Mogul 2-6-0 Whistle

[ivet22]

I've just ordered the Yellow Pine Mogul 2-6-0, and I am very new to G scale.  And very excited.

I have a small setup just for holidays, and I am running DC.

I see that the locomotive and tender include the chuff sounds, but what about a whistle/bells? 
Do I need to replace what's in there with a phoenix system?  If so, is this easy to do?
1 more, can I control the whistle with something manually, like a push button?

Ok, 1 more... Are there any options in G scale to control the locomotive and sounds with a mobile device, such as iPad?  I want to be the cool uncle this year, and have as much enjoyment possible with this beautiful train.

Thanks so much in advance.  I apologize if I missed a thread that has some of these answers already.

[Kevin Strong]

How "realistic" do you want the sounds, and how much money are you thinking of dropping into this? The Phoenix sound would most certainly work (the PB11 would be the one you want for traditional track power), but it's also going to cost you $200. But you'd use that for the chuff, bell, whistle, and myriad other sounds the board makes. For track-powered applications, most folks trigger the bells and whistles with track magnets and reed switches mounted on the bottom of the locomotive (the tender, in this case).

Lower-cost options would include Dallee and MyLocoSound. The Dallee system ($110) is a digital system whose only weakness is that it's "monophonic," meaning it can play only one sound at a time. If you ring the bell or blow the whistle, the chuff drops out. Not a dealbreaker, but if you're particularly OC about sound, you'll notice it. They make two versions; you'll want the $110 version that plays a selection of random whistle signals whenever the trigger is set off. That's ideal for track magnets.

The MyLocoSound board ($80) is an analog sound board, but will play the bell, whistle, and chuff all at the same time if desired. If memory serves, the bell is set by the speed of the locomotive, so it rings when starting and stopping, but turns off once the loco reaches a certain speed. The whistle can be triggered by track magnets, but it will trigger just a short whistle each time; there are no pre-programmed patterns.

You might look into the sound boards from ITT as well. They sell separate boards for each individual sound, so if you wanted bell and whistle, you'd be buying two boards. At $40 - $50 per board, though, it doesn't take too long before you're better off buying a full system.

In terms of iPhone control, there are apps you can download, but the only ones I've seen require you to be running DCC and have bluetooth or similar capability on your command station. That's a pretty pricey way to control a train that's just running around the Christmas tree.

You could go with a system from Airwire, Revolution, or similar R/C set-up, and power it from the track instead of batteries. That would give you full control over all the sounds on the sound systems, but--again--it may be a bit more than you want to go for a Christmas train.

Later,

K

[ivet22]

Kevin,

Thank you so very much for taking the time to answer my questions in such detail.  Very much appreciated!

[bob kaplan]

Hope I do not divert the thread too much but:
  With the MyLoco and Dallee sound systems...can the actual steam chuffs be in sync with the actual wheel rotation or do the magnets just give an indication that the chuff rate should speed up or show down and the "chip" does so...not necessarily at the wheel rotation rate.....if that make sense?!?!
   Thank you.

[Kevin Strong]

Bob, with the Dallee and MyLocoSound boards, the chuff can be synchronized to the wheel rotation. I've got the MyLocoSound in a B-mann 0-4-0, using the chuff cam that came installed on the loco.

Later,

K

[bob kaplan]

Thank you Kevin