How important is the sound of your engines?

I think the engine sounds are what I look for in an engine, steam or diesel.  The bell, whistle/horn are not enough by themselves.  But, I can do without the cab chatter, etc.

Very important.  It is a game changer for me.

Legacy sounds is one of big things that brought me back into the O hobby. I really enjoy it.

 

I don't like the CrewTalk/TowerCom stuff either. (I do get a kick out of the guys speaking in my TMCC crane/boom set, however)

I've gotten used to engines having sound and have gotten attached to it. I do like to turn the volume down some, though.

I too love the Legacy sound. It's one of the best features of O-Gauge.

The engine sounds, horn, whistle, bell and breaks are GREAT.

I can do WITHOUT the silly cab chatter.

Kinda cool.....but do not like the electronics it brings!

FYI....I made a turbine sound unit back in the 1960's for a UP Turbine I had made....it was a small electric motor with a gear and some sheet plastic the gear spun against. It made a high pitch whine. So I was early to the sound thing!

Yes, it's what brought me back into the hobby, Legacy is my favorite so far. I really like the Bass AC6000 CSX ENGINE WITH 4 Lashed together, it Rolling Thunder..

Good sound is one of the most important features in an engine.  While the tower/crew talk is not important to me, kids seem to like it, so I usually only use those features when running at shows or showing off to "model RR civilians."

 

Legacy sounds are the best, by far, but the gap is getting smaller.

 

Andy

Without sound, I wouldn't be in the hobby. It's #1

Was always a deal breaker for me

 

At first it was novel, then I got tired of it.  But by then I guess I was used to it and missed it after running without it, so I turned it back on, only not so loud.  Now when I play with my old N, HO, or even the new LEGO trains, I find myself reaching for the horn/whistle button that isn't there.

I am not a fan of sound in locomotives.   I totally dislike the chatter.    Horn and bell are OK in moderation.    The prime mover and chuff is very nice - - - for about 15 minutes, and then it gets annoying.

 

I have an operating layout, multipler operators, trains, switching with switchlists etc.   All those locos burbling and bubbling just get old during a 2-3 hour operating session.    The same is true at friends layouts.  

 

My worst sound experience was a few years ago.   A young guy in our group brought a new passenger steamer to an operating session.   the owner let him put it on a passenger train worked it into the schedule.   Well this guy had the volume cranked up and he rang the bell and blew the whistle continuously as he took it around the layout.   It was loud to the point of interfering with talking and figuring out to switch out the yard.   

 

I guess we each have our opinions.

Prime mover sounds are a must for me.

I like to listen to the wheels clickity-clacking over the rail joints. That and occasional blast of the air whistles in the depots is all the sounds I need.   lol

 

 

Sounds can be appealing...and annoying. The constant steam or diesel sound can really

get on my nerves...the new Legacy sounds are so good (but with flaws) that they appeal

to me longer, but after a while...

 

But, since the locos cannot leave the room (for most of us) it can get nerve-wracking,

especially the early Protosound/RS, the single-chuff steamers (no excuse), the constant-speed-sound-no-matter-what diesels, the MTH lazy-whistles...and the cab chatter, uh,

no.

 

Sometimes I turn it all the way down to off; sometimes I don't. If the train would simply

actually go somewhere ELSE for a while, and then come BACK...OK. But that is not possible. I have ERR upgraded a couple of locos lately with no sound, intentionally.

If the kit had somehow had a whistle only - no bell - I'd truly be satisfied, much of the time. 

 

When it's good, though, it's impressive. 

Sound (chuffing, diesel sounds, turbine sounds) is important to me.  Noise (whatever I don't want to hear included engineer-dispatcher talk, etc.) is not.  

 

The best sound to me is: diesel - Legacy U30C, and steam, Vision Challenger. Legacy and Vision sound better than Premier to me, but frankly Premier is are more than good enough and I am very happy with several recent locos from MTH - very happy.  

Quality sound with good prime-mover sounds has grown on me over the last few years.   And now, my pleasure running the new LionChief Plus locos has now tipped me over to requiring fan-driven smoke in my steamers, command control, and speed control in future purchases.   I still love my Williams and RMT, but I plan to hold-off purchasing new locos in the hopes that Lionel will offer more LC+.    

Sound is an important factor for me. For some reason I really like the European electric horns...and diesels like VRE. Terry

Engine rev and horn and bell important to me and crew talk no. 

Horn/whistle and bell are all the sounds I need.

 

Sounds very important, but lately only use for guests.  After I've been away for them for a while I will use but on lower settings.  Jim R.

Sound is a requirement.

I like the Steam engine sounds in all my engines.

Bell and Whistle are very important.

Crew chatter, not as much but I occasionally use them for visitors.

With my hearing, I can't tell the difference between MTH and Lionel sound.

No big deal one way or the other.  I'm much more interested that the locomotive looks good and runs smoothly.

 

Rusty

These are just a few of the reasons why many are re-discovering the world of Tinplate Trains. I truly enjoy the rattles and squeaks of Std Gauge trains rolling along on tinplate rails. Nothing can replace the built-in sounds generated by the original toy trains. 

I think the engine sounds are what I look for in an engine, steam or diesel.  The bell, whistle/horn are not enough by themselves.  But, I can do without the cab chatter,

 

Agreed! I go so far as to add MRc ac sounders in many of my Dummy A and B units as well just to hear them!

Yes, on my command control scale N&W Steamers.

 

No, on my conventional WbB and Fantasy engines that run for public display on the modular club layout.

 

It is so nice to be able to just drop the engine on the rails and turn it loose. When it breaks, it's so much less painful when it's a $150 engine than when it's a $1500 engine.

 

Gilly

Its the sound. good sound makes for a great imagination for when we see and play with our toy trains. Thats what got me in to the hobbie also the detail to.

The buzzing & growling sound these type of locos make is beautiful music to me.

 

 

The natural sounds of trains on tube track and air whistles are all the sound I need in the train room..., er, I mean garage.

 

To me, the best toy train sounds ever are those of classic American Flyer "choo-choo."

 

When I must have train sounds I play cds loud through my little 850 watt pa w/18" subwoofer, let the windows rattle and the spiders run for cover.  Makes a two-inch in train loudspeaker sound like a pesky mosquito.

 

Pete

I love the sound systems on my engines and also in the Station Sounds Diner cars. I do not run engines without the sound on.

 

This makes such a significant difference in an operating session. Visitors to the layout are also fascinated by he sound.

Sound = Fun. I love the sound on my trains, helps to drown out all that reality

It's important for me that the sound not be on. Rather hear the "natural" sounds of running model trains.

My preferences are scale detailed locomotives and smooth operation.  Any sounds more advanced than the bicycle horns and air whistles is fine for me (which I never liked much even as a kid).  I had about five post war sets growing up, but didn't start buying trains in bulk until scale trains with Railsounds and Protosound appeared on the market.

 

It's nice to hear a model engine sound like what I hear on the real mainlines.

 

 

I don't mind the engine sounds, horn and whistle with the volume level set on the low side.  I can do without the crew talk.  I will use the bell but only for very short periods because it starts to get rather annoying.

 

Larry

Extremely. RailSounds is what really got me into O scale big time in the early 90's. I had always been interested in model trains, but that was the clincher.

The more realistic it is, the more realistic it is.

Why anyone would want to 1/2 model something is a mystery.

Modeling means emulating. Not having a steamer smoke or chuff 

is like a trip to the Grand Canyon and looking only to the left but not the right.

 

Scrappy

Any thoughts on early (90s) railsounds?

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