Diesel sound - whad'ya think?

TrainNut

Ditat Deus
I originally posted this in another section and got 0 responses. I'm posting it here in hopes that it is a more appropriate location....

Has anybody done this yet? I’ve got an older N scale Atlas GP-40 that I want to turn into a dummy unit. Easy enough right? Okay now, how feasible would it be to put diesel sound into that dummy unit accepting the fact that I will have to make major changes to the frame? It seems ideal because the loco already has the provisions for electrical pickup. How would that work on a DCC system? How would I control the locos as well as the sound unit and have them synchronized? Does the sound unit get it’s own address and then I could treat it like a consist? Any feedback you may have would be appreciated. Thanks.
 

GeorgeHO

Member
Hi, I'm new to DCC, don't have any sound, haven't yet hooked up my HO DCC yet, but everythings ready to go and I've looked at the video a few times including twice with the DCC controller in my hands. (I bought the Bachmann cheapie system just to see if I liked it)

If the sound unit is in with the locomotion unit, then obviously it will pick up the same programming from the controller because they are electrically the same. If you put it in another unit, then I would THINK (because I do not KNOW anything for certain) that they would pick up the same programming signals as the locomotion unit if they were on the same track.
I really don't know if they are interconnected, but if that is a requirement, you could always run prototype M.U. cables (jumper wires) between the two units to make them electrically equivalent.
If you put just a sound unit in a dummy, and programmed it by itself on the programming track to a unique number, then I would think that you could lash it up in any consist and produce whatever sounds you wat for that consist using its unique number, not the number of the consist.
I would think you could do the same thing with an auxillary tender for any steam locos you have.
Good luck, and I hope you get some answers from somebody who really knows what they are talking about instead of me.
 

rksstl

Member
Yes you can make it into a sound unit with its own road # and use it in a consist with two or three other powered locos. Or you could also program it with the same road number as another loco and have a powered loco and the sound unit.
 

tweet469

New Member
I have converted several older units to dummies with sound. Most of these were poor performers usually with only one truck powered, but they still had good detail or were an oddball loco. I gave each its own address so it could be MU'ed with other diesels. This turned out better than I expected because one sound unit in a consist was adequate when there were several sound units running at the same time. In my 10'X20' trainroom you could not tell if more than one unit in a consist had sound. I'm in HO but I think the same arrangement will work in N.
 
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