Quote from: p51 on December 08, 2017, 10:45:38 AM
I tried all kinds of things and the sound didn't change on mine, either.
That, and the muffled quality of the sound due to the heavy and thick body on the Whitcomb, makes for so-so sound (especially compared to my ten-wheelers, which sound great).

I have  just  purchased  another  Whitcomb  before  they  all disappear!  Just  fitted  the  sound  module  but  once  again  I am  a little  disappointed  with  the running  sound....did  anyone  ever  get  any  CV info  to  enable  the  running  sound  to  be  improved,  I sent  an email to   Soundtraxx  a  couple  of  years  back  now  when  I  fitted sound  to  earlier  Whitcombs, but  never  received  a  reply!

It is  fairly  obvious  that the  USA  will have  the  largest  market  for  most  model railway  categories  simply  because  of  the  population,

Here in the UK  the On30 market  is   quite  small  and  not  really  growing, many  retailers  are actually reducing  their  stock  holding  of 0n30   or  not  stocking it  at all now!,

Just  another  point there is a company in Australia  who market  quality 0n30 products   Haskell.  they  have  a  website.

www.haskellco.net  

Although in  my case  0n30  is  still flourishing  Just  last  week  I have  purchased   1 2-6-6-2 Mallet, 1 Whitcomb, 1 Heisler, & 1  Forney. plus  a  load  of  freight  cars  & Passenger cars.

As  a  matter  of  interest   what  alternative  brand  did  you  use?

I assume  that  you removed  the  existing  Bachmann factory  fitted  decoder  but  utilised  the  on board  speakers?


I am intersted in  your  application  as  in  the  event  of  my purchasing  a  2nd  Whitcomb  i would  like  to have  the  sound  slightly different.

The  sound  from  the  bachmann supplied  sound  module  actually  sounds  a  lot  better  in  real time, than  the  sounds  I  have  heard  on You  tube  (so far)!!

I installed  the  sound  module  in my  Whitcomb today,  it  took about  10 mins  to  do very  easy!

Just a couple  of   points to  note, the  Tsunami  installation  states  that  the  2  airtanks  are  secured by 2  screws in each one, this  is not  correct  the  \Airtanks  are  a  simple  clip fit, once they are  removed  to screws  can be located underneath, also  the side  railings  have to be  unclipped  from the  cab  sides to allow  the  whole body section to  lift off.

I find  the  sound  is  very  acceptable,  I  have no  idea  how  the  real  thing would  sound, but   the  sound  is  like  a  typical  small diesel  loco.

Also  of  note  is  the  fact  that  there  are  FIVE different  airhorn  sounds,  which   are accessed  via  CV 115,

REMEMBER if installing   a sound  module ... reset  the  on board  decoder  FIRST  (Value 8 in  CV8)  It is  worth  doing  this  even if the  factory settings have not  been  altered..

I really  like  this  loco  although  its  a  diesel  I think  it  is  one  of  the Best  From  Bachmann 0n30  so  far

For  info;l

Whitcomb Sound  modules  arrived  in  the  UK  retailers  this  week (24th NOV)  I received one  today  along  with  6 more 18' Freight  cars  from Tower-Models.com  today

I dont  think  the  sound unit  is  available  yet  for  the  Whitcomb Diesel,  it certainly  isnt  here  in  the  UK  and  new  items generally  arrive  here  boefore  they  do  in  the  USA.

The  Ebay  tender  from  the  4-4-0  may possible  have  wiring  or  decoder  faults,  check  it  actuall has  a  decoder  in  it  and  if  it  does  swap  it  for  one  you  know  works  OK.

Re  the  faulty  tender  check  the  decoder is  OK  swap  the  decoder  from  a  tender  which  you  know  works  OK  or  fit  a   decoder  blanking  plug.

Did  you  but  the  loco  with  the  faulty  tender  NEW?  if  so  you  may  wish  to  return  it  to   the  seller  for  replacement.

Steve  ---Wales  UK

Some  ongoing  info  for  Whitcomb  owners!

After  you  have run  your  loco for a little  time,  turn  it  over  and  check  the  tightness  of  4  screws in  each  bogie      ( sorry  TRUCK!!)  these  are  tiny  screws  which  hold  the  side  frames in position,  I  found  that they tend to  work  loose, The  main consideration  is  if  they  get  too loose   the screws will drop out  and  be  rather  difficult  to  find!

Hi Again    I  should  have  said  in  my  other  reply,  that  the  2-6-0  was  Bachmann's  first 0n30 steam loco  and  it  was  designed  before  DCC digital  was in general  use ,

 All other  Bachmann 0n30  locos  except  the  tram ( streetcar),   do not  have   the  same issues,  as  they  are  supplied  Decoder  fitted ( some  with  sound also) or in the  case of  the  Shay  DCC ready  with socket ( 8 pin),  Unless its  a  sound Shay which  comes (obviously!)   fitted.
Steve

Unfortunately  these  locos  are  NOT Digital  ready  (NO decoder socket)  they  have  to  be  hard  wired  that  means  you  will have  to  solder connections  from  the  decoder  to  Motor,  Pickups  & light.

I  did the  job recently  it  was  reasonably  easy,  but  if  you are not familiar wuth  this  sort  of  thing  it  may be a bit  daunting,

Removal of the  loco body  is  a little  strange   if you go down the   list  of  posts you will see my post  re  advice on how to  remove the loco body.

I used  a Hattons small   decoder  from which I simply  removed the  plug and soldered  the connections     (  www.ehattons.com  they  ship  to India  &  are  reliable  )

If you intend to fit  sound  then you are going to have to  source  a  sound sound  decoder ....cant advise you on  that  but   may  have difficulty in space for  speaker,  unless you run the cable into the  tender

I hope  this  helps you

Regards    Steve    ( North  Wales  UK)

Further  testing  this evening!  As  the loco has  outside  cranks  it  is  easy to count  the  wheel revolutions when  it  runs  slowly,  so to test  the  slow crawl  I counted  just  14  wheel revs. per minute it covered  around  30" in the  minute.

I have  removed the  body  to  fit  the  Horn  &  Bell'

There  are  some  additional phots of  the  inside  on  the  rmweb site (via Jeffs  link  on above  post).

The loco  is  fitted  with  TWO  speakers  one in  each  hood

My local  retailer  has  already  sold  out  of  the  orange livery  one!

Thanks  Jeff......

If  I get   time  later  I will  take  the body off  and  have  a  look inside  and  post  a  couple  more  pics on  the RMWeb link.

I was thinking of  buying  a  second one, but not  sure   re color!  I weather  everything , but  would  like  to  get  more info  as to  what  the   other  3 colors look like!

I have  just  realised  that  I  should  have  said  in  my original  post  that  the  Whitcomb  seems  to  be  nearly  all Metal

Very few  plastic  parts, the only ones I have  identified   so  far  are  the   Lenses in the  lights,  the  window frames (which open & close)  and  the  Driver!

Weighs  heavy  701 Gramms (24 ounces)  as   a comparison  the  Climax  which is similar in size  weighs  570 Grammes.(20 ounces)