Purchased a 6-16655 Steam Railsounds tender a few months ago in hopes that it would be a simple shell swap. Turns out Railsounds tender is longer. Haven’t cracked open the pink tender yet (presently running under Christmas tree). Has anyone attempted this? Can I add a newer (better sounding) chip to this board? Will the six wheel trucks fit on the shorter tender? Any comments are appreciated. Merry Christmas!
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Lionel hasn't ever made a 1130-style tender (like the one in your Girl's Train) with RailSounds. They have made a handful of 6026-style tenders with RailSounds -- I believe these share the same frames as the 1130 -- but I'm reasonably certain the way the electronics are arranged it wouldn't make a swap easy. (The 1130 is shorter in height than the 6026.)
If you attempt to add six-wheel trucks from the 16655 to your Girl's tender, you'll need to drill new holes for truck mounting as they'll need to be further inboard. This also means that a longer drawbar would likely be necessary, but you might be able to transplant the one from the 16655. Also, don't forget that you'll need to drill openings in the tender frame to allow the sound to escape.
The RailSounds 1.0 board assembly that came with the 16655 doesn't have interchangeable chips. It is what it is.
The other options would be to re-sell the 16655, and install an aftermarket sound system in your Girl's Tender. ERR offers these, and I also have some OEM Lionel RailSounds systems that could work here: https://ogrforum.com/...sounds-sound-systems. If you do this, don't forget that you'll still need to add roller pick-ups and ground straps to your Girl's tender or string a tether from the loco to provide power to the sound system in the tender.
TRW
You'll also need a chuff switch. The easiest way is to simply go with the ERR Steam board of your choice, the kit includes everything you need to install it. It's a pretty simple install, the most complex part will be the chuff switch and the two-wire tether from the locomotive to provide power. The ERR board is also pretty small and will easily fit in any tender.
PAPERTRW,
Are your boards Railsounds 2.5 to 4.0 compatible? What version sound chips are used for the Vanderbuilt?
Thanks
The boards are RS2.5, which are fully compatible with chips from RailSounds 2.5 to 4.
The Vanderbilt chips are RS2.5. Note that there really aren't a lot of differences between RS2.5 and 4 in conventional mode.
Feel free to shoot any other questions my way.
TRW
The second run of the girls set has a trainsounds 1130 type tender. No chuff, only whistle and bell.
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