Caledonian Railway sound decoder

[Carina M]

At today’s meeting of the East of Scotland 4mm Group, it was my privilege to demonstrate an evaluation sample of this decoder produced by South West Digital. The sound was recorded at Aviemore from CR No. 828, an 812 Class 0-6-0, and the decoder was fitted to a CR 782 Class 0-6-0T. Jim Pairman, Chairman of the Caledonian Railway Association, commented in a post today on the CRA website that it was “excellent: a realistic variety of genuine CR loco sounds. Highly recommended.” So a long-held wish by modellers of the Caledonian and its successors will very soon be a reality, with the haunting sound of a Caley whistle gracing many a layout.

[jasp]

It should be added that Mr J Summers, Vice-chairman of the Caledonian Railway Association (and many other things!) was also present, and considered the sound to be very realistic and the decoder a very worthwhile addition.
Jim P

[Terry Bendall]

It should be added that Mr J Summers, Vice-chairman of the Caledonian Railway Association (and many other things!) was also present, and considered the sound to be very realistic and the decoder a very worthwhile addition.

In which case there is no higher recommendation. With the LBSCR my first interest, I shall not want to indulge but I am sure this development will be much appreciated by those who model The True Line.

Terry Bendall

[David Thorpe]

I'm sure it's good. But the trouble is that at £125 for a sound decoder, it's hard to justify - or indeed, be able - to equip all the locos on one's layout with sound. I've tried sound in locos, and have found that apart from anything else it adds a new and very welcome dimension to driving the loco. However, there's no way I can equip all my dozen or so locos with sound (quite apart from anything else it would be very difficult to retrospectively install the necessary chip and speaker) and I have reluctantly concluded that it's better to have no sound rather than a few locos equipped with sound and the rest without.

DT