Product Review: InterMountain ES44DC

Today I want to talk about a product from InterMountain Railway.  Several months ago I found their ES44DC locomotives for sale, with DCC and sound, and I decided to buy one, because their prototypes are becoming more and more frequently seen on today's railroads.  I had never purchased an InterMountain product before, so I decided to start with just one, until I decided if I liked their locomotives or not.  By the time I decided to buy one, they were out of stock at InterMountain, so I did some searching online and found that they are still readily available through other hobby retailers.  I eventually purchased two ES44DC locomotives, but for this I will be talking specifically about the BNSF 7661.  InterMountain is currently taking reservations on the next release of these models.

Exterior:

BNSF 7695, with the gold logo

The first model I purchased was in a trial paint scheme the BNSF used, where the swoosh logo was in gold, instead of the more common black.  That one looked good, and the paint quality was high, but having never seen the prototype, I wondered how a more common paint scheme would look.  So I bought a second ES44DC, in BNSF's Heritage II paint scheme.  I have seen that prototype paint scheme lots of times, and I can say it was very accurately represented on the model.  The paint is smoothly and evenly applied, with all the lines and writing being very crisp and clear.  Logos, numbers, and warning labels present and accurately applied.  I was able to read most of the warning labels under magnification.

Lighted number board on 7695

The level of detail is great on these models.  They come with all the grab irons, handrails, and end details in place, although they all seem to be made of plastic.  I have found the end handrails to be slightly brittle and had one break on me after using the locomotive for several weeks.  In the packaging, there are foam strips that fit between the body of the locomotive and the side handrails, to protect them from bending or breaking.  This is something I wish all locomotive manufacturers would do!  On the ends, one noticeably absent detail is the train air brake hose.  The MU hoses and MU jumper cables are present, but for some odd reason, the brake pipe, which is the biggest, is missing on both ends.  On the rear end, the model even features spare knuckles molded into the plastic.  The trucks and under frame feature a high level of detail, most of which is molded onto the model.  Cables, hoses, pipes, valves, brake cylinders, springs, and even fuel gauges are all present.

BNSF 7661

This model features working headlights, ditch lights, and even number lights.  On the models I purchased, the ditch lights and number lights are separate DCC decoder functions and can be operated independently of other locomotive lighting.  Additionally, the ditch lights flash alternately for several seconds after blowing the horn on the model.  Headlights are directional, and when the locomotive operates in reverse, the ditch lights are automatically turned off with the front headlights.  On the prototype, the number lights would be used to identify the train.  Many railroads today simply use the train's lead engine initials, number, and direction to identify trains, instead of assigned train numbers.

BNSF 7695

Interior:
The ES44DC model does feature a cab interior, molded in a cream colored plastic.  It is hard to see much through the windows, and so the cab lacks a lot of details.  It does include a control stand and seating, although the seat arrangement in my models does not match what BNSF has on their Evolution Series diesels.  There is no interior lighting in the cab.  Despite the lack of interior detail, it is enough to be convincing to the outside world.

Operation:
The model will operate on both DC and DCC layouts, however on DC layouts, not all of the sounds will be available, and they will all be automated.  On a DCC layout, the locomotive operates very smoothly.  The slowest speed is a little faster than I would like, but it is still comfortably within the safe coupling speed range.  The motor is quiet, though not completely silent.  However, it really is only noticeable when the sounds are muted.  The model operates smoothly through its entire speed range, which exceeds the scale speed range of the prototype.  I coupled both of my ES44DC locomotives together and placed them in a consist, without taking the time to match speeds, and they still operated quite smoothly, without jerking or fighting each other at low speeds.  Starts and stops are also smooth, without any sudden jumping or lurching to a start or to a stop.

BNSF 7661 Rear End

Sound:
The ES44DC features a factory installed SoundTraxx Tsunami DCC decoder, which has all the appropriate sounds for a GE Evolution Series diesel.  When placed on the rails, the locomotive goes through an engine start up procedure, and then it idles until it is moved.  From the factory, the sound is setup for automatic notching, which means the engine will rev up automatically as the operator increases the throttle setting.  This can be changed so that the user can manually change the engine notching.  From the factory, the volume is quite loud on these models, and I found it necessary to turn the volume down a bit, especially with two of them on the rails at once!

Besides the basic engine noises, these models also have dynamic brake sounds, air dryer sounds, radiator fan sounds, coupler sounds, brake squeal and release sounds, and several whistle and bell sounds to choose from.  Out of the box, all of these sounds are setup to be manually activated, however they can be set to come on automatically, or in the case of the air dryer, randomly.  The dynamic brake sound can also be setup to force the engine sounds to idle or to a specific throttle notch.  A list of what functions control which sounds is included with the model, as well as a list of the available bell and whistle sounds, and how to change them.

Two ES44DC's coupled

Overall, I am very pleased with these models.  They represent the latest products from General Electric's Evolution Series design quite well.  They run reliably and smoothly, and they look and sound great at the head end of a model freight train.  I anticipate I will purchase more of these, and the ES44AC locomotives from InterMountain in the future.

Manufacturer: InterMountain Railway Co.
Part Number: 49721S-01
MSRP (no sound): $179.95
MSRP (w/ sound): $259.95
Available in the following paint schemes:
BNSF Gold Wedge
BNSF Heritage II
Canadian National
CSX Future Blue
GE Demonstrator
Norfolk Southern
http://www.intermountain-railway.com/ho/loco/holoces44dc.htm

Product Review: SoundTraxx Tsunami TSU-1000

This week, I thought I would do something a little bit different.  We have done several product reviews in the past, but they tend to be locomotives and rolling equipment.  Model railroading encompasses more than locomotive and freight cars, so I thought I would do some equipment that makes it operate.  Today I want to talk about a DCC sound decoder, which I rather like.  SoundTraxx offers a wide range of DCC decoders for mobile and stationary applications.  I have known about them for quite some time, but because of the price, I have been hesitant to purchase any of their products.  Recently, I found a distributor offering a kit to upgrade Athearn's recent P42DC locomotive models to DCC and sound.  These kits featured the TSU-1000 decoder, which is part of SoundTraxx's Tsunami line of products.  The decoder in the kit was programmed with modern sounds from General Electric's FDL-16 prime mover.

The Tsunami line of products is SoundTraxx's line of sound decoders.  They offer both sound and non sound decoders for stationary and mobile use, although they are best known for their sound decoders.  The TSU-1000 is a one amp DCC sound decoder, and they offer different options for the sounds programmed onto the decoder, which encompass a variety of steam and diesel sounds.  They generally specify the prime mover programmed onto the decoder, and then several options for horn, bell, and other sounds are also programmed onto the decoder, allowing the user to customize the sounds to match the prototype.

When my kits arrived, I discovered a few things about SoundTraxx decoders.  When one purchases a decoder from SoundTraxx, that is all they purchase.  Even if it is a sound decoder, it typically does not come with a speaker, baffle, or harness for easy installation.  The distributor that sold me my decoder kits had included all of those additional parts, which is a good thing because I would have not known that they are not included.  While a complete package, including all the required parts would be nice, I can see the benefits to not including them also.  It does allow the user to buy speakers and other parts specifically suited for the locomotive in which the system will be installed.  It also gives the buyer the option of finding the parts from another supplier, possibly at a lower price.  I can appreciate these benefits, but I would also think that a first time buyer with limited electronics experience may want something that includes everything.

Assembly of all the parts was not difficult.  It does require some basic soldering skills and some patience, but it was not difficult.  Assembling the baffle is a simple matter of gluing a couple of plastic parts together.  Once assembled, the speaker can simply be pressed into the baffle.  The speaker must be soldered to the leads that come from the decoder.  All the decoder leads must also be soldered to their appropriate location within the locomotive.  The decoder does come with a diagram, which shows where each wire should be connected.  Additionally, NMRA compliant 8-pin plugs are available, and the decoder leads could be soldered to that instead, if the user wanted an installation that could be easily removed in the future.  I tried this method on one decoder, but found it difficult to solder the wires to the tops of the pins.  On the second decoder, I connected it directly to the locomotive.

Once everything is assembled, it must somehow all get inside the locomotive.  With any sound decoders, this can be a little tricky.  It always seems as if there are about a thousand miles of wire, and finding a place for the speaker, where it will not cause other problems can also be challenging.  Fortunately, Amtrak units are car body type engines, and while space is not ample, it is not too cramped inside either.  Before I closed up the locomotive, I set it on the tracks to test everything.

When the locomotive is placed on the tracks, the decoder goes through a start up sequence.  It produces sounds that sound like a locomotive starting up and then idling.  I was actually quite impressed with the sound quality, although I did find the default volume level to be a bit loud.  That is easily adjusted, and can be adjusted on the main track if your DCC system allows main track programming.  After I got the volume turned down a little, I pulled out the cheat sheet, included with the decoder, and tested the various sound functions.  The only one I really did not like was the horn.  There was another cheat sheet with the various horns on the decoder, and instructions on how to change the horn sound, so I changed it, and tested it again.  Then I throttled up slowly, so I could hear when the decoder went to the next notch of power.  Overall, I was impressed with the sounds.

I have a DCC system that allows programming on the main track, provided the DCC decoder in question can be programmed on the main track.  I find this feature very handy, and I am not sure I would ever buy a system without it.  Every decoder I had used previously  had been fully programmable, as far as I was able to tell, on the main track.  I tried to change the address on this newly installed decoder, and found that it would not accept the new address.  Having never run into this problem before, I looked through the documentation included with the decoder, and found nothing.  There were several references to a complete decoder manual online, and so I checked that out, and then found that SoundTraxx decoders cannot have their address reprogrammed on the main track.  Most other things it seems are programmable on the main track, although there are a few things that SoundTraxx decoders will not accept unless it is moved to a programming track.

Overall, I am happy with the pair of decoders I purchased.  Eventually I would like to put sound in all my engines, because I like what it adds to operations.  I do plan to purchase more decoders from SoundTraxx, though I will probably purchase the speakers elsewhere to save a little money.  I do think the decoders are a good purchase, and a good value.  The sound quality is high, yet the price is comparable to most other sound decoders.  I have three SD70MAC's, and I am eager to try the TSU-1000 with the EMD 710 prime mover sounds next.