Garden Railway Forum

I have arranged a purchase of a (currently) manually controlled battery loco. As part of the deal, RC will be fitted. My thoughts went a stage further and I thought if we're making changes, why not fit sound at the same time? I've had a look on RC Trains' website and Phil gave some good detailed information & advice. A receiver and transmitter (and battery pack) are earmarked. But the soundcard mentioned (MyLocoSound) does not have the specific loco's sounds, they are generic in nature. I'm wondering if I could get something for the loco based on the J70 steam tram. I had a look round online and Digitrains have a sound file for the 4mm scale Rapido J70s ModelRail commissioned. But I don't know if that would be compatible with SM32 equipment. Or excessively quiet given the difference in scale. I did message them last week but they're having to refer to a technical person, no answer yet.

Someone mentioned Fosworks and they also have generic steam sound cards - also a SND-210 with 'sound project of your choice' (do you think they mean I could download a file (such as one from Digitrains) and install it?) but that's a lot more expensive at £250. (I'm not at all sure I want to go that far). I also took advice from an ex TrackShack contact who suggested sound (in his day) was not very good, such as chuffs not being synchronised with motion. He thought someone had lashed up a 4mm scale DCC chip with RC & batteries but has no experience of and thought there might be problems altering CVs etc.. Am I being hopelessly naive or might I have a cunning plan?

I'm not particularly electrically minded, so anything I get needs to be reliable and work with the minimum of fuss and/or programming. If I could get something good, I'm fine paying a bit more. But if the options are rather second rate or generic, I might go with it and accept a lack of realism or maybe I'll do without altogether.

Any thoughts or experiences?

Take a look at Rik's Peckforton blogs, he has written about several different sound installations, although afaik they are all generic. Your chances of getting a specific loco are pretty slim I suspect.

philipy wrote: ↑Sat Jan 10, 2026 3:15 pm Take a look at Rik's Peckforton blogs, he has written about several different sound installations, although afaik they are all generic. Your chances of getting a specific loco are pretty slim I suspect.

Yes. Philip's right. Mine are all generic.

I believe Fosworks have receivers which drive DCC soundcards - for which you can download specific loco files. However, as you are discovering, they aren't cheap.

Rik

Another possible option is the Hornby HM7000 DCC sound chip that can be run via the Hornby Bluetooth app (using a phone or tablet in place of an RC transmitter) using an onboard battery to power the locomotive. I’ve used this approach successfully on a LGB Stainz and a small O gauge shunter. The limitation is the current draw with the Hornby chip rated to a maximum of around 1.5 amps from memory. On the Stainz I used a 3s LiPo at a nominal 12.6volts, this limits the stall current draw (and maximum speed) as the Stainz motor is rated to 18 volts. There are lots of good quality sound projects available for free from Hornby covering their most popular models. There’s no J70 but maybe something that sounds suitable. The HM7000 sound chip is around £60 and comes with a small speaker, the app and sound files are free downloads from Hornby.

Thankyou all. I'll have a read through Rik's blog posts. A specific J70 file would be nice ... but the brutal truth is it's a freelance narrow gauge in the style of a J70. A very convincing narrow gauge J70 (IMHO) but still not an actual class. My priority would be to have something synchronised (with movement) and convincing. So long as it's not obviously inappropriate, like (say) an A4 or Black Five sound - I could live with a generic branch line steam sound. After all, it will be a bit of a audio-visual compromise as there won't be any steam emerging from the chimney...

I should mention I don't have a smartphone (or tablet), so - so far at least - I've been looking at a separate transmitter of some sort. One of our local group did mention a system run from a smartphone and the gravity slate train I posted a video and/or stills of elsewhere on here is run from the owner's phone. I don't regard myself as a Luddite but most smartphones are expensive to buy or run and after a cost-benefit analysis, given my current lifestyle, I decided I just don't need one and it'd be wasted money. Which I could spend on more important things like garden railways! I know that's a minority PoV these days but it's how I feel.

Thanks again; any further comments welcome, I want to make a decision soon but not necessarily this weekend.

Please be aware the older MLS 'Universal' steam sound cards were pretty dire..

The newer cards have a mix of recorded and synthesised sounds, and are a lot better.

Email me directly (as you already have) and we can discuss this further.

I would add, if this is a'tram' style loco, can you see the motion enough to need 'perfect' chuff synchronisation?

PhilP

Thanks - email sent.

(For the others) no motion is visible - which might help complications re synchronising valve gear motion and sound. I have some footplate time though, which might make me a bit picky about synchronising loco movement and sound. Re indoor DCC Sound railways, I've seen some super examples - but some which were terrible! I currently have one working battery loco, the Roundhouse Himalayan NDM6, that has sound in. I've no idea how authentic it is with the full sized article in India but it's not bad on tallying motion with noise.

I've only had a "smart" phone (I call them nightmare rectangles) for 18 months. Only brought about with the shutdown of the G3 network in Aus.
Very useful for the camera and ability to look things up on the fly, but it doesn't anything to my life, besides..

Back to the topic at hand, I remember as a teenager reading about the early MLS cards in Australian Model Railway Magazine, looking them up on youtube and hearing them at shows. Bluntly, I thought they actually detract from a model..

What they've evolved into on the other hand, is rather good for the price, especially with the provision to synchronise them with the wheels via a reed switch actuated by four magnets glued to the back of a wheel. I have half a dozen of the most recent and one generation earlier steam card. I think MyLocoSound has really hit their stride with these cards - a good mix of quality sound, and ability to customise to suit individual locos.

Though not every sound they put out is worth using in my book, they do take some time comparing settings to find a sound you're happy with, but it's rather a fun part of a modelling build. Their diesel cards can sound excellent on certain settings too.

Old Man Aaron wrote: ↑Tue Jan 13, 2026 12:02 am ... What [soundcards have] evolved into on the other hand, is rather good for the price, especially with the provision to synchronise them with the wheels via a reed switch actuated by four magnets glued to the back of a wheel. I have half a dozen of the most recent and one generation earlier steam card. I think MyLocoSound has really hit their stride with these cards - a good mix of quality sound, and ability to customise to suit individual locos.

Though not every sound they put out is worth using in my book, they do take some time comparing settings to find a sound you're happy with, but it's rather a fun part of a modelling build. Their diesel cards can sound excellent on certain settings too.

Thanks. Another member asked about sound recently (the 'Chuffing and Whistle' thread over in the Projects section) and there's been some overlap with this thread. Short version, I'm going to give this a go. Order placed with Phil and Rik's video (officially recommended by MyLocoSound ) watched.

Just a brief update - Phil's order arrived and the parts fitted. I haven't been able to test outside but have run the loco - a rather nice quasi J70 - on my shunting plank and am happy. I need to play with the [TV] handset a bit as I haven't worked out how to use it fully, so only have easy access to some sounds. But the 'chuff' (set on the handset rather than via magnets) is loud enough for a SM32 loco and generally tallies with velocity and momentum. Things are a bit busy right now but once I've come to terms with all the options, I will try and do a video.

I had hoped to enter this quarter's photo gallery using the plank and some figures posed on it but certain things cropped up which meant I'm a bit behind on scenery work...

Time to announce this:

There is a British designed and built smaller version of hardware running the MyLocoSound firmware.
35mm x 22mm x 12/6mm - the two 'thickness' measurements depend whether you want screw-terminals, or are happy with solder pads.

They are running licenced MLS software, so work exactly as the full-size cards.
The only thing NOT supported is the charging of a backup battery, so no standing sounds when stationary on analogue track-power.

Phil.P.

That sounds good Phil...errm.. how much?

Impressive!

And the j70 is damn fine, too.

philipy wrote: ↑Mon Feb 23, 2026 6:19 am That sounds good Phil...errm.. how much?

£70

https://micronradiocontrol.co.uk/sound.html#msnd01

Rik

Or £75.00 with screw terminals.

Phil.P