Trolley Bell Sound?

[LDBennett]

My little trolley layout needs some sound for trolleys. All I want is the bell the trolley driver rang a couple of times before moving off from a stop. My plan is to have a microprocessor, that will control the layout, provide a ground during startup of any trolley on the track. That is the only sound I want. Each ground output would ring the bell once.

Dallee is suppose to eventually be making a sound for trolleys but it is much more than I want. The bell circuit would not be in the trolley but attached to the layout as a stationary sound system. Anyone got any insight as to how to get the sound of the bell?

I considered using a real bell but the sound level would be way too high. Any attempt to muffle it would change the sound, so the sound almost has to be electronic. I have no idea what is available in the way of electronic sound generators or sounds or by whom ().

Anyone got any ideas?

LDBennett

[drsager]

Why not simply record a real trolley using a digital recorder (which start at around $25) and then use that device?  I suppose you could get fancy and copy the recorded sound to a computer or PCB, but I'm thinking the handheld might get you up and running the quickest and you could always choose to change / augment your list of bells.

I'm not sure what's available in your area, but around Chicago there is the Illinois Railway Museum, the Fox River Trolley Museum, and the East Troy Electric Railroad.  All have working trolleys.  While I haven't done any research, I cannot believe these are the only museums with working trolleys.

I agree with your decision not to use a real bell.  Not that it would be too loud, but rather capturing their inherent muffling would, - IMHO, be a chore (all the ones I have heard kind of end like they get wrapped in a towel rather than continue to ring).

[LDBennett]

dragger:

Thanks for the input. I'm not familiar with a small digital recording device. And my micro controller would have to be able to trigger it (??). Have you got any brands in mind?

I thought about the real bell some more. I thought maybe putting it into a sound insulated box would allow the sound to be attenuated but I fear the higher frequencies would be attenuated more than the lower ones and you would get the muffled sound with no sharpness to the ring. Maybe a series of holes would allow the higher frequencies to come through while attenuating most of the lower frequency and the overall sound level (??).

LDBennett

[LDBennett]

Found it!

Innovative Train Technologies in California:
http://ittproducts.com/index.html

They make exactly what I wanted, bell and all. Walthers sells some of their products but they deal direct too.

My only question is can I trigger it directly from a Arduino Micro controller? It appears I may have to use a relay between the sound board and the microcontroller. But that's OK.

I've done a flow chart for the program in the Ardunio but now I have to learn C++ programming language (or have my grandson learn it so he can do it). It will have random stop intervals and randomly skip stations. It will detect the ends of track and reverse direction and stop randomly at intermediate stations, ringing the bell twice at each startup. I many also have figured out a way to add momentum too (crude but it may work). With the layout nearly completed (I'm now adding details like people and cars and stop light, etc.). The micro controller is the next project I under take and I'll eventually be adding 12 feet more of track to the 8 feet I now have. This could go on forever but isn't that the way model railroading works? This project has ballooned!

LDBennett