Some noise is normal as pointed out, there are gears and an electric motor inside a plastic shell, and it is running on metal wheels on metal tracks. A decent lube job reduces some noise but not all. And the 1 to 1 size locomotives are not quiet including the electrics. Also running the locomotive at a scale speed is much quieter. I run lash-ups of up to four locomotives at about a top speed of 30 scale mph and they produce a pleasant hum not unlike the 1 to 1 locomotives. That plus the sound of the metal wheels clicking over rail joints is what I want. Nice soothing sound and I know when my back is turned that things are still running right.
I also like to run my locos slowly but for the sake of the video i went top speed sorry about that Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Don't be sorry for the thread. You don't learn anything by not asking. Probably one of the hardest problems to diagnose on a forum would be a noise or sound problem. The videos helped. One thing also is what does whisper quiet mean to the reviewer, yourself, and others? If that person has been in N scale since the "dark ages" of the 1970's when the Bachman, Model Power, Mehano, etc, locomotives sounded like actual coffee grinders at ANY speed, then today's locomotives are indeed, whisper quiet. And when your bearing blocks DO get dry, and they will, you will hear that banshee-like squeel and notice a slight drop in loco speed, you will know what is causing it and how to get rid of it thanks to this thread.
I agree with the above statement and there is a lot of knowledge on this board. When trying a video to record sound it may help more to get as close as possible to the loco with the recording device to better pick-up sounds. As far as noise level this is a video of 4 of my self propelled passenger cars on my test track which is no more than a hollow core door with the track mounted on it. There are four motorized cars running here. And then a long train with a locomotive and two helpers that is on my old layout with a half inch foam base and the track on cork roadbed. No grinding or squealing in either which would not be normal, just the pleasant hum of the little motors at work and the sound of the wheels on the track. I service the locomotives about once a year only applying oil if the gears or bearing blocks appear dry, And then it is just a small drop to each point. After oiling I hold the chassis in my hand while I touch a 9 volt battery to the wheels to work the oil in before re-assembling. Having a couple of 9 volt batteries on my workbench are part of my essential tools. I also have a few pieces of Atlas straight track and curved track on the workbench also. My workbench is 3 foot wide so I can put together a short test track right on the work space and then just touch the terminals of the 9 volt battery to the track ends to watch a mechanism run to see if there are any problems.
alright i fixed it finally it didnt need oil just ran it around the track for a hour now its very quiet just what i expected thanks for all the help!
Trains running on Kato UniTrak are a bit louder than track on foam or cork roadbed. This is because there is no dampening of the noise because of the solid plastic base. This is especially true when that track is on a hard floor or surface. As others have said, there is a little whine and that is because of the fast speed you are running. And as they have said, maybe just a few drops of lubrication would help. Kato locomotives are some of the best running and pulling locomotives you can get. Also as you properly break the locomotive in, it will also get quieter. The gears etc have to find there happy spot and that comes from running at various speed both forward and reverse. The ES-44 are some of my best runners along with the SD80MACs and the SD90MACs. You do have a really good locomotive there!
