02-09-2012, 11:08 AM
Preface:
My layout is mainly build of a large board of plywood screwed on battens at the wall and metal stands at the front. The tracks are glued to a layer of cork. The glue/water mix for ballasting soaks through the cork (at least after some reworks). The entire construction is sub standard from point of noise isolation. You may call is a drumhead. You should know that my ears are very sensitive and I define "noise" much more sensitive than most of you.
Observations:
1. Running a high quality engine e.g. Atlas GP40 on straight track produces minimal noise. It sounds like the wheels have rubber tire.
2. An Athearn RTR CF7 with a new high quality motor (Kato) but original trucks produces noticeable more noise. The drumhead is activated. There are a lot of resonance frequencies.
3. An Athearn Genesis GP15 with removed power train running as dummy with an Atlas TM GP38-2 produces the same kind of resonance as the CF7 with a high quality motor
4. Other brands of trucks are somewhere between Atlas and Athearn
5. I use old ROCO tracks in my staging yard. They have a simulated ballast made of soft plastic like rubber. Those tracks are very silent and Athearn trucks are close Atlas trucks.
6. The Athearn trucks do not emit so much noise into the air. They vibrate and activate the drumhead.
7. May be it does not fit into the test scenario but an Atlas engines runs like on rubber tire over Atlas switches while Athearn trucks have a tough fight metal to metal (all wheel and axis measure according to NEM) .
I did a little test:
An Athearn CF7 has been stripped down to the bare minimum. Only trucks without any gear wheels and the metal chassis is left.
That unit runs considerable more noisy than any of my cars.
I did than swap the Athearn wheel sets with P2K wheels sets (bought for the split wheel problem). The bare minimum unit ran one notch more soften but still much more noisy than a standard boxcar.
Looks like the wheels are part of the noisy production engine.
Question:
What does Atlas do to it's trucks other can not do and Athearn fails so very much? I do not think about he gear wheels due to observation 5 and 6. Something makes the wheels drum on the rails. How and why?
My layout is mainly build of a large board of plywood screwed on battens at the wall and metal stands at the front. The tracks are glued to a layer of cork. The glue/water mix for ballasting soaks through the cork (at least after some reworks). The entire construction is sub standard from point of noise isolation. You may call is a drumhead. You should know that my ears are very sensitive and I define "noise" much more sensitive than most of you.
Observations:
1. Running a high quality engine e.g. Atlas GP40 on straight track produces minimal noise. It sounds like the wheels have rubber tire.
2. An Athearn RTR CF7 with a new high quality motor (Kato) but original trucks produces noticeable more noise. The drumhead is activated. There are a lot of resonance frequencies.
3. An Athearn Genesis GP15 with removed power train running as dummy with an Atlas TM GP38-2 produces the same kind of resonance as the CF7 with a high quality motor
4. Other brands of trucks are somewhere between Atlas and Athearn
5. I use old ROCO tracks in my staging yard. They have a simulated ballast made of soft plastic like rubber. Those tracks are very silent and Athearn trucks are close Atlas trucks.
6. The Athearn trucks do not emit so much noise into the air. They vibrate and activate the drumhead.
7. May be it does not fit into the test scenario but an Atlas engines runs like on rubber tire over Atlas switches while Athearn trucks have a tough fight metal to metal (all wheel and axis measure according to NEM) .
I did a little test:
An Athearn CF7 has been stripped down to the bare minimum. Only trucks without any gear wheels and the metal chassis is left.
That unit runs considerable more noisy than any of my cars.
I did than swap the Athearn wheel sets with P2K wheels sets (bought for the split wheel problem). The bare minimum unit ran one notch more soften but still much more noisy than a standard boxcar.
Looks like the wheels are part of the noisy production engine.
Question:
What does Atlas do to it's trucks other can not do and Athearn fails so very much? I do not think about he gear wheels due to observation 5 and 6. Something makes the wheels drum on the rails. How and why?
Reinhard