Add speaker/sound to 1860-1880 Passenger Car

[RBDNHM]

Please let me know if you have installed a speaker or speakers in a Bachmann 1860-1880 Passenger Car. I have opened it and see openings along the sides of the top of the roof, so am contemplating mounting a 16mmx35mm speaker and enclosure to the top of the car.

Should  I remove any of the horizontal plastic struts  in the ceiling where I mount the speaker to remove some obstruction to the sound? Should I seal the enclosure to the roof and use just the openings near the speaker or should I seal it to the ceiling and use the entire roof space and all the roof openings?

Or should I mount the speaker to the floor and relocate some of the weight?

(Sound is micro sd card based with 5v dc supplied from a rectifier/transformer activated and controlled by DCC decoder; car is a combine, Silver Series, unlettered green)

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[rich1998]

I have never tried this but I have used the same size speaker with a home made baffle in a 44 ton and 70 ton. I made baffles using I think thin styrene some years ago. A thin ridge of bath caulk to seal the speaker in the baffle. I positioned the baffle and speaker up inside the shell.

SoundTraxx sells a Sound Car kit and they show the speaker firing out the floor of a boxcar on one of the pages. They might use the boxcar as a baffle or assume the user uses a baffle. I think some use a sugar cube speaker.  Check the SoundTraxx page or Google SoundTraxx sound car.
All wheel pickups and stay alive will be important. Good idea you have. Maybe a rubber gasket between the speaker and car floor to seal the speaker. A good baffle is important.
Right now I am guessing it would be difficult to seal the passenger car.
If you are good with surface mount LED's you could mount a couple lights on the back and inside to simulate oil lamps.
The SoundTraxx page shows the decoder up in the roof of the boxcar with a stay alive module.

Rich

[RBDNHM]

Thanks.  I have looked at the sound car.  Sealing/vibration/distortion/reduced volume are my concerns with the ceiling mount, but I am reluctant to cut the weights and cut large holes or drill many holes in the floor. I will probably end up trying the ceiling because of the existing holes and if I mess up a combine, oh well.

[bbmiroku]

Why not put the speaker on top of the weights?  If you use flat steel or lead weights, there shouldn't be too many of them, so even a small O-gauge speaker should fit inside of the car.  But you have me curious.  What kind of sounds would you be adding to a combine?  Or even a full passenger car?

[RBDNHM]

The thought of drilling many holes in the weight deters me from mounting the speaker on top of the weight.  Still contemplating my options.

As for the sound, it will be a music car. This will be my third. First two are Christmas songs in HO and G Christmas box cars (speakers at each end).  This will be Wild Wild West (tv and movie versions) and western movie songs, including How the West was Won, the Good, the Bad and the Ugly, A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, Tombstone, Wyatt Earp, Green Leaves of Summer, Silverado, The Magnificent Seven - original, Farewell to Cheyenne, The Big Country, Dances with Wolves, and True Grit - original. I think that is the list,  but am open to suggestions.

[rich1998]

I have some Bachmann steamers. There are really not as many holes as you think.
I use to do sound systems many years ago.

Ricxh

[Terry Toenges]

I like the idea of wild West music in a car. 

[RBDNHM]

I may try fewer, but larger holes.  On others I have drilled as many as I could, so they were relatively small.

Merry Christmas.

[plas man]

I like the idea of wild West music in a car. 

Boxcar Willie would sound great 

[bbmiroku]

Ah...
Well why not glue it?