Top header photo
 Trainiax logo
HomeNewContactLinks

Recording Search Results

Search Criteria

Options


Page 4 of 8
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
 
Lead Locomotive Recording Photo Information
SLQ 3512
MLW M-420
Analog, 44 kHz MP3
0:51
No photo Date: 2000-08
Location: North of Waterville, QC
Railroad: SLR
Horn Type: Airchime K3L (major chord)
Category: Running the mainline
Six locomotives head upgrade in run-8: Three SLQ MLW M420's and three GP40's (with GP40 3000 at reduced rpm in the middle). Just after the second whistle blast, a daredevil driver stopped on the tracks, watched the train come, and drove off during the third whistle blast with 5 seconds to spare.
SLQ 3512
MLW M-420
Analog, 44 kHz MP3
0:40
photo Date: 2000-09
Location: North of Waterville, QC
Railroad: SLR
Horn Type: Airchime K3L (major chord)
Category: Running the mainline
SLR Train 394 with MLW M-420 3512, GSCX GP40 3733, SLQ GP11 8749 and GP40 3000 (still at reduced rpm). The most spectacular sounds came from the smallest unit. (Hint: third in the consist).
SLQ 3517
MLW M-420
11 kHz MP3
0:46
No photo Date: 2000-06-23
Location: North of Waterville, QC
Railroad: SLR
Horn Type: Airchime K3L, K3H
Category: Running the mainline
Two MLW M-420's and a GP40 in about run 6. The K3H of 3517 was one of the nicest of any SLR/SLQ unit.
SLQ 3517
MLW M-420
Analog, 44 kHz MP3
0:32
photo Date: 2001-05
Location: North of Waterville, QC
Railroad: SLR
Horn Type: Airchime K3L, K3H
Category: Light work
SLQ M-420's 3517 and 3579 ease along a short Intermodal freight (train 146) in the twilight of the MLW era. The engineer yelled a greeting out the window, just audible over the grumbling engines.
SLQ 3519
MLW M-420
Analog, 44 kHz MP3
0:35
photo Date: 2000-08
Location: North of Waterville, QC
Railroad: SLR
Horn Type: Airchime K3L, K3H
Category: Running the mainline
MLW M420's 3519 and 3579 head upgrade in run-8 with mid-day train 146. A pleasing Doppler effect resulted from the long last whistle blast.
SLQ 3562
MLW M-420
Analog, 44 kHz MP3
1:02
No photo Date: 2000-10
Location: North of Waterville, QC
Railroad: SLR
Horn Type: Airchime K3L, K3H
Category: Distant echos
A nighttime recording of a mix of SLQ M-420's and GP40's heading downhill from Waterville, QC, in a chorus of burbles (M-420's) and drones (GP40's). The horn on 3562 is a gruff-sounding augmented chord (in place of the original minor chord) although all three chimes are still functioning.
SLQ 3562
MLW M-420
22 kHz MP3
44 kHz WAV
0:32
No photo Date: 2001-03
Location: North of Waterville, QC
Railroad: SLR
Horn Type: Airchime K3L, K3H
Category: Light work
Wet snow + 0-degree Celsius temperature = horn trouble! The #2 chime is the only one left working on 3562 on this train, with the others clogged with snow. Following were SLQ M-420's 3578 and 3517, burbling past in mid-throttle with a short SLR train headed East.
SLQ 3569
MLW M-420
22 kHz MP3
44 kHz WAV
1:14
No photo Date: 2000-10
Location: North of Waterville, QC
Railroad: SLR
Horn Type: Airchime K3L, K3H
Category: Distant echos
SLR Train 394 heads past after dark with a mix of MLW and EMD units - among them, unmistakably, an SLQ GP11. The horn on 3569 is not exactly in tune, but still pleasing.
SLQ 3573
MLW M-420
Analog, 44 kHz MP3
0:35
No photo Date: 2000-09
Location: North of Waterville, QC
Railroad: SLR
Horn Type: Airchime K3L, K3H (1 bell silent)
Category: Running the mainline
The finest example of ALCO burbling I have ever recorded, coming from SLQ M-420's 3573 and 3579. 3573 was known for its liberal production of smoke, even when in run-8.
SLQ 3578
MLW M-420
11 kHz MP3
1:58
No photo Date: 2000-05
Location: North of Waterville, QC
Railroad: SLR
Horn Type: Airchime K3L, K3H
Category: Running the mainline
My very first recording of an SLR train, with two SLQ M-420's and a GP40 leading 57 cars. I no longer have it on tape and it unfortunately only exists as this speaker-to-microphone transfer. For those who think trains take forever to pass, this one was moving at 25 mph and took less than 2 minutes. The whole train was recorded.
SLQ 3578
MLW M-420
11 kHz MP3
0:45
No photo Date: 2000-05
Location: North of Waterville, QC
Railroad: SLR
Horn Type: Airchime K3L, K3H
Category: Light work
My second recording of an SLR train. This is of two SLQ M-420's leading 17 cars in about notch 5.
SLQ 3578
MLW M-420
22 kHz MP3
44 kHz WAV
0:55
photo Date: 2001-03
Location: South of Lennoxville, QC
Railroad: SLR
Horn Type: Airchime K3L, K3H
Category: Light work
Lots to hear in this recording: clear bell and horn sounds from 3578, grumbling engine sounds from both lead units (3517 was following) and a "whoo-hooo!" from the conductor! I can't help but smile at the crew's sense of humour. Also visible in the photo (link) is the roll of toilet paper they threw out the window! The whole train (only 18 cars) was recorded.
SLQ 3579
MLW M-420
22 kHz MP3
44 kHz WAV
0:47
photo Date: 2000-09
Location: South of Lennoxville, QC
Railroad: SLR
Horn Type: Airchime K3L, K3H (1 bell silent)
Category: Running the mainline
One of my favourite recordings. SLQ M-420 3579 (with its authoritative, albeit two-chime K3H) another MLW M-420 and GSCX GP40's 3702 and 3717 roar past in a chorus of whistles and whines. The regular wheel sounds come from Centerbeam flatcars, whose length and wheelbase closely match the 39' rail lengths.
SLQ 3579
MLW M-420
22 kHz MP3
44 kHz WAV
0:59
photo Date: 2000-09
Location: North of Waterville, QC
Railroad: SLR
Horn Type: Airchime K3L, K3H (1 bell silent)
Category: Running the mainline
This was one of my most memorable train-watching experiences - check out the photo link to see why! This is the sound of six SLQ M-420's (3579, 3562, 3573, 3519, 3517, and 3578) racing along in run-8, as heard from a ditch below track level. As the spot was a bit unnerving, I did not stay there long!
SLQ 3579
MLW M-420
22 kHz MP3
44 kHz WAV
1:01
No photo Date: 2000-09
Location: North of Waterville, QC
Railroad: SLR
Horn Type: Airchime K3L, K3H (1 bell silent)
Category: Distant echos
A four-unit set of SLQ M-420's, heard from some distance from the track, lead a late-running train 394 traveling at night.
SLQ 3579
MLW M-420
22 kHz MP3
44 kHz WAV
0:52
photo Date: 2001-09-13
Location: North of Waterville, QC
Railroad: SLR
Horn Type: Airchime K3L, K3H (1 bell silent)
Category: Light work
SLQ M-420 3579 and GP11 8749 lead the Sherbrooke local towards Waterville, QC. The train returned and was recorded again about an hour later with the Geep leading. At the time of this recording, 3579 was one of the last MLW units still in service on the SLR. GP11 8749 was also on borrowed time on the SLR, although it would later see decades of continued service on other railroads.
SLQ 8748
EMD GP11
11 kHz MP3
0:36
photo Date: 2000-06
Location: North of Waterville, QC
Railroad: SLR
Horn Type: Nathan P5 (4 bells silent)
Category: Running the mainline
Another relic of the speaker-to-microphone era. But despite the lack of bass tones, there's a lot to be heard in this recording. Perhaps most obvious initially is the pathetic Nathan P5 horn on GP11 8748, on which only the top #5 bell was sounding. While in the following days the #1 and #4 bells started functioning, it apparently was not enough to avoid replacement, and later that month it was replaced with a Nathan K3LA.

(For more than 20 years I had assumed this was GP11 8749 and that the horn had later been repaired; it was only in September 2022, when discovering new photos of GP11 8748 from early 2000 and taking a closer look at my own photo above, that I learned that this was actually 8748.)

The second noteworthy sound is coming from the third unit in the consist: MLW M420 3516 (behind 8748 and GSCX GP40 3717). The sick-sounding burbly putt-putt is from an engine with a damaged fuel injector, turning at only 800 rpm or so (normal speed is 1000 rpm). It caught my attention as it went by, with brown smoke and the occasional flame out the stack - but despite the alarming symptoms, the problem was not too serious and the unit was quickly repaired.
SLQ 8748
EMD GP11
11 kHz MP3
0:38
No photo Date: 2000-06-23
Location: North of Waterville, QC
Railroad: SLR
Horn Type: Airchime K3LA
Category: Running the mainline
GP11 8748, two GP40's and two MLW M420's roar uphill in run-8 with SLR Train 394. The horn (a K3LA, replacing the previous semi-functional Nathan P5) had been installed on 8748 only a few days before this recording.
SLQ 8748
EMD GP11
22 kHz MP3
0:28
No photo Date: 2000-08
Location: North of Waterville, QC
Railroad: SLR
Horn Type: Airchime K3LA
Category: Light work
Here are the two SLQ GP11s (8748 and 8749) paired back-to-back, with the characteristic chant of 567 engines in run-5. Some time before this recording, I missed an opportunity to record the two units when they were once used as a pair in run-8 - what a sound! The four exhaust stacks resonate the exhaust note and make it more guttural than a Geep with the original two stacks.
SLQ 8749
EMD GP11
Analog, 44 kHz MP3
1:07
No photo Date: 2000-09
Location: North of Waterville, QC
Railroad: SLR
Horn Type: Nathan P5
Category: Uphill battle
Every train I saw with GP11 8749 had something interesting about it, but this ground-shaker roaring upgrade at 20 mph was the best. Roaring past one by one, GP11 8749, GP40's 3000 and 3733, an LLPX GP38-2 (either 2231 or 2232) and an SLQ M-420 created a spectacular show. Five different engine sounds - a supercharged 16-567, two turbocharged 16-645s (one at reduced rpm, in GP40 3000) a supercharged 16-645 and an Alco 12-251 - combined with a brassy Nathan P5 make this one of my favourite recordings.

If I could go back in time, I would watch this train at the crest of the Waterville grade, where it had likely slowed to 10-12 mph.

For any musicians listening, the horn on 8749 is a "new cast" P5, with tuning characteristically different from original specs. However, unlike many other such horns, this one creates a melodious chord, formed by the four bottom notes playing the intended intervals (one semitone sharp) with the top note flat by a semitone. The result is a B-flat major dominant ninth first inversion (D, F, Ab, Bb, C) - an arguably more interesting chord than the intended dominant seventh.

Page 4 of 8
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8