Frisco Chris 1522 posted:Railsounds was borne of the early "Sound of Steam" in the early 90s. My Frisco Mikado from 1993 has "Railsounds 1" (then just known as railsounds) and it's basically Sound of Steam with a much better whistle.
Railsounds II came out in 1994, I believe, and was the first Railsounds with polyphonic sound and good sound quality. The Conrail SD60 from 1994 sounds amazing even to this day.
Railsounds 2.5 came out in 1995 or 1996. Not sure what the actual difference is between Railsounds II and Railsounds 2.5.
Railsounds 3 isn't offically a "thing" but a few engines made in 1998 had what is essentially Railsounds 3, one being a Soo Line SD60. They lost one Diesel RPM rev level (3 instead of 4) but added crewtalk and towercom.
Railsounds 4 came out around 2000, and the 4th RPM level was back in play. Not sure what other changes, though.
Railsounds 5 came out around 2003 or 2004, and it has 8 RPM levels and much expanded crewtalk and towercom.
Then there's Legacy.
Thanks Chris, nothing like a concise summary to help explain what is part of a complicated history - VERY complicated when you throw in all the different motor driver/accessory systems
