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Marx 666 Locomotive with Steam Sounds

Mossback MikeMossback MikeOGR Forum Member DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER

I recently upgraded a Marx 666 steam locomotive with steam sounds using an ERR Railsounds Commander steam kit. I am very pleased with the results. It was not a real easy project - it was challenging but also rewarding.

I purchased the ERR Railsounds Commander on-line from the The Western Depot in Yuba City CA. The unit I bought was a Steam RailSounds Daylight (Air Horn), model number ERRRSDAYSTEAM. The unit came with everything I needed for the installation, including a circuit board, a speaker, a reed switch, a magnet, wiring, and a double-stick adhesive mounting board for the circuit. I decided to install all of these components in A Marx slope-back tender. The pictures below show the mounting arrangement. The speaker is pointed downwards - so I had to drill numerous holes in the steel chassis plate in order to allow the sounds to propagate outward. I installed a rechargeable 9V NI-MH battery using the supplied cable. The battery allows the sound kit to play an audio clip of the steam shutdown sequence when transformer power has just been turned off. This audio clip concludes with a mighty blast of the air horn. I fabricated a light-gauge aluminum L-bracket to hold the reed switch in place under the tender's front truck. This reed switch is basically a sensor that will signal a "chuff" sound whenever a magnet passes in front of the sensor. The magnet is connected to the inner surface of one of the wheels of the tender's front truck. The ERR Railsounds Commander draws track power from a tethered connection to the locomotive. I used some pluggable 20-24 ga wire quick connectors to connect the tender to the locomotive.

PXL_20240404_181024133PXL_20240404_181040932PXL_20240404_194416995

The ERR Railsounds commander has both a whistle (horn) and a bell. Since my old post-war Lionel transformers only have whistle controllers, I decided to build my own whistle & bell controller after being inspired by Gunrunner John. Here is a link to the circuit diagram that Dale H posted:

https://jcstudiosinc.com/Whist...tton-Bell-Controller

I used 12 each 6A, 50V diodes, a couple of NO momentary contact push buttons, a black plastic project case, and other assorted wiring & hardware. The finished controller is shown in the photos below. One thing that I didn't include is the 36V bi-directional Zener diode for transient voltage suppression. I will add that shortly though, as soon as my supplier sends it to me. I should point out that this controller is suitable for use with 275 watt Lionel ZW transformers, but does not work very well with Lionel 90 watt 1033 transformers - because there is too much voltage drop from the diodes. I should also point out that the diodes get really warm inside my enclosure. I am really concerned about this. Maybe I should use a bigger enclosure affording more separation between the diodes and lots of perforations for ventilation.

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It took me about 6 hours to install the ERR Railsounds Commander Steam Kit, and it took me another 6 hours to build the horn & bell controller. I probably spent about $150 on all the components.

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Mossback MikeMossback MikeOGR Forum Member DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER
@Secarider posted:

Nice job, that is a lot of hours of work. I did the same kind of thing with my Lionel NPR sound of steam tender. I modified the tender chassis, and put a Rail Sounds II system in it. Took me about 9 hours with all the wrong tools.

If I do another one, it will take a lot less time. I might modify this with the addition of a Lionel coupler to the rear truck - so that I can use the tender to pull either Marx cars, or twist the rear truck 180 degrees around to pull Lionel cars.

PJ Pocono JackOGR Forum Member

I really like the sound of the whistle. Be careful because I read somewhere recently that these circuit boards do not like rechargeable 9v batteries for some reason. I do not remember where I read the article but maybe you can do a search about it. Great job, good luck with it, enjoy the fruits of your labor.

"From Perplexity Search Engine"

"Based on the search results, there are a few key reasons why some circuit boards, including Arduino boards, may not work well with 9V rechargeable batteries:

  1. Inefficient voltage regulation: 24
    • The Arduino boards use a linear regulator to drop the 9V input down to the 5V required by the microcontroller. This linear regulator wastes a lot of power as heat, making it inefficient.
    • A switching regulator would be much more efficient at converting the 9V down to 5V, reducing power loss and current draw from the battery.
  2. Low battery capacity: 24
    • 9V batteries, even rechargeable ones, have a relatively low capacity, typically around 200-600 mAh.
    • Alkaline AA or AAA batteries can provide much higher capacities, often 2000 mAh or more, allowing the circuit to run much longer on a single charge.
  3. High self-discharge rate: 3
    • 9V rechargeable batteries tend to have a high self-discharge rate, meaning the battery will drain even when not in use.
    • This can lead to the battery being depleted quickly, even when the circuit is not actively running.
  4. Voltage drop under load: 4
    • When the circuit draws significant current, the voltage of a 9V battery can drop significantly, from 9V down to 7V or lower.
    • This voltage drop can cause issues with the voltage regulator and microcontroller on the Arduino board.
In summary, the combination of inefficient voltage regulation, low battery capacity, high self-discharge, and voltage drop under load make 9V rechargeable batteries a poor choice for powering Arduino and similar circuit boards. Using AA or AAA batteries with a more efficient switching regulator is generally a better solution. 124"
Mossback MikeMossback MikeOGR Forum Member DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER
@Pocono Jack posted:

I really like the sound of the whistle. Be careful because I read somewhere recently that these circuit boards do not like rechargeable 9v batteries for some reason. I do not remember where I read the article but maybe you can do a search about it. Great job, good luck with it, enjoy the fruits of your labor.

"From Perplexity Search Engine"

"Based on the search results, there are a few key reasons why some circuit boards, including Arduino boards, may not work well with 9V rechargeable batteries:

  1. Inefficient voltage regulation: 24
    • The Arduino boards use a linear regulator to drop the 9V input down to the 5V required by the microcontroller. This linear regulator wastes a lot of power as heat, making it inefficient.
    • A switching regulator would be much more efficient at converting the 9V down to 5V, reducing power loss and current draw from the battery.
  2. Low battery capacity: 24
    • 9V batteries, even rechargeable ones, have a relatively low capacity, typically around 200-600 mAh.
    • Alkaline AA or AAA batteries can provide much higher capacities, often 2000 mAh or more, allowing the circuit to run much longer on a single charge.
  3. High self-discharge rate: 3
    • 9V rechargeable batteries tend to have a high self-discharge rate, meaning the battery will drain even when not in use.
    • This can lead to the battery being depleted quickly, even when the circuit is not actively running.
  4. Voltage drop under load: 4
    • When the circuit draws significant current, the voltage of a 9V battery can drop significantly, from 9V down to 7V or lower.
    • This voltage drop can cause issues with the voltage regulator and microcontroller on the Arduino board.
In summary, the combination of inefficient voltage regulation, low battery capacity, high self-discharge, and voltage drop under load make 9V rechargeable batteries a poor choice for powering Arduino and similar circuit boards. Using AA or AAA batteries with a more efficient switching regulator is generally a better solution. 124"

Here is an interesting table that compares different types of 9V batteries:

https://www.microbattery.com/b...bout-the-9v-battery/

The clear winner is the lithium at 1200 mAh.

The rechargeable battery I used is a TENERGY NI-MH rated at 250 mAh.

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