Sound Car.

Here is a dumb question. Could one just put in a dcc sound decoder in, say a boxcar, and then add those sugar cube speakers, and wire it to wheel wipers on the car itself? Why would I have to wire it to the locomotive?

sound decoder also has motor and light functions usually so to use one decoder located in a box car you need to wire it to the loco. If you have a loco with a decoder in it already with no sound, but do not want to change the decoder then you could add a sound decoder to a 50 ft box car with wheel pickups, then you would make a consist of the loco and sound car so they operate as a single unit with one address, with this configuration you could have only one sound car with a consist of engines or a single engine. The other way is to install a sound decoder in your loco and if there is no room for the speaker just run two wires for the speaker to the box car where your speaker is located.

the question is do you want to use one decoder or two decoders to do the job.

regards Garth

I dont like the idea of a boxcar permanently attached with wires to an engine. I like the idea of an independent sound car. I figure it would be just a matter of programming it like it was a consist. But do the chips have to be attached to a motor? I am thinking wheel wipers and a car I can program would be a viable option. I am sure somebody had done this, I am just surprised nobody has come up with this commercially, an up to date version of the old "chug chug" Baby Ruth car.

Oh here is one in HO, but it squeals like a pig. www.tonystrains.com/tonystips/2006/032906.htm

Not my era, but did´t they just come out with some mechanical reefers? This looks like a nice cottage industry to convert cars into sound cars

sound only decoders do not require anything but a power source from the track and a speaker or speakers for output. There are several sources for wheel wipers to convert Z trucks to power pick up trucks with metal wheels and wipers. Here is one such source
www.sbs4dcc.com/zscalewheelaxlewipers.html

regards Garth

Kelly,
I'm no authority on DCC, but looking at the hardware, I would think that a decoder doesn't care if it's driving anything, so long as the motor leads are insulated.

I've been looking into DCC for my F7s. Machining the A unit is just too much for me. I've been thinking of using a dummy B unit to hold the decoder and run wires between the A & B units hidden behind a diaphragm. The MTL dummy units used the same trucks as the powered ones so you have a proven pick-up. Since most roads ran A-B or A-A, the required drawbar between the units isn't an issue.

As for a commercial product, it isn't a bad idea, but I don't see it happening. If you consider customers specifying passenger vs. freight, different eras, equipment type and road names, I doubt if there would be more than a couple of any one configuration ever built.

Mark

Kelly, most of my sound cars are independent of the engines and pick up power from the boxcars trucks. The exception is my Mike, it has to be attach to the motor. I guess the chuffs have to be synchronized with the motor.

Im getting my F7s sent off to be DCC´d so thank goodness I dont have to worry about cutting metal. I know most people who do the sound put them into the B unit, but the drag from them has never been resolved by anyone all these years. I do not know how much room will be inside the new E-8s, I would think one could perhaps put sound in them. Otherwise a lot of passenger trains did have baggage and some had power /steam cars in the consist. Be perfect place to put sound.
I want to thank everyone for the great answers!

Mos t sound decoders will handle 1 amp so a power A & B would work however the trucks on the dummy B units do not have power pickups, in addition to that unless you do some work on the trucks the dummy B is frequently skidding along the rails being dragged by the A unit.

the power chassis for the A and the ab is the same unit and you don't need anything more than a metal file to modify the chassis to provide clearance for a decoder TCS Z1 or CTelecktronik DCX74zD just need some capton tape to isolate DCC board from the modified chassis. I put tape on both the bottom of the board and on the bare metal of he chassis where I had used the file to provide clearance between the chassis and the inside top of the car body.

regards Garth

Garth, the shop in the link you supplied actually has kits to make pure sound cars, N or HO and they have Z parts, so I believe it is just a matter of adding the 2 together. Just a matter of fitting everything into a car. Express freight or a mail car could go on a passenger or express train. No hassles with the engine, no wires between engine and cars to deal with. Hook, program and go. I dont know if one could program more than one engine sound or whistle on one decoder, but that would really make it versatile.

Kelley, only one type of engine sound per decoder, but they are programmable. The catch is you have get the programmer to program the decoder, otherwise, you order it with the engine program into the chip. So far, so far, I have sounds for the SD70, SD40, and MP15. The next sound car is the Mikado.

Thanks! I just think it is more versatile using a separate sound car. I wonder if a decoder and a speaker or two could be squeezed into a 3 bay hopper? Now to wait until Uncle Will makes the ones I want.

Digging around, I have found quite a few people who use sound cars in the other scales. The ones that want the cars to make noise for different engines, install multiple cards. I dont have a clue how it would be wired, and I dont know if it would be possible in Z. I would think perhaps a 3 position sliding switch. I have also found tiny digital cards for sound only. I think I could even build this, but, programming the sounds, would be something I would never be able to figure out.

Kelley, the sound decoder answers to a address just like a regular decoder, so if you don't address a specific decoder, it wont make any sound.