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The 2019 vol. II Lionel catalog lists the "flat spot" sound cars and the description hints, in part that it will be "...quite a racket..." and that it can be turned off leaving the normal freight sounds, rail clatter, flange squeals, coupler slack bumping.

Given my Lionel PS1 freightsound boxcars already make quite a racket - and I enjoy this (although it can be startling if I've had a hard day at work and my nerves are fried) and I recently ordered the latest reefer sound cars, I wonder what a "flat spot" wheel would sound like.

Is anyone excited about this latest announcement, and are you going to pre-order one, or wait until its released and tested by others?

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I have a flat spot die-cast K-Line gondola that I modified 10 - 15 years ago. It really works only on a heavy car. And it's free.

I used my Moto-Tool to grind 2, well, flat spots on the wheels of one axle, being very careful to get them directly across from each other, as real RR wheels are pressed on to the axle (just like modern 3RO, etc., wheels) and do not spin on the shaft. If one is flattened, both are, since the cause (grabbing brakes, for example) stops both wheels. Flattened wheels are generally replaced when found by inspection (real RR term "slid flat").

The K-Line gon makes a nice, proportionate bam-bam-bam as it goes by. Did I mention free?

gunrunnerjohn posted:

I like the idea of taking a file to the wheels on a boxcar to create a real "flat spot", that would probably sound pretty real.

Actually not really, a friend did that some years ago and the sound was a puny, hardly heard "tink". A replacement wheelset cured that problem. That was done with a metal wheel in two-rail O with a metal hopper. BTW, the size of the filed spot was far bigger (when scaled up) than any flat spot on a prototype wheel would ever get.

Well, I still might give it a shot, I have lots of spare wheelsets, so I'll just pick a car that's easy to slip a new one into if I don't like it.

FWIW, the Vision Line Cars had a pretty decent sounding flat wheel sound, and you could trigger it only when you wanted to from the remote.  Why they do these annoying "always on" things when they've been able to do command stuff for 10+ years escapes me.

I set my new Freight-sounds MDT/NYC Reefer to MIN and like the results.  I get the squealing wheels and occasional bump.  First video.

When the car is set at MAX it sounds quite annoying, unless sound was turned way down for the flat wheel effect.  The videos are made at maximum sound.  Second video.

Sincerely, John Rowlen

Attachments

Videos (2)
MVI_0700
MVI_0697
John Rowlen posted:

I set my new Freight-sounds MDT/NYC Reefer to MIN and like the results.  I get the squealing wheels and occasional bump.  First video.

When the car is set at MAX it sounds quite annoying, unless sound was turned way down for the flat wheel effect.  The videos are made at maximum sound.  Second video.

Sincerely, John Rowlen

The sound featured in the second video is really very annoying. Is it supposed to be a  "Clickety Clack" effect? Seems out of time for "Flat Spotted" wheels. Thanks for the posting.

@D500 posted:

I have a flat spot die-cast K-Line gondola that I modified 10 - 15 years ago. It really works only on a heavy car. And it's free.

I used my Moto-Tool to grind 2, well, flat spots on the wheels of one axle, being very careful to get them directly across from each other, as real RR wheels are pressed on to the axle (just like modern 3RO, etc., wheels) and do not spin on the shaft. If one is flattened, both are, since the cause (grabbing brakes, for example) stops both wheels. Flattened wheels are generally replaced when found by inspection (real RR term "slid flat").

The K-Line gon makes a nice, proportionate bam-bam-bam as it goes by. Did I mention free?

As no one seemed to catch this, or care, I'll reply to myself.

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