David Morgan states in Diesels West that EMC
subcontracted production of gasoline engines for CB&Q gas-electric motor
cars to The Winton Motor Company and eventually bought the company in 1930.
Since many of the Q motor cars were built in 1928, their gasoline engines were
among the last such engines built by The Winton Motor Company. Winton started
making diesels shortly after EMC took over, and the 201 and 201A of Pioneer
Zephyr fame were the first efforts.
All of which brings me back to motor car sounds. Did a 6 or 8 cylinder
275 hp Winton gasoline engine sound like a 1000 hp diesel engine from De La
Vergne? Probably not. The 400 hp gas-electrics were noticeably louder than the
275 hp models, so it’s probable that a 1000 hp 8 cylinder diesel engine
from De La Vergne would be significantly more robust in sound than the 400 hp
gas-electric, much less the 275 hp gas-electric. The only available sounds for
DCC decoders that might come close to the 6 or 8 cylinder Winton gasoline
engine would seem to me to be the Rolls Royce 275 hp sound file or the Winton
diesel sound file, both from QSI. Did motor car diesel conversions sound like a
VO-1000? I don’t know, because I haven’t been able to find out what
diesel engines were installed in converted motor cars, though caterpillar
engines have been suggested. I would think the diesel conversions would sound
much like the first generation diesel switchers, e.g. the 450 hp switchers from
Midwest Locomotive Works with a pair of Cummins 6 cylinder diesels, or the SW
with its Winton 201A 8 cylinder inline 600 hp diesel.
Since I have two VO-1000s switching the yard while motor cars come and
go, I don’t want my motor cars to sound like VO-1000s. Since I have two
articulated shovelnoses coming and going, I don’t want my motor cars to
sound like 9900 or 9902, which have Winton sounds from QSI. That leaves me with
the remaining small diesel or Galloping Goose sounds from QSI, Tsunami, or
LokSound – or I can go with the Rolls Royce engine sounds, presumably
from an 8 cylinder gasoline engine, from QSI. After listening to all of the
alternatives, I’ve decided to go with the Rolls sounds from QSI until
something better comes along. My rationale is that an 8 cylinder Winton
gasoline engine and an 8 cylinder Rolls gasoline engine should sound more or less
alike. At least my doodlebugs won’t sound like VO-1000s or the
shovelnoses.
Sound is like color in that none of us perceive it exactly the same
way.
Nelson Moyer