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Bachmann 37426 "Vale of Rheidol" - Howes DCC sound fitted


ba14eagle
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This is 37426 "Vale of Rheidol". A Bachmann special edition 37/4, for Hereford Model Centre. I had Howes fit one of their sound chips to the loco (I tried but couldnt make it fit, so gave up before I broke something!) Of all my sound fitted locos, I think this, surprisingly, is the weakest. The sound is a little "tinny" and would probably benefit from a bass reflex speaker, fitted in the fuel tank. I have yet to add the bufferbeam detailing and cast nameplates (jobs for the winter months). The loco needs some subtle weathering too.

I buy my loco's with specific trains in mind for them. Primarily I am going to use this with my 5 coach mk1 set, replicating the Bristol to Weymouth services. As youths of the 1980', we used to watch these trains with great interest, looking for what exotic motive power Bristol Bath Road would put out on them :shock:

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Strangely enough, Roy, (cleanerg6e) also commented recently on the Howes 37 sound being a bit on the quiet side and I was under the impression that it was a big improvement over the standard Bachmann factory fitted sound. I have a number of class 37 chips that I wanted to get reblown to add a bit of variety to the 'fleet' but now I'm not so sure what to do :?

That aside, 37426 looks splendid and purchasing locos with specific trains in mind is a really good idea. It's something I have been trying to do but temptation keeps getting in the way.

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  • 1 year later...

Maybe this thread needs a new title, which would now read : - "no longer Howes DCC sound fitted"

:o No, I havent completely lost it altogether :lol: it should now read "- Olivias Trains DCC sound fitted".

Yep, made the long trek up country today, to the steel city, to pay a visit to Olivias Trains (nothing like a bit model railway retail therapy hehe!)

I wasnt particularly happy with the sound I was getting from the Howes chip, so have had a new speaker fitted and then a sound reblow done. Its much better now - so much so, that I had one fitted to my other 37 at the same time ;) (37693 will get its own thread shortly or when the weather is good enough for it to have its photo taken!)

Also, the chassis below 37426 has never been the best performer, but thanks to the hard work of Steve at OT's, it now runs much better too :D

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Looking forward to hearing this Iain. In what respect would you say the Olivia's sound set up is better than the one you had with the Howes chip? I've always been disappointed with class 37 sound chips because all the ones I've heard have been on the quiet side. They may be okay indoors but out in the garden they just never sound right. I think I've got (hold on....19) yes, 19 class 37 locos :) and I'd love to have them fitted with decent sound chips but apart from the overall cost I'm still undecided as to which gives the best performance. I won't of course be fitting every single one!

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Its a really difficult call - whose sound was better.

The Howes sound was good, but too tinny when the volume was turned up. The speaker fitted by OT improved this a great deal, but OT sound files have a bit more bass to them and, I think, better structured at when certain parts of the engine note (or thrash you might say :lol: ) kick in. Its all about how you remember it sounding, at the end of the day and what sounds good for one person, may not be somebody elses taste - eg I prefer the Howes Class 50 files & structure to the OT ones.....

As far as volumes are concerned, OT chips are set at maximum volume when installed - level 128 on CV63. I have had mine reset to 70, so as not to drown out any Howes locos .... I find this quite enough, even outside, and it doesnt upset the neighbours! But, again, if you are constantly positioned 12 - 15 feet away from your loco as it runs around your garden, this may well sound quiet. For me, I am only that far away as the trains traverse the curves at each end of the line, being a long, thin layout - and I can still hear them adequately.

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It's been the volume, or lack of it, that has troubled me with all the 37 sounds I've heard. All my other sound-fitted loco's can be heard above any of my 37s. Most of the 37 sound chips I've listened to have sounded like a 37 in one way or another and even in the real world individual locos had differing sounds so I'm quite happy with the soundfiles that are available but if only they would create them so they were audible outdoors, which perhaps is our problem as they are clearly intended for indoor use.

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