These pages were made many years ago. Many links are outdated by now.
It was in February 1997, at the Toy Fair in Nuremberg, when Märklin presented their first H0 locomotive, a BR V 200 diesel loco, with built-in diesel sound module. In the following years more and more märklin locos have been equipped with a sound module, some which produce the motor sound and horns, like the V 200, some others which only play horns or whistles.
This document tries to give an overview over many of märklin's locos equipped with first-generation sound features. First generation comprises the locos which have a sound board inside where the sound is stored on specially made ICs. These ICs have the sound recordings hard-programmed in a ROM together with some playback functionality. All these ICs are marked by "MKL 502 60x".
The interim generation just have some "black blop" (no IC in a molded case with metal feet); the current generation are combined mfx + sound decoders.
On some of these 1st generation sound boards I provide further detailed information,
like circuit schematics, audio samples to
listen to, and tips on how to modify modules to get other or further
sounds.
Sound Module Details
Follow these links to read detailed information on the listed sound modules
The same links, but sorted by the soundchip used
The following table lists many märklin locos with sound, what kind of sound they play, and which sound chip they have. The data has been derived from märklin's product descriptions on their German website, section "Produktsuche" (product search). The column stating the soundchip that has these sounds stored is based on my assumptions or what I have heard from other sources. The column "decoder / sound" says whether decoder and sound are on one circuit board (combined) or on separable circuit boards (separate) which may be connected by wires (wired) or plugging one onto the other (plugged). If you can contribute to this table please do not hesitate to tell me. For contact details, please see bottom of this page.
Sound | märklin model | märklin number | soundchip | decoder / sound | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
- - - steam locos - - - | |||||
steam whistle | S3/6, 18.4 | 26506, 29855, 37184, 37186 | 502 601 (t4) | separate wired | |
steam bell | 502 601 (t5) | ||||
steam whistle | 01.10 | 37102 | ? | separate | |
steam bell | ? | ||||
steam chuffs | 01.10 | 39103 | 502 604 | separate plugged | |
steam whistle | 502 604 | ||||
steam chuffs | 10 | 37080, 37081 | 502 604 | separate plugged | |
steam whistle | 502 604 | ||||
steam chuffs | 45 | 37450 | 502 604 | separate plugged | |
steam whistle | 502 604 | ||||
steam whistle | 043 | 37885 | ? | combined | |
steam bell | ? | ||||
steam engine | rotary snow plow, with cl. 52 | 26830 | 502 603 ? | combined | |
steam whistle | ? | ||||
steam whistle | Big Boy | 37990, 29848 | 502 604 | separate wired | |
steam bell | 502 604 | ||||
steam chuffs | 502 604 | ||||
- - - diesel locos - - - | |||||
diesel horn | V200 | 37803, 39821 | 502 601 (t6) | separate wired | |
diesel motor | 502 602 (t5) | ||||
diesel motor | V200 | 33803 | 502 601 (t7) | separate wired | |
diesel horn | V188 | 37282, 37284, | 502 601 (t6) | separate wired | |
diesel motor | 502 602 (t5) | ||||
diesel horn | V160, 216 | 26526, 29845, 37743, 37744 | 502 601 (t2) | separate wired | |
diesel horn | 502 601 (t3) | ||||
diesel horn | SBB RAm TEE I | 39700 | 502 601 | combined | |
horn | tunnel rescue train | 26510 | 502 601 (t2)? | separate? | |
horn | 502 601 (t3)? | ||||
diesel motor | F7 | 37622, 37623, 26600, 29848 | 502 603 | separate plugged | |
bell | 502 601 (t1) | ||||
diesel horn | 502 601 (t2high) | ||||
diesel motor | 202+203 (SNCB/NMBS) | 34664 | 502 603 | separate | |
- - - electric locos - - - | |||||
air pressure horn | 152, 182, ÖBB 1016 |
37350, 37353, 39350, 39351, 39352, 39355, 39356, 39357, 39358, 39359, 39830 |
502 602 (t7) | combined | |
brakes | 151 | 37432 | 502 604 | combined | |
electric whistle | 502 604 | ||||
air pressure horn | E03 | 39573 | 502 604 | combined | |
electric horn | E40 | 29855 | 502 602 (t7) | separate wired | |
electric horn | E44 | 37440 | 502 604 | combined | |
electric whistle | E52 | 37661 | 502 601 (t4) | combined | |
electric whistle | E75 | 37750 | 502 604 | combined | |
electric horn | E94 | 39221, 39222, 39223 | 502 604 | separate plugged | |
electric horn | ICE | 43747, 39711 | 502 602 (t7) | ? | |
door closing | 502 602 (t8) | ||||
horn | NS 1700, 1600 | 37261, 37262 | 502 601 (t2) | combined | |
horn | 502 601 (t3) | ||||
horn | Belgian 122 | 37231, 37232, 37233 | 502 601 (t2) | combined | |
horn | 502 601 (t3) | ||||
horn | Belgian Series 16 | 37632 | 502 601 (t2) | combined | |
horn | 502 601 (t3) |
More information:
I want to thank all people who have contributed to this page in discussions, content review, error reports, and providing further information!