[ErnestHouse]

I am transformer based everything. Being in FEC country, I picked up a 6-8064 and 6-8065 GP-9 pair to which I'd like to add a horn. The B unit has plain trucks but the A unit looks to have room on the chassis.

If I'm reading the related threads on this issue, there are now electronic horns that eliminate the battery. Is that true for this 1978 era loco?

I see this part on ebay but not sure it's right:
https://www.ebay.com/c/1004065764

Here is the service document for the A unit:
https://www.lionelsupport.com/media/servicedocuments/18064Complete.pdf

I'm not adverse to electrifying the B-unit. Are there electrified trucks available? This is the B unit service document:
https://www.lionelsupport.com/media/servicedocuments/18356Complete.pdf

 

[gunrunnerjohn]

You could drop in a horn/bell board and dispense with the battery.

The horn you linked is only half the solution, for that one you need the battery and the horn relay!

The question is, how willing to do a little wiring are you? I have a bunch of assorted conventional sound boards. How about this one, it has horn, bell, and prime mover sounds. Connection is just add power from the rails and find a place for the board.

The board stands vertically, there's a bracket connected to the regulator chip that screws to the chassis. The speaker can be used, or any 8 ohm speaker if that one is too large.

This is a complete sound solution that doesn't require any more parts for the price of the old post-war horn.

 

[ErnestHouse]

Thanks @gunrunnerjohn. I'm happy to do all the wiring and mounting. Will PM you about details.

 

[ErnestHouse]

THIS WOULD BE A GREAT GIFT FOR YOUR FAVORITE TRANSFORMER BASED MODEL RAILROADER.
​

Using the speaker/circuit board from Gunrunnerjohn, I was able to mount them inside the Lionel GP7. Running on just a ZW and O-27 track, the diesel sounds mix in with the track noise and buzz from the E-unit but are plenty loud enough with the speaker at full volume.

Wiring is simple. It comes with a female connector for a two pin terminal or male plug. I didn't have one so I snipped it off and soldered it onto the same posts on the motor and E-unit that the lamp was soldered to. The polarity of this connection determines if the ZW whistle actuator is a horn or if it toggles the Bell On/Off. The sounds are realistic and rich. Nothing tinny or post war-ish sounding.

The speaker has a nice postage stamp sized flat area for mounting and comes with 2 sheet metal screws. The circuit board also has right angle mounting bracket that is tapped for a fine threaded screw. I had a #4 screw of unknown TPI that did the trick. So it's a total of 3 holes.

Positioning the speaker holes was tricky as the thickness makes a tight fit inside the GP-7 body. And there's a slight backward tilt. I biased my mounting position a millimeter and it fit nicely. I made a paper template the size of the speaker's mounting surface and using it made positioning precise.

Positioning the CB is simple but one must think in three dimensions as it has two capacitors that stick out at the top of the board. Also, the height of the board is about has high as you could get and still fit inside the body. It also needs to be centered width-wise. I was sloppy and missed the center by 3mm and that made for too tight a fit with the body.

The last detail to take into consideration is the locomotive plastic fuel tank. Accessing the chassis to install the screws from the bottom meant removing the tank. On my GP7 that's a one way operation as it breaks off the tiny bit of plastic holding it in place. I solved this by putting a dab of GOOP on the three tabs inside the body for a mechanical attachment. So far so good. YMMV.

Before

Opened

Paper template for speaker mounting screw holes. Red wire post on motor is second connection point I used for CB.

Slight backward tilt of speaker. Post on E-unit with white wire is where lamp is connected and where I connected the CB

Birds eye view of components mounted on chassis. Black CB wire soldered to E-Unit. Red CB wire about to be soldered to post with red wire on motor. This polarity gives you the bell sound for a transformer whistle actuator. Reverse it for horn. Note capacitors overlap with motor swivel controls but are high enough to clear.

Close up of volume control. This layout kept access to the control. If your's doesn't my unit came with the volume set at maximum (full clockwise from this perspective)

Video of all three sounds.

 

[Spence]

Very nice upgrade. :thumbsup:

 

[Millstonemike]

Another surgeon at work, nice job. Thanks for all the pic.'s and video. They will make it easier for the next gent to upgrade.

 

[gunrunnerjohn]

That is a Williams True Blast Plus. I had it left over from a command upgrade. You mentioned wanting another one, but I only had one.

You can search for Williams Diesel True Blast Plus and find them the cheapest I saw was $65. Do not be fooled by the True Blast II, that's just a whistle and bell, no prime mover.

A bunch of them on eBay: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=williams true blast plus

 

[ErnestHouse]

Yes, I am hoping to electrify the dummy unit and adding another one would add a horn and make it awesomer with double the train sounds. But that would tie the horn and bell together. Just when I was about to order a 6-5906 sound activation controller I remembered I had a Vintage Lionel 167 whistle/reverse controller. In the 50 years I've had it, it's never done a minute of connect time. The 167 whistle fires the horn and the ZW turns the bell on/off. Done.

 

[gunrunnerjohn]

Job done!

 

[gunrunnerjohn]

FWIW, next time you do one of these, consider putting the speaker in the fuel tank. You can just drill holes in the bottom and the speaker has a nice enclosure. It's a good idea to plug up the two holes that lead to the fuel tank to improve the bass.

 

[ErnestHouse]

Adding horn kit to FEC GP9 #8064 and upgrade to LED

This model came only with a light in the cab that didn't make a wash in the headlight. Also, the rear was dark.

Using a 5mm LED from Evan Designs LEDs for the front and an orange 3.5mm LED for the rear, the whole locomotive is lit and the lenses in front and rear headlights are bright. I like the design of these lights as they default to a narrow beam but if you file off the curved end, it spreads to a wider beam for flooding.

The 5mm LED mounts fit exactly in the Lionel cutout for the original cab light. With a mount glued in place, the LED snaps in. However for the rear, I bent the LED pins at a slight angle to point them at the lenses when glued/taped to the roof of the cab. So as to avoid a hotspot from the light, I put a square piece of tape between the lamp and the shell.

I like to use the male/female plugs from the same supplier so the shell can be disconnected for maintenance. YMMV

Now it's done!. ON TO THE DUMMY.

 

[gunrunnerjohn]

Another enhancement you can make is to populate the number boards.

I print the numbers white on black on plain bond paper at the proper size. Then I use Tester's Clear Parts Cement to glue them to the number board. Finally, I spray them with a couple coats of clearcoat to seal them. It really enhances the look to have the number boards populated.

 

[ErnestHouse]

That is a great idea. I bet the light behind the white peper makes the black numbers really pop.

 

[gunrunnerjohn]

Actually, if you look I print them white on black, they work better that way. If you print them black on white, they're too washed out.