# rolling stock sound



## thelenster (Feb 18, 2012)

Is there any sound units dedicated to rolling stock? Freight and passenger cars each have their own sounds. All the sound systems I've seen are dedicated to loco's. With a string of cars it would be nice to have the sound associated.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Ambient rail sounds from Phoenix (under diesel and electric) 
Another company makes sounds of cows mooing.. milermodels http://www.millermodels.com/sounds/cows1.wav 

Greg


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

I was at a model train show once and a vendor was selling sound systems for O and HO cars. They all had a feature that if the car received a shock of some sort the sounds changed to indicate the content was not happy with the shock. The Cattle mooed much louder and the sheep got all excited, stomping their feet on the floorboards when he would reach over and thunk the side of a car with his finger. 

But the Passenger cars were the weirdest. The Sleeper had snoring sounds and the Dinner had sounds of utencils touching dinnerware and quiet voices mumbling... until he thunked it... then there were sounds of dinnerware crashing to the floor, men yelling for help and blood-curdling screaming and crying from women and children. He said it was to alert you to a derailment.


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

With a string of cars it would be nice to have the sound associated. 
Jack (BigDude65) has a stock car with cow sound board and a mercury switch - the more you rattle the car the more the cows complain! Very effective.


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## Wesley Furman (Jan 2, 2008)

Www.ittproducts.com has over 100 sounds, reasonable prices and lots of installing suggestions.


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## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2008)

LGB did sell a cow cattle stock car and a sheep stock car in the past with sound. 4268 was the cattle sound. 
Also the European happy birthday car. laughing car, and Chicken Dance. Red was analog only, blue was MTS.


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## thelenster (Feb 18, 2012)

Bought the sound board from ITTP for rolling stock. Sound is good, so now how to set it such that it comes on at a particular speed? Otherwide it does run continuous off track power. Bought some super cheap motor decoders and play with the on/off sound depending on speed!

Len Jaskiewicz,
Springfield, MA


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

I just checked the ITTP site myself. Most of the sample sounds were very good, but I just have to say that I was terribly dissappointed in the "Steam Wench" sound... not that I'd have any idea what a "Steam Wench" would really sound like, but I'd expect more tee-hees and other giggling amid offers of what I'd like to eat or drink. Sounded a whole lot more like a "Steam Winch" to me.


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## Scottychaos (Jan 2, 2008)

I was just watching this video earlier today:




(The modern Erie-Lackawanna! 

Lots of people who make model railroad videos for youtube will use real, prototype sounds of a train passing by..
you get the diesels approaching, then passing (doppler effect) then the classic sound of steel wheels on steel rails..
very realistic! (because it *is* real train sounds)..works great when you are watching a video sitting at your computer..

But how could this type of sound be used for actual model trains?
It makes sense to have locomotive sounds travel with the locomotive, because real locomotives work that way..
But it doesnt really make sense to have the "sounds of a train going by" *also* traveling with the train!
like if the sounds were mounted in a boxcar or something..
because those sounds do *not* travel with a train!
We hear those sounds from our fixed location as we watch a train pass by..

So on a model railroad (or garden railroad) we would want those "sounds of a train passing by" to also come from a stationary location,
stationary from the viewers perspective..
So the sound could come from a track-side structure or something like that..

But that raises another problem..
people will walk around and view a model railroad from multiple locations..so having the sound emminate from only one location
doesn't work very well..

If you had *one* viewing location, like a gazebo overlooking the railroad, then it could perhaps work somewhat well..
but the way we view model and garden railroads, walking around to multiple locations, makes the implementation of such sound systems a tricky problem..
it doesnt work well if it travels with the train, and it also doesnt work well from a fixed location trackside..
multiple track-side locations? maybe..but thats also not really good because you want the doppler effect to happen *right* as the train passes you,
at your exact location..and the sounds of the "train passing by", to be realistic, should be right directly in front of you..not over on the other side
of the railroad..there are no ideal answers..

Scot


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## thelenster (Feb 18, 2012)

Thanks all, 
I have an approach to try. I've purchased a module from ITTP for freight car sound and it's reasonable. Drawback is that the sound and car speed are fixed so I'll try a cheap decoder and have the sound come on at a particular speed. The module has a turn on threshold of 9V. Installing the setup in boxcars spread over a length should be OK. 
Len Jaskiewicz, 
Springfield,MA


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

So what's the total cost of the ITTP module and a cheap decoder? 

Sounds like you could get an HO motor and sound decoder and load custom sounds for about the same price. 

I think the Zimo will let you add sounds from wav files to your heart's delight, but I could be wrong. 

Greg


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## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2008)

Greg, you are correct, wav files can be programmed to the Zimo sound decoders. Axel did flight of the Bumblebee on the eggliner.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Yeah, so for about $100 you can have a full fledged decoder, with motor control if you want to use it, several function outputs and sounds of your choice. 

You could have a lot of fun with that... and of course it can be set to run on DC too. 

Greg


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