha" sound is a digital artifact of cutting the bell off in mid ring.
I'm installing both versions into a 629 open slat boxcar, and will use a center-off DPDT switch mounted to the floor and selectable by opening the boxcar door to choose between the boards.
First off, the 629 has a cast chassis. This won't work with the tender repair kit I bought, so I swapped the chassis with a cheap later-model boxcar. The tender repair kit requires a sheet metal chassis.
I drilled out the holes in the sheet metal chassis to fit the fiber standoff and installed the tender repair kit using the original trucks. I yanked one plastic wheel off of each wheelset, and installed a brass wheel from portlines.
Then I removed the speaker from the baffle, as it is too big to fit in a boxcar with the baffle on. It fits fine at an angle though, and is still PLENTY loud.
I unsoldered the speaker from the steam board and soldered wires from the steam board to the speaker connected to the diesel board. (So two boards attached to one speaker).
Then I cut off the power connectors for both boards, and soldered the leads to the 2P2T switch. The switch was then soldered to the truck rivets.
I used the double-sided tape that came with the boards to mount them solidly to the chassis of the boxcar. I used spare electrical tape to insulate the speaker's magnet, because it's going to sit on top of one of the trucks.
In the middle of the chassis I epoxied down the 2P2T switch, so that it is easily selectable when I open the boxcar door.
Parts list:
Diesel sound board: $34
Steam sound board: $34
Brass wheels: $1.50ea X 4
Tender repair kit: $11 (includes rivet pickup arms and fiber washers)
Switch from Radio Shack: $2.49
5-minute epoxy $1.99
Used 629 boxcar: $10 + $5 shipping
So for around $100 I have a boxcar with BOTH diesel horn and steam whistle. Seeing as AF or Lionel railsounds boxcars go for $150 on eBay used (and with only one sound set - diesel or steam) ... I think that's a steal. If you just want to add sounds to your steamer, $34 and some solder is all you need. i didn't want to modify my father's old locomotives, and I have a couple steamers anyhow, so a boxcar was my solution.
If you have a GP7, you must make a boxcar sound kit. There's not enough room inside for the circuit board, much less the speaker. If you have a dummy unit, you could fit the board in there, but you'll have to buy a smaller speaker.
Not sure about Alcos or any other diesel, but they appear to have much more room inside. GP7 (and GP9) have really narrow bodies.
Charles.
The sounds are realistic enough, although I don't like two things: 1. The diesel horn and steam whistle play for 6 seconds after you press the button. That's 3 seconds too long in my opinion. 2. The bell sounds like a sound file looping. The cut at the end of the bell sound isn't silent, so you hear DING cha-DING cha-DING where the "cha" sound is a digital artifact of cutting the bell off in mid ring.
I'm installing both versions into a 629 open slat boxcar, and will use a center-off DPDT switch mounted to the floor and selectable by opening the boxcar door to choose between the boards.
First off, the 629 has a cast chassis. This won't work with the tender repair kit I bought, so I swapped the chassis with a cheap later-model boxcar. The tender repair kit requires a sheet metal chassis.
I drilled out the holes in the sheet metal chassis to fit the fiber standoff and installed the tender repair kit using the original trucks. I yanked one plastic wheel off of each wheelset, and installed a brass wheel from portlines.
Then I removed the speaker from the baffle, as it is too big to fit in a boxcar with the baffle on. It fits fine at an angle though, and is still PLENTY loud.
I unsoldered the speaker from the steam board and soldered wires from the steam board to the speaker connected to the diesel board. (So two boards attached to one speaker).
Then I cut off the power connectors for both boards, and soldered the leads to the 2P2T switch. The switch was then soldered to the truck rivets.
I used the double-sided tape that came with the boards to mount them solidly to the chassis of the boxcar. I used spare electrical tape to insulate the speaker's magnet, because it's going to sit on top of one of the trucks.
In the middle of the chassis I epoxied down the 2P2T switch, so that it is easily selectable when I open the boxcar door.
Parts list:
Diesel sound board: $34
Steam sound board: $34
Brass wheels: $1.50ea X 4
Tender repair kit: $11 (includes rivet pickup arms and fiber washers)
Switch from Radio Shack: $2.49
5-minute epoxy $1.99
Used 629 boxcar: $10 + $5 shipping
So for around $100 I have a boxcar with BOTH diesel horn and steam whistle. Seeing as AF or Lionel railsounds boxcars go for $150 on eBay used (and with only one sound set - diesel or steam) ... I think that's a steal. If you just want to add sounds to your steamer, $34 and some solder is all you need. i didn't want to modify my father's old locomotives, and I have a couple steamers anyhow, so a boxcar was my solution.
If you have a GP7, you must make a boxcar sound kit. There's not enough room inside for the circuit board, much less the speaker. If you have a dummy unit, you could fit the board in there, but you'll have to buy a smaller speaker.
Not sure about Alcos or any other diesel, but they appear to have much more room inside. GP7 (and GP9) have really narrow bodies.
Charles.
