11-24-2010, 03:22 PM
Actually on a small ISL, it isn't necessary to put the sound in a locomotive. I have seen many small, stand alone layouts at train shows where the individual put the sound through a stereo system driving speakers mounted somewhere under the layout, and you could not tell where the sound was coming from or that it wasn't coming from the train. There was one layout where the only mistake the guy made was failure to scale the sound. He cranked up the volume so it sounded like a full size train was running right through the hall, and you could hear his sound from the other side of the convention center! The added advantage to an external sound source, is it is easy to turn it off, if you get tired of the noise.