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märklin sound modules

Warning

These pages were made many years ago. Many links are outdated by now.

Table of Contents

Preface

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

Loco Table

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:

Links and References

Concluding Remarks

I want to thank all people who have contributed to this page in discussions, content review, error reports, and providing further information!