Sound for CR locos

David Thorpe · Post by **David Thorpe** » Sat Oct 04, 2014 12:00 pm

Hello everyone. This is my first posting on the forum. I'm currently endeavouring, with mixed success, to create a P4 layout based in a fictitional location in the CR Northern Division some time in the 1950s. Space, or rather lack of it, precluded a real location.

As a DCC modeller, I've recently fitted sound to some of my locos and have been impressed with the results. I know it's not for everyone, but diesel has always been good and now steam too is pretty realistic and adds a new dimension to driving the train.

I have however been disappointed that there do not appear to be any sound files commercially available for Caley locos, particularly the distinctive hooter. However, I have been in touch with Paul Chetter, who does the soundfiles for the Zimo decoders sold by Digitrains, and he tells me that he has some Caledonian hooter recordings and could substitute them into any of his steam projects if so requested. He also tells me that if anyone can help him gain access to existing locos for recording sessions, he'd be happy to create customised sound projects to suit.

DT

Jim Summers · Post by **Jim Summers** » Sun Oct 05, 2014 7:33 pm

Now that is news I have been waiting to hear, David.
What a useful first posting.

Unfortunately, the hooter on 419 at Bo'ness will be silent a while longer, though I believe the boiler is now complete at Riley's.
But I do know a man with a steamroller equipped with a Caley whistle, and it recently sounded for the first time in 50 years. Which must have impressed the folk around the Metropolitan line at Amersham no end.

Jim S

David Elvy · Post by **David Elvy** » Sun Oct 05, 2014 8:45 pm

I spoke previously with Jim McIntosh about making a suitable recording of 828, unfortunately the recording company I also spoke with failed to agree a date prior to 828 being taken out of service. It's not just the whistle sound but also that of the blast pipe and as 828 still has its original CR components she should give a good recording for most of our post 1882 models.

Anyone know when 828 will be back in service?

Regards David

dumb buffer · Post by **dumb buffer** » Mon Oct 06, 2014 9:06 am

There used to be various Transacord recordings of CR locos. I had one myself of two Pickersgill 4-4-0s going over Druimachdar, until my wife threw it out

. A friend of mine had, as I recall a 45rpm disc of, inter alia, a CR 0-4-4T. I would have thought that a suitable range of noises could be had there.

Allan F

MIKEWILLIAMS · Post by **MIKEWILLIAMS** » Mon Oct 06, 2014 9:26 am

And don't forget the Westinghouse pump.
Best

Mike

jim mac · Post by **jim mac** » Mon Oct 06, 2014 11:34 am

828 will not be in service for some considerable time, probably not before 2016, at the earliest.
jim mac

Dave John · Post by **Dave John** » Sun Oct 12, 2014 10:37 pm

I have a copy of Argo Transacord EAF 74, caledonian engines. It is not in good condition, but I have transferred it to computer and used audacity to clean and edit the best parts as mp3 files. I then put these on an ipod and can have them as background railway sounds. There is a very good section where the westinghouse pump is clearly heard.

These do turn upon ebay.

I am quite happy to share these, though I don't know the position with regard to copyright.

David Elvy · Post by **David Elvy** » Mon Oct 13, 2014 9:10 am

I'll contact one of the DCC firms I regularly deal with and who were going to help with recording 828, unless someone else has a contact in the DCC world.

David

Steve Parsons · Post by **Steve Parsons** » Mon Oct 13, 2014 5:36 pm

Dave John wrote:I have a copy of Argo Transacord EAF 74, caledonian engines. It is not in good condition, but I have transferred it to computer and used audacity to clean and edit the best parts as mp3 files. I then put these on an ipod and can have them as background railway sounds. There is a very good section where the westinghouse pump is clearly heard.

These do turn upon ebay.

I am quite happy to share these, though I don't know the position with regard to copyright.

There's a copy on ebay at the moment for £7.95p with two days left to run if any ones interested, here's the link
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Argo-Transaco ... 4870c30420
Regards Steve

David Elvy · Post by **David Elvy** » Wed Jan 09, 2019 6:54 am

I know some have been looking at commissioning sound projects for decoders, is their any chance of a wee update on this, how is it all going, when might we be able to hear the new sound decoders, when might we be able to order them and which decoder is it planned to load the sound files on.

If it helps I want 3 to start with.

David

Jim Summers · Post by **Jim Summers** » Wed Jan 09, 2019 9:18 am

David,
We have been involved with SouthWest Digital, who hoped that recordings made during the Caledonian weekend at Bo'ness would enhance what they had confirmed could be put on the chip.

Victorian Lad, whose work is no stranger to this Forum, had arranged for such recordings to be made. We await to hear how these worked out and if he can make them available to the decoder chaps, as he kindly did for the original recordings.

JimS

Victorian_Lad · Post by **Victorian_Lad** » Fri Jan 11, 2019 3:18 am

Jim Summers wrote:David,
We have been involved with SouthWest Digital, who hoped that recordings made during the Caledonian weekend at Bo'ness would enhance what they had confirmed could be put on the chip.

Victorian Lad, whose work is no stranger to this Forum, had arranged for such recordings to be made. We await to hear how these worked out and if he can make them available to the decoder chaps, as he kindly did for the original recordings.

JimS

Unfortunately, we were unable to record No. 419 during or after the CR gala since it would had been too busy and the engine wasnt completely run in yet. However, we are planning to go back to record her when the new season starts in spring and when 419 is in full chat. As soon as I know a date when we are schedule to record her, I shall let you all know. Of course, the CRA has full rights to any of the recordings I obtain for their own use as with the recordings of 828.

Kris

Jim Summers · Post by **Jim Summers** » Fri Jan 11, 2019 12:07 pm

Thanks for the update, Kris.

Folk might be interested to know that the mechanical boss at Bo'ness, who of course is effectively the man who rebuilt her, says she is the smoothest running steam engine he has ever dealt with.
Admittedly, he is less keen on the accessibility of some of the parts of the engine, but for movement, he is much impressed.
Certainly sounded like a sewing machine to me on that memorable weekend, but I agree that there was a lot of other activity and engines around, so postponing recording was probably wise.

JimS

Carina M · Post by **Carina M** » Tue Jan 15, 2019 12:19 pm

I have just had a timely update from Steve of South West Digital about this project. ESU, who produce the LokSound range of sound decoders which SWD use as the platform for their own soundfiles, have recently announced an upgraded sound decoder, the Loksound v5. This comes with many new features, but will not be available until mid March for the LS v5 micro, which comes with a sugar cube speaker.

As the LSv4 is no longer being produced the Caledonian project release has been put back but will be worth the wait.

I have made Steve aware that (courtesy of Kris) the CRA may be able to supply sound recordings of No. 419 in perhaps three months’ time, but of course it is for SWD to judge if the recordings of No. 828 are sufficient to produce a first-class soundfile, or whether additional recordings would enhance this.

Carina

Jim Summers · Post by **Jim Summers** » Thu Jan 31, 2019 12:09 pm

Those pursuing 419 for sound or other purposes might be interested in this news item from the SRPS:

"Our Caley Tank has proved to be a very popular attraction since she returned to steam in October and is soon to visit the Churnet Valley Railway in February for their steam gala.

There is an opportunity to photograph and travel behind No. 419 with our two Caledonian Railway coaches on the Bo’ness & Kinneil Railway on Thursday 18th April 2019. The photo charter will operate between 0800 and 2000, and provide attendees the chance to capture a classic Caledonian Railway scene at locations along our railway line in the height of spring. The day will cost £75, with all monies raised going towards the continued upkeep of the SRPS."

JimS

Carina M · Post by **Carina M** » Wed Jun 19, 2019 4:14 pm

Those who were at the AGM in March may recall a brief update on the development by South West Digital of a decoder with a soundfile recorded from CR No. 828. SWD plan to use the new v5 Micro Loksound decoder from ESU as the hardware platform. At that time SWD were expecting delivery from ESU in mid-April, giving an estimated project completion date around end May/early June.

The latest update from SWD is that the standard version of the v5 Micro has a wire harness made from flexible PCB material, but SWD’s own version of the decoder is being made with wire tails so as to make it easier to hard wire rather than using the flex pcb, and this is what they will use for this project. However they are still waiting for this version. ESU advise end of July now which is frustrating both for SWD and for those of us who want authentic sound from our Caley engines. But we shall get there, hopefully before much longer. Watch this space!

Carina M

David Elvy · Post by **David Elvy** » Wed Jun 19, 2019 9:00 pm

Carina,

Do you have any technical details about the decoder planned to load the sound on?

David

Carina M · Post by **Carina M** » Thu Jun 20, 2019 10:03 am

David,

On the SWD website www.southwestdigital.co.uk go to the Latest News page. From that you can download the LS v5 English Manual. This is a 112 page document but it has a comprehensive contents list so that you should be able to extract the information you need. I found it easier to save the document as a pdf and then refer to that. A couple of points to note:
• This manual covers all versions of the v5 decoder, not just the micro
• The interconnect harnesses listed do not include the SWD wire tail version I mentioned in my last post.
Hope this helps.

Carina

Steve Parsons · Post by **Steve Parsons** » Wed Jul 03, 2019 7:20 am

Hmm........ you couldn't rewrite that last post in English by any chance could you?

Carina M · Post by **Carina M** » Wed Jul 03, 2019 10:15 am

Steve, I'm not sure what clarification you're looking for. My earlier post (June 19) lists the various harness options, and the Loksound v5 manual illustrates the standard configurations. I agree this manual is a formidable document, especially as it's a translation from the original German. If you've any specific questions from my last post I'll try to respond.

Carina

Barry Rhys · Post by **Barry Rhys** » Wed Jul 03, 2019 10:45 pm

Steve Parsons wrote: ↑
Wed Jul 03, 2019 7:20 am
Hmm........ you couldn't rewrite that last post in English by any chance could you?

It is in English. Perfect English too. What can't you understand about it? If you can't understand it technically, then that has nothing to do with the English used. Even the technical content makes perfect sense in conjunction with Carina's previous post.

Neil

Steve Parsons · Post by **Steve Parsons** » Sat Jul 06, 2019 6:09 am

Oh I do appologìse I didn't realise not having a sence of humour was an esential necessity before posting on this forum

jimwatt2mm · Post by **jimwatt2mm** » Sat Jul 06, 2019 7:13 pm

Barry Rhys wrote: ↑
Wed Jul 03, 2019 10:45 pm
It is in English. Perfect English too. What can't you understand about it? If you can't understand it technically, then that has nothing to do with the English used. Even the technical content makes perfect sense in conjunction with Carina's previous post.

I think this comment was uncalled for. There is no need to be disparaging of someone because they don't fully understand the technicalities of DCC sound. I am among those, as I have enough difficulty finding room for a decoder, let alone a sound chip and speaker.

Jim W

caley739 · Post by **caley739** » Sun Jul 07, 2019 6:23 am

Steve Parsons wrote: ↑
Sat Jul 06, 2019 6:09 am
Oh I do appologìse I didn't realise not having a sence of humour was an esential necessity before posting on this forum

Surely this post was uncalled for. It does not really meet the usual courteous standard of debate on the forum. (even with good spelling

)

Sinclair · Post by **Sinclair** » Sun Jul 07, 2019 8:49 am

Can we please desist from the type of comments which are appearing in this thread. I think we can all agree that we have all sorts of technical abilities and knowledge amongst the membership of the forum across a wide range of topics.

This is its strength and people have been very generous in sharing throughout the life of the forum to help grow and spread that knowledge across the wider membership.

Carina has kindly offered to answer any specific questions - let’s keep this thread for that purpose and further updates on this exciting development for Caledonian Railway modellers which has come from the generosity of time and resources of CRA members Jim, Carina and Kris alongside the technical know how of South West Digital.

I don’t want to have to lock this thread, so can we get back to the sounds of CR locos without any other noise!

Sinclair
CRA webmaster

Caledonian Railway Association Forum