Hello all, I was thinking. The ERR upgrade kits have some "general" sound. But what if I have, say, a prewar Hiawatha that I would like to upgrade to railsounds. (This is just for the benefit of the question, I have never seen a prewar Hiawatha in person.) Could I somehow get the "sound" from the lionel Hiawatha made in 2006 or am I "stuck" with what they provide?
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You are "stuck" with the sounds that are available in the ERR sound packages.
If you could find the sound board from 6-38094 the locomotive in question, you could build up a RailSounds package that would give you the sound. That's the only way you're going to get that exact sound set.
691RS50017 RAILSOUNDS 5.0 / MILW RD HIAWATHA #3 $55.00 Must contact Lionel to order.
Actually, the current ERR RailSounds Commander products are RailSounds 5 based. As to when and if they'll sell RS5 boards, only the folks at Lionel can really tell you that, any other answer is total speculation.
Lionel has been producing RailSounds 6 boards for some time now, at least according to Lionel.
Lionel site search for RailSounds 6 Boards
Here's one of the many.
"Lionel has been producing RailSounds 6 boards for some time now, at least according to Lionel. "
That's correct, Railsounds 6 boards are not new--they were standard around the time LEGACY was released/under development. However, current LEGACY and ERR sound boards use the same newer technology which we refer to as RSL. One obvious difference of the RSL board as compared to Railsounds 5 and Railsounds 6 is that the sound system and power supply are on the same PCB and there is no modular motherboard connection (ref the RS 6.0 photo above).
Rudy Trubitt
Director of Audio
Lionel LLC
The new one-board RS Commander has the legible RS5 assortment of crewtalk messages.
Wasn't the Hiawatha produced as a Hudson?
I have never seen a Lionel Hiawatha HUDSON. 
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