Loud vs. Quiet Trains

I keep it quiet so others in the house can sleep.

@NYC 428 posted:

I keep it quiet so others in the hose can sleep.

But what if no one in the house is asleep at the particular time?

I’m on team quiet. While turning the sound is definitely fun, I like to chill out and watch my trains. I also run them pretty slow. While there is no right way to enjoy your trains, it’s fun to know what others think

Arnold,

You come up with some great forum topics.

I run them as loud as I can get away with without the wife coming down to tell me the trains are too loud  

At the same time there have been occasions where I like to run the trains with no sound.  Like when I've got the tv on or I have some visitors and the trains are running in the background.

Mike

I'm two or three floors down below the sleeping areas, so making noise is not an issue.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

I'm two or three floors down below the sleeping areas, so making noise is not an issue.

Oh what a joyful noise, John!

Thank you, Mike, I aim to entertain my Forum friends and promote the hobby while keeping the good Moderators happy.

I keep the volume low and sometimes turn it off.  I find that after a while the sounds get boring.

Rusty

I put my track on cork and then on the plywood base. Whatever sound that creates is fine with me. I do however keep the engine sounds low. A nice low soothing chuff or diesel sound is what I enjoy.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

I'm two or three floors down below the sleeping areas, so making noise is not an issue.

Best!!!!!!! Thank you for sharing this magic. This is I want to do this. Just trains. And natural metal noise.

I'm with Arnold & Mike - loud is good!

@Arnold D. Cribari posted:

Many build their bench work and layouts in such a way as to deaden or lessen the sound. I can understand that if it's necessary so as not to disturb others, such as a hobbyist who lives in an apartment building or other multiple unit dwelling.

My preference is not to minimize, but instead maximize, the sounds and loudness of the trains I run with one exception.

Why?

In my experience, real trains, especially locomotives, are breathtakingly loud. I like that aspect of realism for all my O Gauge trains.

The only exception: I run quiet trains when my wife is asleep. Unlike me, she sleeps very well and has never had insomnia.

I often wake up in the middle of the night. When I do, I often like to go downstairs and run quiet trains, typically a Williams diesel or early Pre-Protosounds MTH engines, so as not to disturb my wife's sleep. After maybe 15 to 30 minutes of quiet train running, I usually return to bed and sleep for a couple of more hours.

How about you? Do you refer to run quiet or loud trains and why?

Also, what do, or did, you do, if anything, to increase or decrease the sound?

Arnold

As I sit quite often by the CXS yard not too far from my house I note that the trains are not loud except when whistling to cross the road. They are limited to under 10 mph.

As far as my layout goes both of my older steam engines running at the same time creates a cacophony of chug'chug'chugs which can be deafening. My grandson definitely does not like it.

I do like the wailing whistles......

My diesel have authentic sound and are a little more tolerable. The GG1 has a non prototypical buzz and chiming whistle. The Williams steamer only has a recorded white and weak bell. It is kind of like eating oatmeal with nothing on it.

Sometimes I like the trains loud - sometimes I like the trains quiet.

When I want it really peaceful I turn the power on the layout and enjoy the lightship in silence. No trains are running.

There is nothing better than the clickety clack of train wheels going over track joints and the rumble of a train going over track that is screwed to a sheet of plywood.

@Rich Wiemann posted:

There is nothing better than the clickety clack of train wheels going over track joints

Agreed.  Love the clickety clack.  I replaced most of my track on my new layout with Gargraves -- so I have less joints -- but the clickety clack is still there to savor.

I use ths cloth type of carpet padding under Gargraves and my trains are quieter tham most. Still iron wheels on metal track makes some noise.

I'm more on the noise side of things, although I found that the new Lionel Legacy GP-9s make rediculous "rail sounds" that are little more than wife-wakers. Not particulairly enjoyable. As for those quiet times, I do enjoy just the sound of wheels, but may favorite is parking an MTH GP 38 or GP35 at idle and taking a nap next to it. Amazing way to fall asleep!

I prefer to hear the train coming, as in postwar engines on tubular track.   Sound systems are okay but get boring to me after a while.

As with rock and roll, I like to cranck them up to 11.

I draw the line when the noise from the roadbed drowns out the chuff, whistle, and bell.

John