sound decoders

[pumper 1]

i have a backman digital command control diesel train set, i would like to know what sound decoder would work in this gp40 engine. thanks . pumper 1

[ABC]

There are wide variety of sound decoders you can install, but unless you are pretty experienced, I would not advise it because for good sound you need a large speaker with deep bass and baffle. And this loco may require milling or reallocation of some parts and weights or other modifications to make room for a good sized speaker and baffle. The speaker size is directly related to sound quality. If you want sound in a GP-40 you would be a lot better off buying one with factory installed sound from another manufacturer, unless you enjoy installing things like this, then by all means go ahead and have at it.

[Jim Banner]

In the real world, road diesels are rarely used singly.  To model this, we often use dummy diesels along with powered ones.  This leads to the possibility of having a sound only decoder and a relatively large speaker or even multiple speakers in a dummy diesel that you pair up with a powered diesel.  When both are programmed to the same address, the action is exactly the same as if the sound decoder were in the same shell as the motor.  An added bonus is that you can run this dummy with any diesel you like.  All that is required is a quick address change.

The best dummies for this application are old powered units that you have removed the motors and gears from.  These previously powered units already have track pickups to use to power the sound decoder and are generally low in price, giving you more to spend on a better sound decoder.

Jim