Kato Sound Box

Kato is about to release one of its new products by the end of this month in January (hopefully) so I can added to my N Scale locomotives. Who doesn't love the sounds of a steam/diesel locomotive in miniature version? The purpose of this sound box is to make sounds, that is very similar to DCC but its much easier to do and fun to use as well. When I look at the pictures and the video demonstration, I love the design of it. It works for BOTH HO/N Scale! I heard that you can use your own pair of ear buds, even speakers! When you purchase the sound box, it comes with a sound chip that is an EMD 1st Generation locomotive such as an E unit or F unit locomotive. I think there will be other sound chips that will go along with other types of locomotives such as steam or freight train locomotives. My plan is to purchase the sound box when I get my Silver Streak starter set. I'll keep you all posted along the way. I can't wait to test it out on my locomotives! Check out the brand new Kato Sound Box for more information. There is a video demonstration in this post as well.

Union Pacific FEF-3/Excursion Train Feedback

I apologize for not posting lately. I've been working on the N Scale trains lately. I've done lots of different things such as using different locomotives in doubleheaders in the N Scale steam layout. First thing I tried out was using one of my Amtrak P42DC Genesis locomotive to the Union Pacific FEF-3 844. It looks good. But I plan on get a couple Union Pacific diesel locomotives. Specifically I plan to get a Union Pacific ES44AC locomotive and two Union Pacific SD70ACe locomotives. Why? I saw a YouTube video that looks really cool. I saw UP 844 in a special excursion train: Union Pacific 150th Anniversary Train I have to admit. I wasn't unsure of this until I tested it. I used three of my Amtrak P42DC Genesis locomotives and ran it a few times. It seems to work out great. No derailments or problems with this test. It worked out better than I expected. One last thing. I tried a steam doubleheader with my Southern Pacific GS-4 4450 locomotive. It turned out a little different. Unfortunately, I wanted the GS-4 as the leading locomotive. But SP 4450 needs more power in comparison to UP 844. But this steam doubleheader wasn't a complete failure. I tried having UP 844 lead SP 4450 and it worked fine. On the other hand, I tried a doubleheader with my SP 4450 and an Amtrak P42DC Genesis locomotive. It honestly worked. All I had to do was match up the power. Meaning that I gave power at a specific spot on the power pack for the train to move. It looked exactly like the SP 4449 consist had when it went to TrainFest in 2009. After owning the UP 844 for a while, I'm still proud to own this incredible steam locomotive. I'm just waiting on the money I need to get a UP ES44AC and the two UP SD70ACe locomotives to add to UP 844. UP FEF-3 still runs great and again, I'm glad I got myself this locomotive.