Fort Wayne. Cincinnati. Buffalo. Altoona. What did these railroad towns sound like at the height of steam-era railroading?

As a thunderstorm bears down on a busy Midwestern railroad town in the 1940s, you'll find out as you have a front-row to "the great drama...during one of those rare seasons when man's genius produced something at once useful and beautiful," as railroad author David P. Morgan once described it.

Using audio of restored Nickel Plate Road steam locomotive no. 765 and the vintage whistles from long-scrapped locomotives, the sounds of historic American railroading roar back to life. These ambient melodies will set the mood for any railroad fan or aid the restless historian in washing away any distraction at bedtime or for those looking for a special autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) ambient soundscape.

Hear no. 765 throughout its career, a Norfolk & Western Y6B struggle on wet rail, the long approach of a Pennsylvania Railroad K-4, the ghostly song of a Chesapeake & Ohio freight train as it makes its way through the night, the yeoman Berkshires of the Wheeling & Lake Erie, a hustling Norfolk & Western passenger train, the strident faraway call of a New York Central Hudson, and others.

Photographs courtesy of Kelly Lynch and John Troxler. Audio recordings from the libraries of Chris Campbell, Brad Miller, Chris Lantz, Kelly Lynch, and Al Rayner. Edited and mixed by Kelly Lynch.

2:18 - Erie Railroad - number unknown
5:41 - Norfolk & Western no. 605
6:46 - Wheeling & Lake Erie no. 6428
8:47 - Norfolk & Western no. 2173
12:05 - Nickel Plate Road no. 765 and Pere Marquette no. 1225
14:26 - Nickel Plate Road no. 765 - steel war-time Nathan 6-chime
16:53 - Chesapeake & Ohio - number unknown
19:05 - Nickel Plate Road no. 765 - steel war-time 6-chime
20:51 - Nickel Plate Road no. 765
22:46 - New York Central Hudson - number unknown
24:08 - Wabash Railroad - number unknown
26:00 - Bessemer & Lake Erie no. 643
30:41 - Pennsylvania Railroad K4

#ASMR #Ambient #TrainSounds