External Speaker

Anyone that has run a model train display at a Train Show has had the lived experience. You install sound in your favourite locomotive - sounds really great at home, but get to a Train Show and your work seems to have been in vain. That tiny speaker inside your locomotive just cannot compete with the general din of an exhibition hall.

The solution, inpired by a Station Blue customer, is an external speaker capable of making a much louder sound and providing lower frequency bass tones. The chosen locomotive is the V Line City Of Mildura N457 with a Soundtraxx Tsunami EMD645 sound decoder installed. Instructions on how to install a Tsunami sound decoder in an Auscision N class locomotive are provided via the menu option Installing Sound.

The external speaker, or speakers, in this case are a pair of car radio speakers in rear parcel shelf enclosures. The two enclosures are bolted together to form a self contained unit as shown.

The head and tail light indicates are of course optional.

Cracking open the unit.

Inside is a second Tsunami EMD645 sound decoder. According to the Tsunami instructions speakers of 8 ohm or greater are required. Since these car radio speakers are 4 ohm I have wired them in series. I have also provided a dummy load in place of model locomotive motor. The track input is connected to leads for connection to the same track as the actual subject locomotive.

Next it is a case of placing the locomotive on the track and connecting the speak box to the same track. Finally, set the locomotive and the speaker box in a consist as shown.

More information on how to set up a consist with Station Blue is available in a video under Trains on the video page.

The final result: