Model Railroader senior editor Dana Kawala installed a Train Control Systems WOWDiesel Digital Command Control (DCC) sound decoder and TCS WOWSound speaker into a Kato HO scale F40PH. Check out some of the features of this new DCC sound decoder.
Video: TCS WOWDiesel DCC sound decoder
By Dana Kawala | May 27, 2015
| Last updated on May 6, 2021
Watch a demo of the diesel version of the TCS WOWSound DCC decoder
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Very nice but I would like to see more N scale engines with sound decoders, HO is easy so lets see the challenge met for us N Scale RR guys…Thanks
Hello everybody,
Thomas H Cain: Yes you can program flashing ditch lights with this decoder. However this particular Kato model doesn't have separate ditch lights (it uses light pipes that run from the headlight LED), so for this particular model you'd first need to actually install separate ditch lights.
Patrick D Flynn: Yes I realize your point regarding the HEP. However, the F40 was the only model we had around that I could install the decoder in to demonstrate one of the other prime mover sounds available. We'd already done a video showcasing the 567, so I wanted to highlight the 645 in this one. And I also wanted to demonstrate the BEMF-load-controlled throttle mode. You could simulate the HEP behavior that you describe by using the manual notching throttle mode.
Thanks for watching,
Dana Kawala
senior editor
Thanks Dana! Nice job!
I agree with Robert Carlson. The sound is absolutely grand. I will study this further and maybe re-think what decoder I want in my locos. Thank you for the demo.
Can you program the ditch lights to flash with the horn? I think that is a AMTRAK characteristic. I have done that with other decoders on my AMTRAK locomotives.
That 645 prime mover sound is very nice. And the Amtrak horn is dead on for most of those F40's. However, the one thing that is bothering me is that those series of units generally never had the engine in less than about Run 5 account the "hotel power" (HEP, or head end power) that the unit had to generate for the train even when standing still. That's why the nickname "blast boxes" were applied to the F40's. Maybe there's a DCC programming trick that can simulate this? In other words, keep the lowest throttle setting at run 5 even when stopped, and then notch it up to 8 when moving? Of course, if the HEP was running off of just one unit in a two or three unit consist, then the full windup of noise from idle to run 8 in the non-HEP trainlined units would be correct.
I am very impressed with their recent emergence out into the decoder sound market!
Have yet to be able to find any samples of sounds on theie website, however….
I installed the TCS WOW Diesel decoder in a Walthers Proto E7. The sound quality is fantastic. I really liked the F40PH sound.
It would be interesting to hear the other prime mover sounds and horn selections that are in the decoder. But, on this hearing, I think they come very close to getting it right. The start from a standing stop is quite realistic, and should have been allowed to play out longer. All in all, a great addition to sonic portion of model railroading.