# Lionel Railsounds vs. Trainsounds



## eljefe (Jun 11, 2011)

I'm shopping for a Lionel set for a display and have three basic requirements:

- Steam locomotive with smoke
- Comes with a CW-80 transformer
- Has a digital sound system (preferably Railsounds)

It is proving surprisingly difficult to find a set with all three. There are several suitable options for diesel sets but all the steam sets currently available are mostly LionChief or have the older Trainsounds system. I've found other sets on Lionel's site that look good, but they've all been out of production for 10 years or so.

My question is whether Railsounds is really that much better than Trainsounds to justify the continued search...

And no, I don't want a much fancier system that costs thousands of dollars. This is for a display for kids with a max budget of about $400.


----------



## cole226 (Feb 8, 2013)

Lionel Railsounds vs. Trainsounds


could u piece it instead of a set? 
how about a railsounds boxcar?
why a cw80? 

u can often pick up a berk jr. on ebay for around 250.00 with tmcc and railsound.
just some thoughts.

good luck


----------



## L0stS0ul (Feb 6, 2015)

Western depot has a lot of options in stock with train and rail sounds that meet your criteria.

http://www.westerndepot.com/product_info.php/cPath/21_503_34_434/products_id/29619

I've never had a trainsound loco before so no clue what the difference is. I've read that the big difference is the sounds can't be mixed so the chuffing stops when you blow the whistle for instance. You'll find people that like both. From the description it looks like more sounds than my railsound one has. I've not been very impressed with my one rail sounds set. My PS1 mth set has much better sound

Also check here

http://americasbesttrain.com/shop/e...ntral-flyer-set-w-railsounds-rtr-p-19706.html


----------



## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Here's an old post from another forum that says it as well as I would. To give proper credit, it's a clip from this thread: http://cs.trains.com/ctt/f/95/p/165687/1824965.aspx



> RailSounds was Lionel's Premier Sound System (Legacy is now the top dog). There have been several variations since the system went full digital in vrs 2.5. While RS (and Legacy) will work in conventional mode, you can only access a subset of the full sound set. You need to use TMCC/Legacy to access ALL of the sounds. Many of the sound effects are assembled on the fly by the RS processor and the recorded snippets. In Legacy, you can actually "play" a whistle/horn using the CAB-2 remote. Multiple sound streams can be triggered/controlled.
> 
> TrainSounds is Lionel's full digital but conventional only sound system. It is a step down from RailSounds in that the processor is less complex and can generally only handle one sound effect at a time. You use horn/bell buttons and voltage swings to control the effects (similar to QSI's sound effect system and uses QSI's licensed technology).
> 
> ...


----------



## L0stS0ul (Feb 6, 2015)

I found a video comparing the two. I don't think all railsounds trains are equal though. I have the 6-30224 Pennsylvania 4-4-0 Steam Passenger Set and the rail sounds and crew talk are extremely limited.


----------



## eljefe (Jun 11, 2011)

I was able to locate one suitable set after I posted my question, and the Western Depot link led me to a backup option. I've found both at pretty good prices, so thanks for the help!


----------

