Series on Sound: Welcome!

I have exciting news for you: model trains, even tiny N-scale trains, can make realistic train sound! Yes, to some of you, that was obvious. To others, it may seem confusing. But I think regardless of who you are, you will find sound to be an interesting addition to a very visual model-making hobby. And you have come to the best place to nurture your interest in N-scale sound!

Welcome to Series on Sound, the newest and coolest thing on MRN Express. Series on Sound is the most definitive work to date on the ideas surrounding putting digital sound into N-scale model trains. If you don't understand what sound decoders are, or you're not sure if they're right for you, this is the place to look. You won't have to take my word for it either, because Series on Sound includes commentary from a variety of people around the model railroad industry.

You can read the Table of Contents below to jump to an article, or just read page by page. You should read the People section to get to know the other individuals commenting in this series. If you are new to model railroading, be sure to read the Important Concepts section for a quick and very easy read to get you up to speed on vital and recurring model railroad topics and background.

Table of Contents

Welcome!
With sections introducing basic model train concepts, the author, and other commentators


The Growth of Small-Scale Sound
Featuring commentary from Dave Peters, of Trains N' Lanes Hobbies


The Science of Small-Scale Sound
Featuring commentary from Dr. Jamie White, of Juniata College


Sound Decoders for N Scale: MRC's Product Line
Featuring commentary from Frank Verrico, of Model Rectifier Corp


Sound or Silence: the Art of Choosing
A study of model railroading with and without sound


N Scale vs. Prototype: Video Comparisons
Watch N scale models take on trains 160 times their size. You decide if the sound seems real enough to you!

The People
Since I quote from several individuals frequently, I will introduce them all here to save confusion and repetition later.

John Sipple: Model Railroad News magazine's editor emeritus, John recently stepped down from editing but continues to review products. He has years of experience in all scales of model trains and plenty of frank opinions to share.

Dave Peters: Dave is a vital part of the model train department at Trains N' Lanes Hobbies in Easton, PA. I know from working with him that his customer service skill and model train knowledge are second to none.

Dr. Jamie White: Dr. Jamie White is the chair of the physics department at Juniata College. He teaches an Acoustics class, and I have applied some of those lessons to my work with model train sound. Dr. White knows a lot of the science behind sound that many hobbyists would not think of.

Frank Verrico: Frank works for Model Rectifier Corp. (MRC), a hobby electronics company that has diversified into countless different hobby businesses. Frank works in a customer service and support for MRC's model train sound decoder business. He has been the driving force behind most of MRC's growth as a sound decoder maker, and by extension, he is largely to thank for the viability of sound in N scale.

Steven Goehring: Hi-de-ho, folks. This is me, your author. My claims to experience are years of working at Trains N' Lanes Hobbies and reviewing for Model Railroad News. I model in N-scale, although I have worked with most other scales. I also focus heavily on sound, with more than a dozen sound-equipped locomotives, and I made a point to test run pretty much every HO-scale sound locomotive when working at the hobby shop.

Important Concepts
These are the ideas or acronyms you will need to understand these articles. If you think something should be added to this section, please leave a comment and I will put it in.

N-scale: the division of model railroading where everything is scaled to 1/160th of full size. N stands for Nine millimeters between the rails.

MRN: Model Railroad News magazine, my employer and this series' host. MRN is a news and reviews publication covering all scales of model trains.

DCC: Digital Command Control, a system of controlling model trains. Rather than using varying voltage on the track (called analog or DC control,) DCC uses computerized signals much like the Internet. Locomotives must have decoders, or specialized circuit boards, to run on DCC.

Sound decoder: a DCC decoder that generates sound meant to mimic the noise of a real locomotive. A DCC controller's function buttons allow you to do things such as sound the locomotive's whistle/horn, its bell and other functions such as the air brake system or ambient sounds.

Prototype: a catchall term among model railroaders for full-sized/real-life railroading.

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