Chevron_GATX
Member
So, I've made the decision . . . I'm going with the "big" 'N'.
I'm thinking of running both Southern Pacific and Union Pacific since I see both roadnames used quite a lot in the Los Angeles area. My preferred roadname is Southern Pacific, but going with N-scale leaves me fewer selections. Here's what I see available in SP roadnames on MTS' site so far:
1. Atlas Master Line GE B30-7: DCC-ready [Southern Pacific, Roman-typeface logo; three available road numbers]
2. Atlas EMD GP30: DCC-equipped [Cotton Belt; three available road numbers]
3. Atlas EMD GP30 Phase 2 DCC-ready [Cotton Belt; three available road numbers]
4. Bachmann EMD DDA40X DCC-equipped [Union Pacific; three available road numbers]
[Edit: See post in page 3 of this thread to see which locos I ended up with.]
Now, since I'm unsure of how feasible the required modifications are for in-loco sound production (or, wiring to a "buffer" car to house speakers), I'm thinking of running all engines as DC-only. I watched the Kato Soundbox demo, and it sounds pretty amazing. I also really like the option of using different Soundtraxx cards, and I've already picked out the two I would like to get (should I go this route):
A. Third-generation GE diesel.
B. Third-generation EMD diesel.
So then, since all of my engines are either DCC-ready, or actually have decoders built-in, does this seem like an unnecessary expense? I don't really need DCC capability other than the fact that I would like sound. But since N-scale is so small, I'm sure I would be disappointed by any in-engine sound transducers, even if I were able to fit them in somewhere. Thanks in advance for any comments or suggestions!
I'm thinking of running both Southern Pacific and Union Pacific since I see both roadnames used quite a lot in the Los Angeles area. My preferred roadname is Southern Pacific, but going with N-scale leaves me fewer selections. Here's what I see available in SP roadnames on MTS' site so far:
1. Atlas Master Line GE B30-7: DCC-ready [Southern Pacific, Roman-typeface logo; three available road numbers]
2. Atlas EMD GP30: DCC-equipped [Cotton Belt; three available road numbers]
3. Atlas EMD GP30 Phase 2 DCC-ready [Cotton Belt; three available road numbers]
4. Bachmann EMD DDA40X DCC-equipped [Union Pacific; three available road numbers]
[Edit: See post in page 3 of this thread to see which locos I ended up with.]
Now, since I'm unsure of how feasible the required modifications are for in-loco sound production (or, wiring to a "buffer" car to house speakers), I'm thinking of running all engines as DC-only. I watched the Kato Soundbox demo, and it sounds pretty amazing. I also really like the option of using different Soundtraxx cards, and I've already picked out the two I would like to get (should I go this route):
A. Third-generation GE diesel.
B. Third-generation EMD diesel.
So then, since all of my engines are either DCC-ready, or actually have decoders built-in, does this seem like an unnecessary expense? I don't really need DCC capability other than the fact that I would like sound. But since N-scale is so small, I'm sure I would be disappointed by any in-engine sound transducers, even if I were able to fit them in somewhere. Thanks in advance for any comments or suggestions!
Last edited by a moderator: