Lionel Legacy AC-9 Whistle Steam Demo

Cool photos but, I don't see/hear anything in your video.

Well that's much better than the ole hole in the boiler trick. It's the details that matter. Thank you for sharing.

Do you think steam effects from the steam chest will ever come back?

J Daddy posted:

 

Do you think steam effects from the steam chest will ever come back?

Do you mean the cylinder cocks, located on the bottom of the cylinders?

That is really cool.  I have the ATSF 3000 and I really like how the smoke actually exits from whistle itself not a conspicuous hole in the top of the boiler.  Thank you for making the effort to have the steam leave the whistle on the AC9.

Have you ever considered wiring the fan motors so that they always push air through the plumbing, even if the smoke effect switch is in the off position?  I wonder if that regular movement of air would prevent clogging.  Just a thought for your engineers to consider.

Thanks for sharing the video.

Thanks for sharing Dave!  Did you get your catalog?  LOL!

MartyE posted:

Thanks for sharing Dave!  Did you get your catalog?  LOL!

I don't think that catalog video is professional.

Thanks Dave, did you end up ordering what you wanted from the new catalog?  

Nice I like it!!

It looks nice, can't wait to see the other products 

Is there a video that one can see and LISTEN to the sound of the whistle on this new model?  I understand that it is a fine sounding whistle.

Steve

Ok, I'll play along. Since you've already gone through the trouble of casting the whistle as a hollow piece, why not just go all the whole 9 yards and blow it out the mouth of the whistle like its supposed to, rather than out the top?

"Thanks for sharing Dave!  Did you get your catalog?  LOL!"

"Thanks Dave, did you end up ordering what you wanted from the new catalog?   "

Yes and yes. I'm personally excited for the AC-9 and the S-2 Prewar-color set!

"Have you ever considered wiring the fan motors so that they always push air through the plumbing, even if the smoke effect switch is in the off position?  I wonder if that regular movement of air would prevent clogging.  Just a thought for your engineers to consider."

I have explored options on helping to prevent the meniscus that blocks up the smoke units. Constantly running the fan would contribute to a short motor life, so that wouldn't work. But look for improvements in the future!

"Is there a video that one can see and LISTEN to the sound of the whistle on this new model?  I understand that it is a fine sounding whistle."

My apologies for not explaining this. When I receive samples, it's for the initial mechanical inspection. So there has been no code work or sound work done yet. I agree the original whistle was very nice, but it'll require a lot of work to bring it up to Legacy standards (I.E. making it quillable). Had I put the sounds in from another steam engine, I would have never heard the end of it. We all know how this forum works. 

"Since you've already gone through the trouble of casting the whistle as a hollow piece, why not just go all the whole 9 yards and blow it out the mouth of the whistle like its supposed to, rather than out the top?"

This was explored. The issue was that the mouth would not have allowed for enough escape for the smoke. This would run the risk of choking off the smoke unit and likely causing the fluid to constantly plug the holes. Also, with the mouth having holes, the entire whistle structure would have been weakened and fragile.

Thanks again!

Hey Dave, when will we see the cylinder steam effect on another engine like here:  https://youtu.be/SaKSdRrFnbY

"...why not just go all the whole 9 yards and blow it out the mouth of the whistle like its supposed to, rather than out the top?"

You see what happens? It just never ends.

I use the horn on my TMCC AC-9 (favorite articulated, real and model - if your new one had been after the oil conversion...you might have had me...) - so - air horns often eject vapor ("steam") when used...now, where's my air horn "vapor"? 

Seriously, great effort on the whistle steam. Better than the hole.

D500 posted:

so - air horns often eject vapor ("steam") when used...now, where's my air horn "vapor"? 

In all my years of working in the railroad motive power industry, I have NEVER seen an air horn admit "vapor"! Remember that the compressed air supply on diesel locomotives is cooled & dried, twice.

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the response.  I should have been more clear.  I meant to suggest that the fan motors could spin when the whistle is activated via the CAB2, regardless of whether the smoke effect is on or not.  That way the fan would work more often (whenever the whistle is on) than current settings but not be spinning constantly.

IMO smoke out of the top of the whistle casting is a big improvement and I am more than satisfied by this improvement!  Good job!

Thanks Dave!!

I am extremely interested in the AC-9; hoping to see and hear a video of it running;  let us know when a video is available.

Yeah, I noticed that whistle angle in the catalog!  It should be a blast!  Thanks!  Bill's O-gauge Trains!

Never stop improving.

Thanks for taking the time to give us this update, Dave. This new method for whistle steam is a lot better in my opinion. Can't wait to see the new AC-9's and (personally) the Light Mikados later this year.

I sent Dave an e-mail on Sunday about the AC-9 and he replied the same day. He really is trying hard to make this as good a model as possible. I appreciate your help, Dave !!

Scrappy

Dave Olson posted:

 

"Is there a video that one can see and LISTEN to the sound of the whistle on this new model?  I understand that it is a fine sounding whistle."

My apologies for not explaining this. When I receive samples, it's for the initial mechanical inspection. So there has been no code work or sound work done yet. I agree the original whistle was very nice, but it'll require a lot of work to bring it up to Legacy standards (I.E. making it quillable). Had I put the sounds in from another steam engine, I would have never heard the end of it. We all know how this forum works. 

 

Then why are the wrong sound sets put in the diesel locomotives(or atleast ones that sound nothing like the real ones).....sorry couldn't resist.  

Boilermaker1 posted:

Ok, I'll play along. Since you've already gone through the trouble of casting the whistle as a hollow piece, why not just go all the whole 9 yards and blow it out the mouth of the whistle like its supposed to, rather than out the top?

That does it, I gonna cancel my order!  They have the dang thing blowing out the wrong end. 

Jason, your saying the thing toots one way,  shots steam out the other hole.

So all them cartoons we seen with a whistle blowing steam out the top along with what looked like sound coming from a side whole. all along it was a fake cartoons.

Man doesn't that beat all!  

Hey Dave, I used your AC-9 whistle smoke effect video today in one of my blog post, hope that's OK!  Here it is, if you would like to take a look:  Bill's O-Gauge Trains / Blog  Thanks bud!

Bill Yates posted:

Hey Dave, I used your AC-9 whistle smoke effect video today in one of my blog post, hope that's OK!  Here it is, if you would like to take a look:  Bill's O-Gauge Trains / Blog  Thanks bud!

Thanks for posting that, as I could play THAT video.

On the other hand, I hope that Lionel does NOT continue to use those green class lights, as shown in the video.

What's wrong with the green class lights?  On my RR, there's always an extra section coming along as the train comes around the loop again.  It seems that they should be green.

Now, the folks that use red class lights on the front of the locomotive do confuse me...

gunrunnerjohn posted:

What's wrong with the green class lights?  On my RR, there's always an extra section coming along as the train comes around the loop again.  It seems that they should be green.

Well, if you are operating under a true timetable, yes green could be appropriate. Otherwise, white class would be best as EVERYTHING is an Extra then.

Now, the folks that use red class lights on the front of the locomotive do confuse me...

Right. Christmas all the time, I guess.

HW, my RR, so I declare I'm always operating under a true timetable.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Now, the folks that use red class lights on the front of the locomotive do confuse me...

That was a pretty weird practice back in the 90's...look at LTI Lionel and MTH Proto 1 steamers...

Dave Olson posted:

Hi everyone!

Considering the positive feedback I received after posting information on the 65' Gondola and LC+ 726 Berk, I'm going to post more information/images on products as time permits.

Today, I was going over our AC-9 engineering sample and thought I would share the whistle steam design. Obviously it's a feature that has been put into many of our steam engines over the past number of years, so people know what it is. But this one is unique. I may have a biased opinion as well considering I'm a Southern Pacific guy. 

The whistle is on the side of the boiler and points at an upward angle toward the rear of the locomotive. It's very fun!

Excuse the smoke fluid mess in the photo/video. We're always beating up on samples in engineering! Also, I had disabled the main stack smoke to better demonstrate the whistle smoke.

Thanks for taking a look! If you have any questions on this loco, I'll answer the best I can.

Dave... I Love that newly designed whistle. A huge improvement to this already awesome effect. Just reserved a daylight AC-9

Looks great, just like the real thing.

Boilermaker1 posted:

Ok, I'll play along. Since you've already gone through the trouble of casting the whistle as a hollow piece, why not just go all the whole 9 yards and blow it out the mouth of the whistle like its supposed to, rather than out the top?

Your asking the smoke substance to make a hard 90 degree turn in a pin hole opening.You are begging for problems.Nick

What whistle audio are they going to use in the new AC-9's?

wrawroacx posted:

What whistle audio are they going to use in the new AC-9's?

The AC-9 samples are not available to me right now, so I stuck the sound file into a M1a tender and used the S2 as the engine. Sometimes you have to Frankenstein it. 

So this is the audio that'll be in the Legacy AC-9 as shipped. The whistle is the same recording we used in the TMCC release of the engine, but reworked so that it's quillable. I think Rudy @Railsounds did a great job!

Unless I'm hearing a different video, that sounds like the whistle in my legacy 3751?

This was the TMCC whistle I was thinking of which sounds different to my ear.

https://youtu.be/vC0OjBtyjmE?t=21s

Surefire posted:

Unless I'm hearing a different video, that sounds like the whistle in my legacy 3751?

I don't know about the whistle on your 3751, however the Southern Pacific "freight whistle" might sound a LOT like the 5 or 6 chime whistle on Santa Fe steam power. Thus, the whistle in Dave Olson's post is the most correct whistle for Southern Pacific freight locomotives, in my opinion.

This was the TMCC whistle I was thinking of which sounds different to my ear.

https://youtu.be/vC0OjBtyjmE?t=21s

That whistle is completely incorrect for ANY Southern Pacific freight steam locomotive.

Sounds good to me!  I lived a mile from a rail line in Masontown, Pa. and at night from my 2nd story bed room window, I could plainly hear the old steam locomotives whistle as they went by and this one brings back that memory.  Like I already don't have enough locomotives.

Surefire posted:

Unless I'm hearing a different video, that sounds like the whistle in my legacy 3751?

This was the TMCC whistle I was thinking of which sounds different to my ear.

https://youtu.be/vC0OjBtyjmE?t=21s

Thanks Dave for posting the audio sample. Yes it does sound similar to the original AC-9, but this one sounds higher pitched. As to what Surefire mentions, he is kind of correct. That whistle above sounds very close or exactly like this video below that someone did of 3759.

But something about the original AC-9 sounds lower tone. Yes I know the tender is covering the speaker, but still, doesn't it sound different compared to the new whistle release?

The original AC-9, the ATSF 3751, and the Legacy AC-9 whistle all come from the same recording of the ATSF 3751. For the original AC-9, it was pitched lower. We pitched it higher for this AC-9 release to make it closer to the SP Freight Whistle as HW mentioned above.

Dave Olson posted:

The original AC-9, the ATSF 3751, and the Legacy AC-9 whistle all come from the same recording of the ATSF 3751. For the original AC-9, it was pitched lower. We pitched it higher for this AC-9 release to make it closer to the SP Freight Whistle as HW mentioned above.

Good choice, Dave. For what it's worth, back in the American Freedom Train days, we carried a big Santa Fe 6 chime whistle on the Fireman's side. That whistle was returned to the owner in 1977, at San Louis Obispo, CA. In later years, SP 4449 did cary a, SP freight whistle on the Fireman's side, and both sound pretty similar. That really nice SP freight whistle, which was owned by one of our longstanding crew members, was stolen right off the locomotive while she was still in the SP/UP Brooklyn Roundhouse, in Portland , OR. We no longer carry any whistle on the Fireman's side of SP 4449.