Noisy Loco

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Old_Bob

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Nov 4, 2006
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I went look shopping today to check out a couple train stores in the area. At one they had two or three long HO trains running on good-sized oval tracks.

One was a steamer (forgot to note the type, but it was big) pulling a long train. What bothered me was the noise. The engine made a fairly loud grinding sound (for lack of a better term); it was obviously motor and/or gear noise.

Is this normal? I wouldn't want that on my layout. Is there a way to avoid this? Is it a matter of choosing a quality loco?
 
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Jim Krause

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Apr 7, 2005
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Hard to say. Could be lack of lubrication. Lack of maintenance. A loco that's been used for a lot of hours. You would have to know the specifics of that individual loco. No, it isn't a normal thing.
 
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Play-Doh

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May 12, 2006
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I would think the quality of the loco is prominent to the problem, but certainly no healthy loco should be making a grinding noise. No, its not normal. The best way ive been told to avoid it is to give your loco a good lube and cleaning before hitting the rails, no matter how old it is or how it was stored. Other than that im told once a year check ups are necessary.

Yes, choosing a good quality loco is step one. Now, plenty of good quality locos are fairly priced! But even my brand new IHC Premier Steamer needed a lube out of the box, it had a prominent squeek.

Hope that helps

TJ
 
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jr switch

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Oct 11, 2006
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Bob----I have three steamers at present, the Bachmann 4-8-4, a Bachmann spectrum Decopod 2-10-0 and an IHC 2-10-2 Santa Fe. I can hear a very slight noise from the wheels and driving rods and possibly normal motor noise and that is all. All three are about the same and all still pretty new, so I would have to say this is the normal noise to expect from the steam engines. Both of my diesels are brand new and definately much noisier than the others. In fact, the diesels make a pretty cool scale diesel sound. I agree with the others, the one you describe needs attention.---John R
 
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shaygetz

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May 2, 2003
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brakie said:
That could have been a older brass engine,a Penn-Line(now Bowser) and any of the above suggestions.
Click to expand...

Funny, when I read the first post, I thought the same thing:thumb: What a glorious racket my Bowser can make---and my Marklin!...woo hoo:D
 
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LongIslandTom

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Apr 8, 2006
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I don't know if I lucked out... But my first (and only so far!) steam loco purchase was a Broadway Limited Imports 4-6-4 NYC Hudson. With the on-board sound turned off, it ran with about the same amount of noise as my diesel locos (Atlases and tuned Athearns).. No grinding noises, but some squeaking from the running gear and side rods, which was promptly fixed with a little white grease.

What noise there is from the mechanism is promptly drowned out by the on-board Quantum DCC sound when I cranked up the volume. :D

Next week I got a relative coming over with his MDC Old Timer 2-8-0 Consolidation for a run on my pike.. I'll report back on its running noises when that happens.
 
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Russ Bellinis

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Feb 13, 2003
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If you get back to the same hobby shop, and the same locomotive is still making the noise, ask someone in the train department. My local hobby shop is open from 10:00 am to 8:00 pm Monday - Saturday, and 10:00 am to 6:00 pm on Sunday. They used to have an ho scale model railroad in the front window running constantly. It was started when the store opened and shut down when they closed. It was normal to wear out motors and gear boxes on virtually any brand of diesel locomotive (they didn't run steam) every 4-6 weeks.
 
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Old_Bob

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Nov 4, 2006
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In thinking back on that store visit - I visited several stores and lost track of what I saw where - the noisy loco was actually a double header pulling a long train. I would guess both locos were the same and about 4-8-2 size.

Very possible they had just been run to death there in the store. I suspect they are kept running at least half time the store is open. No squeaks but just heavy motor and gear noise.

What is with the comment about a brass loco? Do they have a problem?
 
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fseva

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Nov 27, 2006
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Could be the manufacturer...

Old_Bob said:
What bothered me was the noise. The engine made a fairly loud grinding sound (for lack of a better term); it was obviously motor and/or gear noise. Is this normal? I wouldn't want that on my layout. Is there a way to avoid this? Is it a matter of choosing a quality loco?
Click to expand...
:cry:I have owned locomotives by Model Die Casting that sounded like coffee grinders! Needless to say, they're no longer on my roster!

:thumb: However, if you buy a locomotive from Atlas, Broadway Ltd, Walthers/Proto, or Precision Craft, you will be getting not only a good locomotive, but also a warranty that will assure no coffee grinders on your layout!
 
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Russ Bellinis

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fseva said:
:cry:I have owned locomotives by Model Die Casting that sounded like coffee grinders! Needless to say, they're no longer on my roster!

:thumb: However, if you buy a locomotive from Atlas, Broadway Ltd, Walthers/Proto, or Precision Craft, you will be getting not only a good locomotive, but also a warranty that will assure no coffee grinders on your layout!
Click to expand...

I haven't built a Model Die Casting locomotive, yet, but I have a couple of their locomotive kits on my shelf to build. If they have as much casting flash on the gears and gear boxes as the rest of the parts on their cars that I have built, you wuold get quite a bit of noise if you don't clean the flash off very good.
 
nkp174

nkp174

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Oct 10, 2006
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I have a variety: MDC rod, MDC shay, brass steam, athearn deisels, genesis steam, mantua steam & desiel, Bachmann steam & desiel, Bachmann plus steam & desiel, spectrum steam, ihc normal & premier steam, proto 2k steam, lifelike desiel, tyco deseil, rivarossi steam (old ahm & modern), ancient mantua & mdc steam, grandt line deseil & steam, and probably others.

Steam or desiel...no difference in sound if properly manufactured and maintained.

My mantua mallets (they have sagamis in them) are quieter than their equivalent F units and my 4-6-0 with an open frame motor.
My mdc shay is noisy, as are the rod engines (to a lesser extent), but I kind of like the sound from the mdc engines (they have open frame motors)...shays should sound like their going 90mph when they're moving 10mph.
My old rivarossi (ahm) hudson is quite loud, the newer berk is much quieter.
My IHC 4-4-0 and rivarossi (AHM) bowker are fairly quite, while the bachmann 4-4-0s are a bit noisy.
The vanilla bachman stuff is kind of noisy, the plus is quiter, and the spectrum is very quiet.
The athearn PA-1s are the loudest engines on the roster...the sw-7 is quieter, and the 2-8-2 is close to silent.
The Proto 0-8-0 is similar to the 2-8-2. The LL desiels (not proto) are loud.
The IHC stuff is fairly quite.
The Grandt line stuff is quiet.

Generally, modern stuff is quieter than older stuff...unless there's a problem with it.

EDIT: I'm actually anti-desiel...so I haven't picked up a desiel since probably around 1995. I'm sure they're just as quiet as my modern steam engines.
 
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