Are the steam engine driver pick up assemblies for the 4-6-2 Spectrum series engines available as separate parts you can order?

You can see see mine at the link under my name.  I model the New Haven Railroad in the 1949-1953 era.  I model the Valley Branch and the Hartford line (Springfield Line) from Hartford, CT to Old Saybrook and New Haven respectivly.  IT's double deck layout with a two track helix.  I use NCE DCC and have sound equipped engines along with just the DCC equipped engines.  I am in the building stages.  THe top deck is the Valley branch.  The lower deck is the double track mainline.

Bill

OK I tried posting a photo and I get an error message of an invalid path.  I know it works because I post them on other forums and my web photo site.

What do you have to do here to post a photo?

Bob,

Actually you don't.  The overall volume is a separate control from the individual sound controls.  That makes it nice to do it both ways and here's why.

As you said individual controls adjust the sounds so some are louder then others. On steam engines the predominant sounds are the pop off valve, the bell and the whistle.  I also consider the turbo generator as a predominant sound when it's on. The others are subdued even the exhaust until you move.  When you adjust those sounds to blend with each other they sound great.

Now, when you are in a room full of sound equipped engines, like I have been with my ops group (one of them 100% Tsunami), it becomes a little overwhelming volume wise.  This is where the overall volume control come in.  As you have already mixed the sounds for a particular engine, lowering the overall volume doesn't affect them individually. It just brings the volume down to a tolerable level. Especially in that type of environment.  Which makes for a more pleasant ops session.  After a while 20 steam locos all with their sounds running becomes grating on the nerves.  When I dispatch and the staging yard happens to be over the dispatch area on two of the layouts, I and the layout owner instruct the engineers to turn off the sound with F8.  It makes it easier to concentrate.

In a show type situation then let 'em rip!  That's what the public wants to hear.

So that's why I think overall volume is important.

Bill

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I searched the SoundTraxx group and I thought you got your answer in the Yahoo SoundTraxx group. The stock Bachmann decoder is specific to Bachmann just as the Roundhouse decoder is specific to MRC.
Possibly Tony's Trains can help you. Call them.
I have SoundTraxx decoders and CVs are the normal way to control sound. Maybe you will have to insert a resistor in series with one speaker lead. If you are just ranting, well there is nothing I can do about that.

rikc9

Well Rick, I'm not ranting.  I was not one asking the question.  Someone on another group was having a problem with adjusting the overall volume with his system.  I don't have a Bachmann Tsunami equipped engine.  I put a full function Tsunami in a Bachman Spectrum 2-8-0 myself.  I was trying to get the difference out in the open so folks (an myself) could understand.

Thanks for the response there Bach-Man.  That clears thing up a little.

What exactly is the difference in the Bachmann Tsunami decoder and the Soundtraxx full featured decoder?  What are the operating parameters and functions that you can use that the Soundtraxx Tsunami decoder has and the Bachmann decoder lack?  One is overall volume control.  I think you need to re- think this one.  There are already complains I have heard that it is too loud and no way to adjust it except through individual sound adjustment using CV's.

Bill Shanaman
Sugar City, CO