It's a Tight Fit

I have only one vintage BB locomotive, a PA-1. I managed to s-q-u-e-e-z-e a 1" round baffled speaker into the very back and attached to the top of the shell. Adding speakers to any diesel is almost always a challenge. 

It's a Tight Fit

Thanks for your reply.

Thought that may be the case. My Athearn locos are all hood types, GP9s, GP35s S12s etc and I can't replace them as the roads  I have are just not available now. When I started modeling the CB&Q and the Great Northern were still separate railroads.

Plenty of room for the chip but the speaker size did concern me. I don't want to be blown out of the train room so a smaller speaker would be ok. I have to order through the mail so I want to get everything I need at the same time.

I was hoping a few more had done sound in these older locos.

KJH

If the Problem is No Room

Then you might want to Don Ball's Stockton & Copperopolis website http://sandcrr.blogspot.com/and see what he has accomplished in an extremely small space.  I now have to consider DCC because of his work on the 0-6-0 switch engine which is what I am using on my personal layout.

See getting the sound out DCC column in Aug MRH

See getting the sound out DCC column in Aug MRH

Thanks for the link. I'm new to MRH and I have been working backwards. I had got back to September so I was almost there. The lighting clips are long gone and so are the power clips that connect the towers to the top of the motor. I will still have to buy rectangular speakers so they will fit into the space inside the hood. They are cheap enough but need to be bought at the same time as I buy the decoders. I want to avoid a second pack and post to Oz if I can. The reason I'm trying to get it right the first time.

KJH

You might fit a .50" speaker

You might fit a .50" speaker and half its enclosure in the cab. I did this on one of mine. I put one side of Velcro on the shell and the other side on the speaker( the sides with the wires). The I make sure I have enough wire from the speaker to the decoder so I can install the speaker in the shell then the shell on the frame. I use Soundtraxx decoders and adjust the equalizer to help boost the sound.  Joe

Railmaster

I have several older Athearn hood units with speakers installed.  I used Railmaster Hobbies DS1436-8.  It can be placed either under the radiator fans or under the interial filter hatch (right behind the cab).  Use a sound decoder that isn't a board and it's easier to fit it all in.  The old BB and newer RTR motors are very tall so the speaker will only fit in one of those two areas I mentioned.  The decoder would go in the other space.

Hope that helps.

-Kevin

Speakers in early Athern Diesels

Thanks everyone, I reckon I know what I need to buy now. Much appreciated.

KJH

Sound in older Atherns

Thanks all. I posted a thanks yesterday but it seemed to disappear so a second one may appear.

Don't want to spend a fortune on what are quite old locos so I reckon I will give a couple of Digitrax sound decoders a go and buy a couple of smaller speakers at the same time. Now time to Oz, about 3 weeks.

Thanks again   KJH

Speakers in early Athern Diesels

My preferred US hobby shop had zero stock of the sound decoder I finally decided on but I was able to purchase a pair of MRC 1712s here in Oz. I had heard a few bad reports on MRC decoders but both went in to the locos with no problems Including the speakers and I am very pleased with the end result, Both are working perfectly so I am on my way. Wasn't the problem I thought it would be.

KJH