Ending the 'Sounds of Silence' - Introducing 4449

To paraphrase Simon and Garfunkel, at Philip's Creek, "no one dared disturb the Sounds of Silence". At least that was the situation, until recently, when Auscision Models 4449 joined the locomotive roster.

When Auscision's pre-purchase offer for the 44 class was released quite a while ago, I hadn't anticipated purchasing one. However, the drive gear problems I was experiencing as I attempted to repair Trainorama 4473 ( There are gears and there are gears ) indicated that redundancy of 44 class locomotives may be prudent. And so an order for 4449 was placed in late June last year. My timing was good because it seemed that the pre-purchase offer closed off a few weeks later. I also elected to purchase a model fitted with a factory fitted ESU sound decoder.

It may come as a surprise to some but up till now, I had resisted the trend to install sound in my locomotives. There were three reasons for this; complexity, sound quality and cost. The complexity of fitting the speaker and additional wiring into small spaces has always concerned me and the sound I heard from many locomotives at various exhibitions seemed 'tinny'. Given these factors, I could never justify the extra outlay required for a sound decoder. Recently though at a NMRA event, I listened to a steam locomotive which appeared to be a substantial improvement in quality, suggesting to me that smaller speakers were improving. The complexity issue disappeared with the factory fitted option and cost difference seemed reasonable.

A few months ago, 4449 duly arrived and it is certainly a quality product but it was the range of sounds that made the biggest impact on me. I was particularly impressed by the start up and shut down sequences which I presume have been recorded from an actual 44 class. Will James did a comprehensive review of the model on his You Tube channel ( Will James' review of Auscision 44 Class ) including a demonstration of the sounds included on the decoder between 5:15 and 7:23 minutes on his video. As Will notes in his review, the pulling power of the locomotive is impressive. It easily hauls 12 coal or wheat hoppers plus brake van up my 2.5% helix.

Most of the photos of 44 class locomotives in the late 1960s seem to show a fairly exhaust blackened roof while the paint work on the front and sides was still in good condition albeit with variable amounts of grim. Hence,  this is the appearance I have sought to create in my weathering of the locomotive.

With 4449 now added to the locomotive roster, the obvious question is 'where to for sound on Philip's Creek?'. The short answer is that I'm not sure yet. Certainly any new locomotive will be purchased with a sound card and speaker fitted (if available) but as there is only one additional locomotive targeted at present, it is unlikely to make a significant impact on the noise level on the layout. 

The bigger question is whether to retrofit sound decoders to existing locomotives.  I may consider a commercial fitting service for some and for others, I may attempt myself when I can pluck up the courage while others with noisy mechanisms probably don't need extra sound.

Certainly, there is a steep leaning curve to over overcome and a lot of work before I completely "disturb the the Sound of Silence" at Philip's Creek.

Before I finish this post, just a short footnote on 4473. After several months of frustration, I replaced all six wheel sets with Trainorama replacements. This seems to be working very well and 4473 is back to its original performance. Hopefully, the problem will not reappear.