Rolling Thunder TM

We are still amazed by the realistic sounds our models can produce. Yet when we hear a real locomotive, we notice the deep rumbling sounds that even our advanced model locomotives simply could not reproduce, until now.
 

The ALL-NEW Paragon3 and Paragon4 with Rolling ThunderTM sound and control systems for HO scale have all the features of Paragon2, but now include more, higher fidelity sounds than ever before, plus the ability to reproduce low frequency sounds that give your railroad the feel and depth of sound of a real locomotive!

How does it work? The speakers in most HO scale locomotives will only reproduce sounds above approximately 600 hertz. The human ear can detect sounds between 20 to 20,000 hertz, and we can feel sounds at even lower frequencies. Many of the sounds real trains make are in the lower frequencies that models cannot reproduce. This is due to the tiny speakers which cannot move enough air. To overcome this shortcoming, Paragon3 and Paragon4 incorporate a cutting edge radio transmitter system we call Rolling ThunderTM that sends the low frequency sounds to a specially designed receiver and subwoofer under your layout. Since low frequency sounds have a longer wavelength, it is difficult for the human ear to detect the direction of the source. The result is that while the locomotive moves around the layout, you can hear the high frequency sounds coming from the locomotive, and the low frequency sounds from the subwoofer-- all perfectly synchronized to the motion of the locomotive and the puffing of the smoke, and your ears will perceive the full array of sound as coming from the model!

On a large layout, where a locomotive can be very far from the subwoofer, the Rolling ThunderTM system detects the distance and fades out the subwoofer until the locomotive gets close again, or, if another locomotive is in range, it will connect automatically to the subwoofer and begin playing its sounds at levels appropriate to its distance to the subwoofer.

The system consists of the Paragon3 or Paragon4 sound system in the locomotive, with its integral Rolling ThunderTM transmitter, a Rolling ThunderTM receiver box under the layout, and a powered subwoofer.