The psychology of steam vs. diesel and electric

Madman

Madman

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Now, every once in awhile I have a wierd set of thoughts. This one may put me in with the loons, but here goes. I find that running steam locos, with their chugging sound, irritates my sub concious mind. At least I think I have a mind. Compared to running a diesel or an elok, the sound of steam chuffs just rubs me the wrong way. Diesels have such a niece smooth rumbling rhythm to them. Ramping up slowly in a nice crescendo. Does anyone else ever have thoughts along these lines? If you do, I will pray for you.

These are my thoughts and I'm sticking with them. :confused:
 
Madman said:
Now, every once in awhile I have a wierd set of thoughts. This one may put me in with the loons, but here goes. I find that running steam locos, with their chugging sound, irritates my sub concious mind. At least I think I have a mind. Compared to running a diesel or an elok, the sound of steam chuffs just rubs me the wrong way. Diesels have such a niece smooth rumbling rhythm to them. Ramping up slowly in a nice crescendo. Does anyone else ever have thoughts along these lines? If you do, I will pray for you.

These are my thoughts and I'm sticking with them. :confused:
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Yes Dan and as you may expect, they're exactly the opposite of yours. :rolf::rolf::rolf::rolf:

I'm not really into soundcards, but have had 2 diesels fitted with them. I loved them when pulling away or slowing down, but at constant speeds the infernal throbbing got on my nerves (and that's never happened before!!!!!!). A friend of mine has got one of those big Swiss electric jobs that also sounds brilliant pulling out of the station, but when it's done about 4 laps of his railway, most visitors to his open days ask him to turn the sound off. "Sounds like the Mrs Hoovering" is a typical reason given - but NOT by me of course. :rolf::rolf:

Having said that, maybe it's just my ears (too many years of listening to rock music?) because I've never "got" the sound of live steam model locos either, even when fitted with chuff pipes etc. It always just sounds like piff, piff, piff to me?

Best make that prayer a good 'un please. :confused::confused::nail::nail:

Mind you - my views are nothing compared to a certain retailer of my acquaintance who I once met at an exhibition where he'd spent 2 days next to a layout that featured one of the LGB yodelling electrics. Really, such language!!!! :rolf::rolf::rolf::rolf:
 
I agree with you Dan, as far as sound cards are concerned. But in real life I love the beat of a steam engine climbing or in diesel an english electric in full song. I have listened to alot of your US diesels online but try typing Class 50 into youtube.... :bigsmile:
 
I've always liked the sound of full scale steam locomotives, and try beating the whistle from a Garrett in the Welsh mountains. But....and this is a big but (just like mine), a few years ago I was at Clapham Junction when a pair of 37's came through. Just as they came into the station area the driver opened the throttle, the station roofs rattled, the ground shook and a few people dived for cover. One of those moments that stays with you for a very long time.
 
I agree that the sounds of real life steam locos are and can be soothing. Also, after a few laps of any of my sound equipped locos, it gets rather old.
 
Dan, Dan maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate look I can reccommend an excellent shrink... I think you have rocks in your head. Mind you I like the chuff of any manner of steam powered apparatus but I also like the rumble of trams, the whine and pinging of the gears etc. The throb of a diesel does nothing for me yet the roar of a Roles Royce Merlin has me singing 'there'll always be an England'...
 
tramcar trev said:
Dan, Dan maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate look I can reccommend an excellent shrink... I think you have rocks in your head. Mind you I like the chuff of any manner of steam powered apparatus but I also like the rumble of trams, the whine and pinging of the gears etc. The throb of a diesel does nothing for me yet the roar of a Roles Royce Merlin has me singing 'there'll always be an England'...
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Thanks, but there's not much left to shrink any further. :laugh::laugh::laugh:
 
Traction motors and gears on the Manx Electric - music to my ears !
Mind you, it wouldn't sound anywhere near as good on a model. Sound is like smoke and weathering - if it makes your models more realistic to you then go ahead and enjoy. There are some things we'll never be able to replicate, so there will always have to be a bit of make-believe.
I prefer silence to sound at the moment as I'm too close to the models. If the line were longer and I could hear the approach sound build up, then it may be different. Its whatever works for you at the end of the day...
 
Well, I love em all!

the thing though, and I think Mel touches on this, is the sound must change. Just gooing around in cirlces with a contant sound soon gets old. My line has real steep parts, and this means trains have to be driven - thus the sound of the chuff changes, from loud to none in some cases. On my HO line, load sensitive DCC sound cards (OK, expensive) do much the same.

Manx electric, DTS - first day of service today.... yippee!:thumbup:
 
Strange this - I was always too grown up for sound in my model trains, but the second loco that I bought was the buddy 'L' 2-6-2 which has sound. I stuck a battery in the tender and WOW!, I was one of the lucky ones, you could hear this hard working loco beating up through the canyon - a phenominal sound.

I've tried a couple of other cheapie steam sound cards and they're all hiss and no chuff, they don't come anywhere near this beast.

However, in my Bachmann 45t battery conversion, I used a cheap, old model, Trax Conrtols sound card, which gives the basic grunt of a diesel engine, and sounds quite OK. Of the 2 or 3 hours that I've run it so far, probably only about 40 minutes has been with the sound off. Maybe on a sunny afternoon, when it's trolling round, I'd be happier with the sound off.

I s'pose it's the images in your head that the sound conjours up :thinking::thinking:

My missus has threatened to send for the men in white coats just because I had lights on the locos and wanted to run 'em in the dark :bigsmile::bigsmile::bigsmile::bigsmile::bigsmile:
 
I use sound chipped locos and agree that both diesel and steam can become just a droning noise.
I have some good banks so the sound varies as they climb them and because of the layout they fade in and out which I like.
 
In reality I love the sounds of any locomotive.
In the garden I prefer the sounds of the clickerty clack of the wheels on the track , to be accompanied by bird song the drone of passing bees etc.
I agree that most models sound like a domestic applience after a few minuites running.
 
well, yes I prefer the sounds of the garden best, I don't use any loco sounds at all. Later on this year I will be able to sit out back and listen to the Painted Ladies and Red Admirals fluttering around the buddleia bush, must prune it soon, oh oh what's this man doing approaching with a huge butterfly net, he's coming to take me away, away!!!!!!!! Sorry, bit of a frivolous mood today, and I haven't been near the pub yet!
I used to enjoy, for a period of about ten years or so, the sound on a winter morning of the 37 on an Enterprise Freight climbing up out of Insch towards Kennethmont, you'd hear it for about 15 mins, and occasionaly we'd get two on it. Or what about a pair of QJs on the Jing Peng Pass? Eh? Or how about.....................................................aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh......yes sir, I'll come quietly
 
garrymartin said:
In reality I love the sounds of any locomotive.
In the garden I prefer the sounds of the clickerty clack of the wheels on the track , to be accompanied by bird song the drone of passing bees etc.
I agree that most models sound like a domestic applience after a few minuites running.
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I agree about the clickerty clack and birdsong - most restful whereas the continuous sound of a loco somehow isn't.

Regarding locos themselves rather than sound I love my diesel models but prefer full size steam locos to diesels or electrics. For me model steam locos, even with sound, just don't capture the real thing well enough. The volumes of steam coming from various places, the claggy exhaust at times and not others, the noises as steam moves around, the hiss and steam when cylinder cocks open, the blowing off, the heat, the smells, the Stanier clank.....I've just persuaded myself to go up the Severn Valley sometime this weekend.
 
I'm with Garry there 100%. I could easily take a hammer to a loco just droning on and on at the same pitch (as has been said, the note needs to change) or even worse a diesel sat in a siding for hours ticking over. It's finaly a relief when the power trips out. Real trains (with a loco) I love it all but a 37 out of Queen St on the sleepers is probably my fave'.
 
Volume! That's usually the problem with model locos, they are far too loud so you rarely hear them disappear. The LGB sound cards have very little finesse and their load dependent setting is poor as it's full throttle or coasting. ESU and others are much closer to the softer start and finish of a real exhaust but they rely on high acceleration and braking values in the cvs to give much load dependent sound. Soundtraxx do this but offer a brake function that makes the loco more controllable under braking as to don't have to pre judge the stopping distance.
A steam loco with 4 chutes per revolution rather than LGB's two chutes sounds much more like a diesel at higher speed too.
 
PaulRhB said:
Volume! That's usually the problem with model locos, they are far too loud so you rarely hear them disappear.
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Yes, the Trax Controls unit has four controls, abd I've tweaked the volume so that the loco is almost inaudible across the (small) garden :bigsmile:
 
Sights and sounds do it for me? On both the prototype and the model, especially the larger scales. Not just the loco sounds but the clacketty clack of the track and the rattle through the points.

Of course, the constant noise can get a bit too much, especially on a small layout like Hardyard, so stopping and starting of the locos' motors are essential or the sounds can become an annoyance.

When I lived in Eindhoven for a short while, I took my son Krizzy and Dad Phizzy to the newly built underground station in Best. (In fact, it was actually only half the station; the line was in the process of being rebuilt for quadrouple track, and the old station had not yet been demolished at this point.) Whilst there, a heavy aggregate train pulled by four 6400 class (centre cab diesels) came storming through. The noise and vibration were frightening!

Must easily rate with the noise of a pair of 37s on a freight here, but running on the Undergound....
 
Chris M said:
The volumes of steam coming from various places, the claggy exhaust at times and not others, the noises as steam moves around, the hiss and steam when cylinder cocks open, the blowing off, the heat, the smells, the Stanier clank.....I've just persuaded myself to go up the Severn Valley sometime this weekend.
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I have had a couple of visitors who congratulated me on the quality of my sound effects ............ not realising that it's a SVR train running up the other side of the valley. :rolf::rolf:
 
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