Mine is all cab talk and some looping freight sounds, no hobo sounds?  Wrong sounds file?

Sorry to hear that. I could only say that mine seems to need some type of noise filter or capacitor. I’m not sure, but it’s not quality. I have yet to contact Lionel. I just wanted to get an idea of other people and their reactions.

Picked mine up yesterday.

The quality of the hobo figures leaves a little to be desired. I thought the "thump, thump" sounds when running were okay when the volume was lowered.

There is some slight static in the hobo sounds recording that should be corrected, but no loud squelch or other unwanted noises.  I don't have the kitchen car, but thought it was cool when one hobo says, "Care for some more beans, Mr. Taggart ? and a few minutes later the other says, "Best weiners I've ever had ."

Would you say the squelch is digital in nature? Like some stray voltage finding the speaker?

I only ask because my car does that if I charge the bluetooth adapter while listening to music through it. It's deafening.

I don't get a squelch of any kind and the Hobos sound great. My problem with it is the brake squeal and flat wheel noise while running was way too loud. When I turned down the volume you could barely hear the Hobos. I took it apart and unplugged the wheel sensor so now I have the just the hobos. It would have cool to be able to turn up or down the track sounds and hobos individually. But over all I think it is a very cool car.

Can't speak to the squelch because I didn't experience it, but as to the static in the hobo sounds recording, it sounds like it's imbedded in the recording, almost like listening to a grainy record on a Victrola, as opposed to speaker interference coming from an external source.

'course my hearing isn't what it once was !

Hello Guys just received my "Rock Island" version of the hobo sounds car.  I agree with Michael bee and Richie C. The figures leave a lot to be desired and even though the grainy recording on a Victrola is nostalgic, it's not what I want or expect to hear.  I truly hate to throw another log on this fire but the switch which enables you to turn the sound on or off does absolutely nothing on my car.

Thanks guys for the feedback. I am sad to hear that nobody seems to be happy with their purchase. The wheel thumping is much louder than the interaction between hobos, and using the car a little more the noise is definitely embedded in the recording.
Well keep the feedback coming

@Michael Bee, Thanks for the Question and starting this thread although it’s not making my day. I plan to pick up my ERIE Hobo car tomorrow and from the sounds above, it’s not the best quality of sounds I was hoping for, nor are the Hobo figures made of pewter like listed in the first catalog offering. I’m hearing plastic, not what I’m expecting. I have the Kitchen Car, and the sounds are good, the VL box car and it’s sounds are great. The hobo figures that come with the hobo water tower are pewter and the harmonica sounds great. For the price, it should be a crowd pleaser. I will give a review in the next few days. Happy Railroading Everyone

It’s a cool car and would get a lot of attention, but the short Cummins are really short. It’s a scale car and that’s a great  but everything else.. not so much. The hot box sound car was awesome and that should be offered in a scale version. I’ll try to post a pic of the hobos

I checked this car out upon announcement but was discouraged by the repeat road and bumped up price. It’s 25 bucks higher than the earlier sound car offerings. I have 6 sound cars and really didn’t need another. For me, even if I wanted it, the high price no longer justifies the item. It’s I.M.O. priced out of the marketplace like most other O items these days.

Anything can be corrected but why pay over 100 bucks only to fix it to your liking?

@SIRT posted:

I checked this car out upon announcement but was discouraged by the repeat road and bumped up price. It’s 25 bucks higher than the earlier sound car offerings. I have 6 sound cars and really didn’t need another. For me, even if I wanted it, the high price no longer justifies the item. It’s I.M.O. priced out of the marketplace like most other O items these days.

Anything can be corrected but why pay over 100 bucks only to fix it to your liking?

I received the Erie car prior to Christmas only to find a broken truck from shipping. Interesting enough, there was no damage to any of the boxes, just the plastic inserts used to hold the car. No issues from Lionel support for wanting to fix the car, but I opted to get a replacement from Mr Muffin.

I included @SIRT's comment because the price on the next round of these cars has increased from $150 to $172 and is at the point where I will look for other options if I want to add sound to a car.

I just purchased an Erie Sound car from Charles Roe.      I jumped on it because of a YouTube I watched, it sounded pretty sweet.      Your comments are discouraging, but….. we only live once.    

I'm waiting on mine to be delivered from Grzyboski's.  It's the Erie version.  Not thrilled with the figures shown here as I was expecting pewter ones from the description.   I'll probably rip them out and glue Arttista figures in their place.

FYI....they still have the Erie and Rock Island versions in stock for $135.95.  I haven't seen a lower price.

-Greg

@ScottM posted:

I received the Erie car prior to Christmas only to find a broken truck from shipping. Interesting enough, there was no damage to any of the boxes, just the plastic inserts used to hold the car. No issues from Lionel support for wanting to fix the car, but I opted to get a replacement from Mr Muffin.

I included @SIRT's comment because the price on the next round of these cars has increased from $150 to $172 and is at the point where I will look for other options if I want to add sound to a car.

"I received the Erie car prior to Christmas only to find a broken truck" Probably not from shipping. Like the AlCo S4's, the truck breaks off just picking it up.

Little secret fact about this hobby is that the companies keep raising prices while reducing the better design and quality. This sound car now might even have plastic trucks. Unlike the original PS series cars, the springs on these no longer move.

I had to make a slide switch matrix for the sound cars. Different combinations will give you more choices. In a rush to market or reduce production cost, some sound cars didn't have any markings on the bottom for the switches. The generic manual wasn't much help either. If you take time to experiment with the switch settings, room acoustics and volume pot regarding sound, you will be more satisfied with the results.

I love Lionel’s X-29 cars but couldn’t believe how cheap and light they were upon delivery. Same for those great wagon top I 12 cabooses now without smoke. A far cry from the good quality originals. Like everything else today, you pay more, and get less.

I don't believe much time is devoted to testing things anymore, it's just passed and approved at someone's word. Good to still have support like Mr. Muffin offers.

@Greg Houser posted:

I'm waiting on mine to be delivered from Grzyboski's.  It's the Erie version.  Not thrilled with the figures shown here as I was expecting pewter ones from the description.   I'll probably rip them out and glue Arttista figures in their place.

FYI....they still have the Erie and Rock Island versions in stock for $135.95.  I haven't seen a lower price.

-Greg

Charles Ro  was $136.  

I tried posting this earlier but I guess not…😞

My wife ordered mine from Lionel direct, and she paid a lot more then what I see listed above. Where I live in South Carolina we don’t have a hobby shop close so she did what she could. This is a recorded sound file and in my opinion there’s no reason why it should not be excellent quality. Even LionChief starter sets have better sound than this. At catalog pricing this is almost half of a ready to run starter set. It’s a standard oh scale box car with lousy sounds in my opinion, but I know my wife did pay a lot more than most of you.

Good reviews on Youtube. Seems most people love it.

I ordered one this morning. $135.00 not bad.

Tomorrow I’ll post an opinion on the quality and sounds of this long awaited HOBO sounds box car. I picked mine up from Phillips Toy Mart and the price was $138.45 which for a small home owned store was a good price. Guess what else, do to Built To Order, mine was the only one ordered…. Had I been the owner, I would have at least stocked 3. I’m seeing so many stores stocking less trains do  to BTO…. It’s a good looking box car. Happy Railroading Everyone

@leapinlarry post

Had I been the owner, I would have at least stocked 3. I’m seeing so many stores stocking less trains do  to BTO…. It’s a good looking box car. Happy Railroading Everyone

That was the reason I ordered one over the weekend.  I had planned to wait until Spring Thaw or York to buy one but I kept watching inventory dwindle at several of the major train shops so I went ahead and ordered one. Mine will spend the majority of its time on a siding at my planned hobo village.

-Greg

@Greg Houser, I’m glad you were able find this Hobo car and I like your idea of placing it on a siding as part of a hobo village scene, cool thinking. (By the way, your layout is coming along fine)  I have an area on my layout that might work to. I’ll show my car tomorrow. Thanks for the idea. Happy Railroading Everyone

@leapinlarry  Thank-you for the kind comments

-Greg

@MichaelB Bee, I just received my Erie Hobo sounds car and it’s really a beautiful box car. The figures look fairly good but the sounds are fine. It’s not a VisionLine car with multi functionality but for what’s intended to do, it’s fine. As @Greg Houser suggest, make a siding with other hobo accessories and it will blend in just fine. I am happy with the sounds. I’m really happy with the color, markings and add on detail. Great post, lots of different analyzations. Happy Railroading Everyone

Hobos don't have bright clothes, or at least they don't stay bright for long!   This guy needs a little dirt!

You’re right they don’t stay bright for long that’s funny. Yeah I guess I’m glad this has brought some attention to this car. I thought it was a really cool idea. My expectations are usually really high anyway and I’m usually let down. But I’m glad a lot of people are showing interest in some of these cars because it does add life to the Layout.

I love the sound cars, I've even built my own, and added remote control to a number of the Lionel conventional cars so you can control the sound mode and volume remotely while they run.

Remote Control for Lionel Sound Boxcars

I received mine from Charles Ro the other day. Once again Lionel's catalog advertisement promoted a item and once again the delivered item is a bit shy of the expectation. Advertised with "pewter" figures, which implies Arttista-level quality - they are in fact rubber and goofy-looking. The car is a nice-looking boxcar with decent trucks. Track test to commence once I clear-off some track!

Noted the made in Vietnam. I have mixed feelings about this, and anything made overseas, though, in keeping with Leaping Larry's positive altitude, I need to be grateful that someone can make and sell these toys.

@Paul Kallus, your description is accurate, these hobo’s are prosperous gentlemen just sitting in the doorway of one of the newer box cars having a few laughs and catching up on the latest news. The box car alone is a very nicely made box car, nice metal roof walkway and the steps, ladders, paint scheme is great. One could weather the figures, but it’s definitely a conversation starter, I like it. All in all, I want the Frisco version and that will be all I’ll need. One thing, these are sound cars that come on automatically, the VisionLine sounds cars can be programmed with the Cab remotes and sound so much better. This is a cool thread. Happy Railroading Everyone

I’ve tried to resist posting my homemade New Haven hobo boxcar #33406 in this thread but here it is – with two passengers by Arttista but, of course, no sounds. I’ve been running this car for years. I don’t miss the hobo sounds but hope that everyone enjoys your Lionel cars – and Happy New Year.

MELGAR

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Hobos don't have bright clothes, or at least they don't stay bright for long!   This guy needs a little dirt!

....but do they have bug eyes???? LOL!

Melgar, you're post has given a great idea. I've got some Arttista hobos just sitting around the layout, and so if I can remove the rubber chaps without doing damage to the car, I'll add their better-looking cousins . BTW: the talk of hobos reminds me of a lesser-known Jimmy Stewart movie where he played a hobo and rode the rails. I enjoyed it, but I cannot recall the name. It was on TCM (Turner Classic Movie channel).

Lionel definitely needs to step up their game regarding figures. Engine figures as well. These remind me of the 3rd rail ones offered. Fine for filling up a passenger car but not to be viewed out in the open.

Seeing these cars have open doors. For those switching out the figures. Painting and weathering the floor would make the cars pop a little more.

Just curious as to what these cars have for trucks. Are the couplers easily removed and is there a Kadee mounting pad in place ?

@MELGAR posted:

I’ve tried to resist posting my homemade New Haven hobo boxcar #33406 in this thread but here it is – with two passengers by Arttista but, of course, no sounds. I’ve been running this car for years. I don’t miss the hobo sounds but hope that everyone enjoys your Lionel cars – and Happy New Year.

MELGAR

Nice looking car and great job.

FWIW, the new Lionel hobo cars not only produce "hobo talk" when stopped, but also "freight sounds" when moving and the volume of those sounds is adjustable.

@Dave_C posted:

Lionel definitely needs to step up their game regarding figures. Engines as well. These remind me of the 3rd rail ones offered. Fine for filling up a passenger car but not to be viewed out in the open.

Seeing these cars have open doors. For those switching out the figures. Painting and weathering the floor would make the cars pop a little more.

Just curious as to what these cars have for trucks. Are the couplers easily removed and is there a Kadee mounting pad in place ?

Some random junk behind the figures might look good as well.

Adding some random junk would be cool maybe a flickering light.

Gentlemen I agree that some dullcote would help these guys out and maybe a little less of the adult beverages would have prevented the bulging eyes. Less adult beverages on the hobo's part, not the guy who painted the figures. Haven't decided whether or not the guy painting the figures should have drank more or less. Guys I am NOT an electronics expert by any means but I can't understand why the sounds have the quality of a needle on an old record album. It seems this would have been an easy fix before production began.  I'm curious if the quality is the same on all of the cars, actually embedded in the sound file. 

Well, I think we are wanting very realistic figures, and if the advertising in the catalog came to fruition, Pewter figures, the hobo fellows would have been much more realistic. I understand that things change, I accept the change and I’m ok with this fun to listen to car. There’s a big  difference from the normal sounds box car and the more pricy VisionLine box car. @MELGAR, Melgar box car, like his amazing layout, is a really cool hobo car, very well thought out. In summation, I’m very pleased with this new car, awaiting the FRISCO version, and I look forward to more Lionel sounds cars and sounds accessories.

@Weener Dog posted:

Gentlemen I agree that some dullcote would help these guys out and maybe a little less of the adult beverages would have prevented the bulging eyes. Less adult beverages on the hobo's part, not the guy who painted the figures. Haven't decided whether or not the guy painting the figures should have drank more or less. Guys I am NOT an electronics expert by any means but I can't understand why the sounds have the quality of a needle on an old record album. It seems this would have been an easy fix before production began.  I'm curious if the quality is the same on all of the cars, actually embedded in the sound file.

Hey Weener Dog,

I think the background sound You hear is an Outside Campfire with the cracking & popping of a wood fire !!!   Maybe from one of the earlier Hobo Accessories they issued years back!!! However I dont see the Fire inside the Boxcar !!  LOL

FREDSTRAINS