Lionel Penn Central SD70ACe

Mine does the same thing.  I think it is supposed to mimic some sort of engine sounds.  At first I thought something was wrong.  But both of mine do the same thing.  I hear it mostly at idle.  Initially it was annoying because I thought something was wrong.  Now, it is like white noise to me.

Thanks for the reply jpcommons.  At least it appears to be something common to the newer SD70ACe sound-set, and not a warranty issue. I really don't know what that sound would represent on a 1 to 1 SD70ACe..?

I don't have a Lionel SD70ACE, but I do have a couple of MTH engines that I think may have the sound you describe and I also thought, as jpcommons said above, that it was part of the engine sounds? I would have to run them to say exactly which ones have it. I only have one Lionel Dash-9 and I don't remember it doing that, but I would have to run it to say for sure.

The sounds I'm hearing is almost like a random static noise behind the actual prime mover sounds. Almost like static you experience during a bad radio station signal.  It's not present on any of my other Lionel Legacy Diesels. That's what made me think it might be a bad board or something in the railsounds itself.  I'm really not sure what this "noise" would represent on an actual Locomotive.

Mine don't sound like radio static, they really do sound like part of the engine sound, so maybe that's not it? I am quite prototypically challenged, so I don't really know what the real thing sounds like. I just have to trust the manufacturers to get the sounds right. On the brighter side, this saves me a lot of grief when the sounds are not quite right though as I don't know the difference.

Hello...maybe radio static is "not" an accurate description....it's probably a little bit of a heavier sound...I don't know....I'm not up on "Jaynes Book of Locomotive Sounds" either (lol)....It just doesn't sound like a locomotive prime mover sound....and the fact that my older Lionel Legacy SD70ACe doesn't have it made me question it, that's all.

Can you post some audio?

I've never done that....Let me see if I can figure out to do that..??

A YouTube video is fine, that'll give us the audio as well.

I have the Lionel Legacy SD70ACE in the Virginian fantasy livery and it has the ticking sound only its completely rhythmic.  In my opinion it is not very noticeable.

I have 6 of the Lionel SD70Ace NS heritage units. They all have the sound you describe but is very subtle to my ears. It is part of the sound set. 

The ES44ac sound set is even better IMO.

Thanks to all who have replied...it sounds as though this tck noise is common to the newer SD70ACe sound set. It's definitely "not" present on my BNSF SD70ACe from a few years back. I will try and capture the audio and post it so others can compare to their SD70ACe's and see if it's the same. Thanks .

That noise is probably an "air pressure release" for the braking system on prototype locomotives. It is part of the soundset. I have 2 of the Lionel es44ac's and also have that noise. It is really noticeable at idle and slow speeds. I like it. Go trackside where a real locomotive is idling and you are sure to hear it.

My Amtrak DASH-9 has it. Didn't really notice till you mentioned it.  RICH

I have the Lionel NS Heritage PRR ES44ac's and also the older die-cast version and I don't hear this noise on either of those Locomotives. I hear and have heard compressed air blow-offs on real Locomotives and this doesn't resemble that sound at all. I am working on trying to record an audio/video of it (looking to borrow some good equipment), and hope to post something soon. From everything posted here so far, I tend to believe it "is" part of the sound-set on the newer SD70ACe's, (my older BNSF SD70ACe does "not" have this noise), and that's really what it is, some sort of annoying background noise. It's not really anything I can identify that would be on a real Locomotive unless that Locomotive was experiencing a mechanical malfunction. My thought is that it is some "outside" noise that got mixed in during the recording of the sound-set that is not railroad related, but maybe there will be a better explanation for it after everyone who's responded gets to hear the actual noise. Thanks for everyone's input to date.