On30 4-6-0

[p51]

I really wish I was more adept in electronics. I know there's a sound decoder that has actual engine sounds from ET&WNC # 12 at Tweetsie RR. Oh, how I'd love to have those in my ET&WNC ten-wheelers, to have the actual sounds of the locomotives I model!

[RailMan63]

RailMan63, glad to hear that you are moving forward with adding sound to your On30 4-6-0. You would definitely enjoy the loco more with sound. As for what Trainman203 shared, I do agree with him. No doubt the MRC decoder with sound is not at the level of a SoundTraxx or TSC decoder with sound. Or as RailMan63 referenced, a TCS Wow V4 Sound unit. However, as I mentioned in my prior post, the MRC decoder with sound satisfied my needs for adding a sound unit to my On30 4-6-0 which for me added an extra level of enjoyment than just being able to control speed, directions and lights. As for adding a 21 pin unit to a unit with an 8 pin connector, there are drop in PCB boards that will convert from 8 to 21. But once gain, the MRC currently met my needs and it was a remove and replace unit. Plus now I do have an extra decoder that I removed from the On30 4-6-0 that I could use that will give me speed, direction and lighting control. RailMan63, if you are interested I could provide you with a picture of how I have the MRC decoder with speaker installed in my Bachmann #28805.

That could be helpful. Please PM it to me through this sites message system ,or post it.
I appreciate any input and help that you can provide me with this ongoing project.
Thank you!

[Trainman203]

Any sound is better than no sound.  To me, running a silent engine (as all model railroads were for 60 years) is like pushing a corpse around.  Once you have it, there's no going back.

[p51]

Any sound is better than no sound.  To me, running a silent engine (as all model railroads were for 60 years) is like pushing a corpse around.  Once you have it, there's no going back.

I agree. I never had sound locomotives when I was in HO, but once I got my ten-wheeler in On30 with sound, there was no going back. Sure, there are lots of other sound systems that are better, but anything is better than just the hum of the electric motor and the clicks of the gears and rods...

[Trainman203]

And one of the saddest things..... brass steam engines, the most beautiful of all, are generally very difficult to convert to DCC and sound.  Bachmann engines are the modern solution .... quite sightly but smoother running in general than brass, and either already DCC/sound or readily upgraded.

[RailMan63]

Ok. After much thought and taking all the advice that I have received for a sound system for my Bachmann On30 4-6-0 locomotive into consideration, I have settled upon an MRC Loco Genie heavy steam sound DCC sound system with remote. It's not perfect, but it's not too bad either.

I can still upgrade the loco to the much better TCS Wow V4 at a later date,should I choose to do so. But for now, this will do.

I found a great deal for it online. It retails for $79.99 , but I found it for only $37.86, plus $5.65 shipping, for a total price of $43.51. Not a bad deal. And the sound is actually better than I expected it to be,but most certainly not on a par with Soundtraxx,or the TCS Wow V.4.

But for less than $45.00 total, I'm very satisfied with the sound quality.

I thank everyone who offered their advise on this issue. This is the system that was,of course, suggested by  JBPRO_TX on this forum, and I found it to be the most affordable, and practical way, to get a sound system for this loco.

Thank you all.

[Trainman203]

Great.  Enjoy.

[Tom_C]

I almost bought that engine, but after researching around and discovering it didn't have a drop in sound module I decided to pass.  It was a great price though.

[tweetsieengineer]

Putting sound or changing sound modules in the 4-6-0 is so simple.  Ive installed TCS wow in all 4 of my ET 4-6-0's.  The last one I did in less than 15 mins.  Its all plug and play with the right adapter and the only soldering is the speaker.  I learned with #12 that the factory speaker is a 1W and I was putting 2w in 9,10, and 11.  I changed 12 and wow!

Tim

[p51]

Putting sound or changing sound modules in the 4-6-0 is so simple.  Ive installed TCS wow in all 4 of my ET 4-6-0's. 

Tim,
Is that the one that has ET&WNC #12 sounds on it?
I wish I knew more about electronics, as I'd love to buy one for each of my own ET ten-wheelers, as it's be great to have the real sounds of #12 coming out of my locomotives!

[Trainman203]

Soundtraxx formerly offered a decoder called "Southern Steam" that had an ET&WNC whistle.  It's probably still available somewhere.  But keep in mind that all railroads changed engine whistles as a routine matter.  The one currently on no. 12 is very likely not one of the several that this engine certainly had over its actual service life.  Use the whistle you like best.  No one can prove it wrong or right.

[RailMan63]

I finally decided to reletter the tender for the D&RGW. I wet sanded the lettering off with 1,000 grit wet/dry sandpaper,repainted the tender satin black, to which I applied a coat of clear satin. I then waited a week for the paint to fully cure, and then hand applied some Microscale HO Scale letters and numbers to the tender.
It was then recoated with an additional coat of clear satin.
I think that the final result is quite pleasing!
Here's a short video I made this afternoon:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ny_ieQBxaPU

I hope that you will find the final results to be as pleasing as I do.

[Ton N]

If you want to give it at least some creditability why not use the flying Rio Grande logo?
https://sanjuandecals.com/d-rgw/

Ton

[RailMan63]

Hi,Ton. I thought about that. I really did.But my Bachmann 2-6-0 was already lettered for the D&RGW when I purchased it.
I want to create a set of 4 to 6 cars that I can run with both of my locomotives without running up too much expense at the same time.That,and the fact that I didn't want to incur any further expenses detailing the 4-6-0,is why I decided to do it that way. gv
I do have an IHC flying Rio Grande logo Consolidation in HO scale that I bought a few months ago, but that needs it's own cars as well. For now, I'm concentrating on the ON30 locos.
I'm going to be using Bachmann cars for my D&RGW passenger set that I'll be repainting in an appropriate shade of green. I already bought a cheap Hawthorne Village Coca Cola combine(mint condition,$33.00including S&H) that I plan to disassemble ,and repaint with my airbrush using Badger Pennsy Green 16-21,which worked great for my USA Trains passenger cars. I have 4 of those in green, and 2 in the Bumble Bee scheme. Those 2 are factory painted
I would prefer to buy already made and lettered cars , but even the Bachmann painted , unlettered cars in olive green would run me $120.00 for a set of 2. And then there's still the cost of decals for them...
I run the USA Trains cars unlettered, so I may do the same thing with these.
Maybe...