Bachmann Stand Alone Sound Tender

[AJtheTeacher]

Hello Fellow G Large Scale Enthusiasts. I have recently needed a tender with sound that "chuffs" at slow speed for a centerpiece for church or birthday parties, baby showers etc. It needed to chuff frequently (Children want it to chuff even if moving slowly even if not prototypical.) but also work with or without track power. So I decided to use a tender from a Bachmann 4-6-0. But I wanted to be able to put it behind Aristo-Craft 2-4-2's or 0-4-0's so it needs to be a able to operate no matter what locomotive is used.

I took a sound drum off of a Bachmann RC 4-6-0 axle and inserted onto a typical Bachmann plastic wheel set axle. I also commandeered the sound contacts and supporting plastic mount from the same engine. I mounted them on the front truck rear axle and soldered everything together. I chose to use a Bachmann RC tender and add the sound system from a newer Bachmann tender so I also had to add mounts and make all of that work on the tender chassis.

It works well behind my new Aristo-Craft 0-4-0 even at a crawl. If I want it to sound more like a Real train then all I have to do is change to another axle with a sound drum that only has one contact instead of two. I know that it is not the best steam sound system but it does the job and it was free. Enjoy your trains daily. AJ

 

[Rhinochugger]

For a few dollars more .....

You can vastly improve the chuff sound if you follow George Schreyer's instructions

Big Haulers Tips

 

[AJtheTeacher]

For a few dollars more .....

You can vastly improve the chuff sound if you follow George Schreyer's instructions

Big Haulers Tips

Thanks Rhinochugger. I will look into that. Thanks. AJ

 

[PapaJohn]

Great idea and looks good. Could you send me a pic of the wiring on the sound board? I have one that came out of a tender but all the wires were cut and I don't know what goes where. Going to try and use it on a Kalamazoo and add sound to it.

 

[AJtheTeacher]

Thanks! Here Are two pictures. Some of the board has some markings on it. I hope that this helps. The red and black wires that wrap around the speaker go to the wires running to the sound drum but would normally run to the plug that goes to the engine. This is the sound board from the newer tender with the rotary volume control. If it is the earlier tender sound system please let me know. Happy to be of assistance. AJ

 

[AJtheTeacher]

Great idea and looks good. Could you send me a pic of the wiring on the sound board? I have one that came out of a tender but all the wires were cut and I don't know what goes where. Going to try and use it on a Kalamazoo and add sound to it.

Here are 2 pics!

 

[PapaJohn]

Thanks that is a big help!!!