Well, in Merrie Olde England, model railroading is starting to swing with fixed-placement sound modules that will be right at home for anyone who wants an occasional horn or whistle blast, or even some background noise.
Remtrak of Newton Abbott, Devon, offers sound modules that you can buy and quickly install on your layout.
When I went shopping, I discovered that Remtrak has an amazing selection of both hardware and sound bundles. Almost too many for a Yank who doesn’t know the difference between the whistle of the Duchess of Sutherland and a hooter on an EWS Class 66. Follow me?
I paused to consider two general choices from the Remtrak catalog, the “Mini Sound Effects” modules, and the larger “SND Sound Effects” modules. The mini-modules contain as many as three sounds and use external speakers, while the SND modules use larger, self-contained speakers and can offer as many as five different sounds.
I bought the SND25 module, which features whistle blasts from a Gresley 4-6-2, a Bullied 4-6-2, the Great Western Railway’s King George V, and a tank engine. These are reproductions of actual locomotive whistles, not synthesized sounds.
When my package arrived, I couldn’t wait to get going. The SND25 module has eight terminals: two for power, one for a common ground, and the remaining five to activate individual sounds.
On my module, the terminals were marked with the numbers 1 through 4. The line for the common ground was marked “Comm.”
I needed pushbutton switches, one for each sound. Remtrak sells what you need, or you can buy momentary contact pushbuttons from Radio Shack. So after a brief snip-snip of wires and mating the terminals with the buttons, I was ready to connect the juice.
The module requires either a 9-16 volt AC power source or a 12-16 volt DC power source. I decided to use a leftover Lionel starter set transformer. Presto! Instant British locomotive whistle. Cool.
There is an easy-to-reach volume control that you can adjust with a small screwdriver. Even at half-volume, the rig packed enough punch, and sound reproduction was quite good.
Remtrak has a wide range of sound bundles, including British level-crossing alarms, vintage British steam and diesel locomotives, as well as Swiss and German locomotive and highway-crossing sounds. A wide range of American sounds is also available, ranging from steam whistle shrieks to diesel horn blasts, plus highway-crossing, station, and street sounds.
For the occasions when you park your Union Pacific Big Boy on a siding to let the 4:10 to Paddington Station take the right-of-way, sound modules from Remtrak are an easy way to get some hard-to-find-in-America sounds on your layout.
