Adding Sound To O27 Locos With A Bluetooth Speaker

I have found an inexpensive, quick and easy method for adding sounds such as horns, whistles, "chugging" and anything else one can imagine to O gauge locomotives.  In fact, this method will work for any scale HO and larger. The secret is using your smartphone or tablet (or any other BLUETOOTH-enabled device that can play sounds) to a small wireless BLUETOOTH speaker placed inside the locomotive or in nearby rolling stock. The best part? The whole project can cost as little as $10!

Here's how it works:

Selecting A Speaker

First you need a BLUETOOTH speaker small enough to fit inside your train. I found one called a Groove Cube at my local Wal-Mart for $9.99.  This speaker is shaped like a cube and is just over 1.25 square inches in size. This is small enough to fit inside an O scale tender, boxcar, locomotive cab, and even a Lionel gondola canister. It will also fit inside an HO scale boxcar. Despite its small size the speaker is rated at 2 watts of output and features excellent sound quality. In my testing I have found the volume of a typical diesel horn sound to be comparable to the output of a Williams "True Blast" horn. In web searches I have found other speakers that are slightly larger with up to a 3 watt output, but I have not yet tested any of these.

Speaker Placement

You probably will not want to permanently install your speaker in your locomotive or rolling stock. This is because you will need access to the speaker to recharge the battery via USB cable, and to access the power on/off button. So far I have been successful just sitting my speaker in place loosely, but I imagine I might use Velcro tape to make some mounting positions more permanent. The speaker does not need to be located in the locomotive itself for satisfactory sound results, but may be placed in the first car behind a locomotive instead.

Selecting Your Sounds

Your options are limitless for providing sounds to play in your train. Many sound files are available on the internet as free downloads. You can record your favorite locomotive with your camera and create a sound file from that as well. The easiest option, and the one I have chosen, is to utilize sound collections already provided by other model railroaders. For an Android device, visit the Google Play Store online and search under "Model Railroad Sound" or "Train Sounds" and you will find a number of great apps that provide steam and diesel locomotive sounds - and most of these are FREE! Similar apps are probably available for Apple users as well.

Summary

If you are looking for an inexpensive way to add sounds to your locomotive fleet - whether you want a simple horn or whistle, or a sound to replace an old Lionel "Mighty Electronic Sound of Steam" unit, or you want to play Grand Funk Railroad sounds from your Marx 999 - THIS is a cheap, quick, easy and effective solution!