Iowa Scaled Engineering (ISE) are still nutting out their 'flange squeal' modules, hopefully to be released by the end of this year, late 2022. The system comes with the sound module, integrated speaker enclosure/driver and two sensors, maybe three. Enough for one continuous curve. How does it work ? As a train passes over the first detector, it will detect the motion and the flange squeal will come on progressively and fade out when the last detector has been passed. If your train stops over the detector, the sound will stop. This is the beauty of the motion detectors. The sound is recorded as a loop. The sound is controllable too, which means you can adjust the volume so it will not be louder than your sound fitted locomotives. Michael Peterson of ISE mentions how several sound players could be used along with the motion detectors so that on a longer curve, it will produce localised sound. So why use these and not just use the sound file in the locomotives sound decoder ? Simple answer is that the sound is localised to a section of track or through a junction of points/turnouts, whereas the sound file on your locomotives sound decoder is in the locomotive, which has passed the section of track. This video is from the recent St Louis Model Railroad Convention held in July. In the demo video it shows the detectors about 6" apart, ideally they would be placed approximately 24" apart. It is believed that there will be discounts given when buying larger quantities and the initial starter set will be reasonably priced. It won't be expensive, so you can install a few of these throughout your layout ! It is reported that a sound module starter kit with a few motion detectors will fall under $100 (subject to change). Scott Thornton of ISE also mentions that other sound modules may come along. An example is the 'click-clack' sound when a train passes a diamond crossing. This will be motion detected and speed sensitive. Iowa Scaled Engineering has a raft of other great products, especially their Proto Throttle. Check them out here : https://www.iascaled.com/store/ Cheers, Gary.
