I have a set of Burlington chrome F3s, #6-8054/55 which I just unpacked after many years unopened in storage. The engines run great, but on power up, I got crew talk and diesel sounds as well as a horn. The box description and owners manual make no reference to any sound system in this engine. The original price tag on the set was $500.00. Hard to believe that there would not be , at least, a basic horn. I opened up the dummy unit and found a sound board and speaker which do not appear to be a
factory install. This engine was purchased new from a shop which no longer exists. There is no visible name on the sound board. the dummy has a head lite, but also has another light mounted vertically in the center of the engine behind the sound board. After running with the shell off for a bit, I shut the power down. At that point the center light filament started to glow dimly. The board incorporates 2 rather large caps, which I believe are discharging thru this light. The only identifiable components on the board are chips. One is labeled ISD 1020 AP. 2nd line, 9845, third line 5ISI005d Another chip is labeled
pic 16 c54-xt/p. 2nd line 9808 CAM.
Obviously the question here is who's board is this? Is it a Lionel product or prototype, and is there any source of information on this board? Keep in mind, the engine was purchased new from a dealer who had never opened it. The most curious thing is that an engine built in the early 80s would not at least have the traditional battery horn. Was this a cheapened product From the MPC era?
