I,m new to sound. I purchased a on30 Shay with a sound board, I beleive it's OEM. what do I need to make the sound work, Please help me!!!!
If it is Bachmann, it should be dual mode, and the sound effects should come on automatically, but they will be random. With an advanced DCC system you can program the decoder to have more control over when certain sounds are played. An easy and cheap solution is to buy a Bachmann E-Z Command for $50 or $60 on Ebay, so you can play the sounds whenever you want and take full advantage of your locomotive's sound decoder.
dancer-
Some sounds will likely work on a DC system, especially if your Shay has a separate sound controller. Without such a controller, however, the sounds will only play as pre-programmed. To have full access to sound controls, as well as motion controls, you'll need to be on a DCC layout.
This board is a great place to get information about systems and equipment. One small piece of advice, however: Be very explicit with your questions, be sure to say exactly what equipment you are using or wondering about, and post questions on the On30 board for the most authoritative replies. That will help readers give you truly useful information. For example, you may have noticed that my response is somewhat vague and fairly generic. That's because I don't have the specific information I need to give an explicit response.
Welcome to model railroading and this Bachmann board.
-- D