Best Lionel Steamer Sound?

Fantastic video Mark!  

She sounds like a beast tearing up the tracks!!

I don't have a video of it, but my favorite steam engine (sound wise) is the Century Club Berkshire. I think it is the because the tender is diecast, but the sound seems so much deeper on it than any of the others I have heard.

J White

The Legacy Mohawk in the recent premium freight set is also EXCELLENT in the sound department!

I personally also like my VL Hudson's sounds!

This is a really tough call. The 844 sounds wonderful, but so does the Challenger and the ATSF Vision Line 3000.

Without a doubt, the Lionel Legacy UP FEF-3 4-8-4 has the best, AND most ACCURATE, steam locomotive sounds of anything Lionel has offered, or will produce, in my opinion.

The Vision Challenger surely has the best sound of any loco I have.  The Legacy Mohawk is also very good, but most recent Legacy locos like the 3751 Northerns and such as right up there and nearly as good..

I have to agree Mark, the whistle is the best. can't wait for the big boy

The Vision Challenger certainly has a very impressive sound -quality-, but, once again,

the real loco is a Simple, not a Compound, so at low speed you would hear a syncopated,

uneven exhaust beat - unlike the Vision Challenger, which sounds as a Compound 

(like the USRA 2-6-6-2) should. Once again.

I just don't know why this keeps being done.

Simple: uneven exhaust beat (really discernible at low speeds, only).

Compound: even exhaust beat at all times (like a 2-cylinder 2-8-4, for example).

Once the Compound C&O 2-6-6-2 gets running on excursions, maybe... 

Hands down, the legacy UP FEF.

True, the whistle is great. However, Lionel still hasn't mastered that simple articulated exhaust sound. Thus, I stand by my original statement that the UP FEF-3 is the absolute best, MOST CORRECT sounding steam locomotive Lionel has ever produced.

Oh come on, isn't anyone going to recognize the MPC Mighty Sound of Steam Chicago & Alton Hudson?

" I don't run the challenger often because it sucks up too much power to run very reliably (with all smoke effects on) on our club layout"

really? your club needs a better power system.

My FEF is tops, but the Milw S3 267 sounds very good also.

I'm going to go with the JLC N&W Y6b, although it does have the simple and compound sound reversed.  It can be modified to give the correct number of chugs as well.   Second favorite is the 2001 release of the PRR J1, again needing to be set up for four chug sound.  The cab chatter on both of these is RR specific, and with the Jay...specific to the Sandusky line no less !   Huzzah !

I only have a couple of Legacy steamers, but the sound on the USRA Light Mikado is outstanding. 

No one else  will speak up for the Mighty Sound of Steam?

Oh come on take a listen to the Chicago & ALton, you know you want to. It's like the accident you pass on the highway you just have to look.

I have been sucked in on that Mighty Sound of Steam !    Man, what a trip !

Doesn't really matter whose is best, just run a post war steamer with an air whistle and you can appreciate the difference digital technology has made on our hobby.  GREAT videos all

thanks for sharing

Probably because there are people like me who just don't care as long as it sounds good - so they will buy sound quality and not insist on prototypical accuracy.  So in a way you can blame me but I think many folks are like me . . . .  

It has been about 55 to 60 years since I have heard any of the steam locos I have models of (i.e., I rode in a 2900 ATSF Northern, heard a Challenger) so today I wouldn't recognize prototypical sound if I heard it.  But I do like a complicated sound, that varies in volume and tone dynamically  (labored chuffing is so very cool!) so 

The Lionel scale-sized N&W J 611’s and JLC Y6b come to mind for me for both sound quality and accuracy (the simple/compound confusion in the Y6b aside). The whistle sounds are dead on. The sounds in the Legacy PM 1225’s Berks are thrilling and easily heard (by the Michigan locals) to be an accurate reproduction, as others have mentioned.

One can mitigate the problem by just moderating the volume, but listener fatigue with on-board electronically reproduced sounds continues to be an issue for many, particularly when more than one locomotive is giving forth.

Not to be a wisenheimer, but there is something to be said for the old electro-mechanical standbys. The Gilbert choo-choo mechanism and the better die-cast Lionel air whistles have substance. They have the distinct advantage of being real sounds rather than being approximate reproductions of sounds. They are pleasing and ‘lay on the ear’ as only such simple but clever devices can. And, they are nearly bullet-proof and will be working a century from now.

Bob

We have guests coming this afternoon that are not model railroaders. From a novice point of view, I will give them a chance to tell me which whistle they like best (includes the FEF 844).

Warhorse hudson from 1998 and the Commodore Vanderbilt hudson from 1996. Both have awesome whistles for a pullmor-type TMCC engine that can be purchased relatively cheap these days.

I put the following three Lionel engines to the whistle sound effects unbiased test this afternoon. The engines are the FEF Northern 844, the Challenger, and the ATSF 3000. The test participants were a nice couple who are not model train people. They do have good hearing however.

After several blasts of each, the 844 was the hands down winner. Not scientific, but interesting.

I love the conversation going on here!!!  Keep it up!

For the couple people who said to get more power.... Our modular club really has plenty of power (two 180w bricks and a TPC400 times 3, one set for each of the 3 loops)  What needs help is the connections between each module (3 prong electrical, 4 on each module....3 for tracks 1-3 and 1 for AC Non Track Power Use)  The connections are degrading from connecting and disconnecting modules probably 500+ times  When we run at full size we can be about 50ftx48ft.  we run a cross connect cord from one side of the layout to the other but we always get weak power at some point in the layout.... especially if we use our yard and turntable/roundhouse modules.

Sounds like plenty of power, but its not getting to the track. If you don't already, you guys need a minimum of 14 ga wire track buss/ feeders on each loop at least every 10'. I used to have two 180w bricks in parallel on my layout, it would spot weld wheels to the track during a derailment.

Now back to the original topic........

Soooo... this is an unbiased opinion because I do not own this engine, but I will still stand by my statement that the MTH Blue Goose has the best whistle to date in O gauge.

Awesome thread - very entertaining and thanks for sharing. The Vision challenger IS a beast and would be a frightening thing to experience trackside, but I like the Pere Marquette Rick offered. It's a little smaller than the Vision Challenger like most of the steam engines I can recall seeing in person or in videos. 

Zett:

Unbiased as they had nothing to gain in expressing their choice. It was a simple question, which whistle sounds best to you. They really liked the 844. Many who have responded to this thread agree with them.

There are many great sounding whistles out there and it comes down to what you prefer most. Glad your Blue Goose is a top performer.

Can't vouch for the Warhorse Hudson but I well remember the Commodore that it had a wonderful whistle.

 When did Neil Young start recording their engine sound sets?

You wonder what Lionel does with their old sound files...

Just giving my opinion which is the same thing you did.....

I'm with jaygee. My JLC Y6b and my J1. Also, with the same criticisms noted.

Add to the two you cite, Ted, the Century Club 1 773. That was/is a great 'big' Hudson sound set for the time.

Bob

Hi c.sam,

The first recording made by Neil, myself and studio manager John Nowland was of a UP DASH locomotive in Denver on Aug 31, 1993. We've been adding to the the Lionel Railsounds library ever since. 

good job, railsounds!

if they ever get that Big Boy back on the rails, i expect you to be right there.