Sounds Of Railroads Of Past Decades

The 567 engine is THE diesel that most directly brought about the downfall of the steam locomotive. Appearing first in switchers and passenger locomotives, the 567’s application in the “F” series of freight locomotives sold the railroads on the diesel. The reliability of the 567 also resulted in the dominance of the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors that lasted for nearly forty years. This production features the sounds of early E.M.D. diesels in SW, GP, E and F models. Trackside sounds are featured, along with recordings made on board locomotives.

Introduced in January, 1966, EMD’s GP38 was the last fully new model in the “GP” line to lack a turbocharger. These locomotives were powered by a Roots Blower equipped, 16 cylinder 645 engine and rated at 2,000 horsepower. They were designed as a medium horsepower locomotive, intended to replace older diesel models and without the increased costs of high horsepower turbocharged engines. As such, they continued in the fashion of the earlier F-Units as well as the early 567 engined GP7, GP9, GP18 and GP28 models.

This is a unique offering in the field of railroad sound recordings. The sounds of trains are here of course, but these are joined by the sounds of the men that make it all happen. Mostly through radio traffic, we get a different sound picture as railroaders work with the tools of their vocation.

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Track Five contains some “colorful” language from one of the railroaders involved in the proceedings.

Railroads at the dawn of the 1990s had a different sound than the railroads of 2016. Much of the locomotive fleet of the era was made up of designs that evolved from the mid-sixties through the mid-seventies. Freight power was dominated by the EMD Dash-2 and GE Dash-7 series, with Amtrak trains headed up by the EMD F40ph. These 32 recordings were made between 1989 and 1995, with both freight and passenger trains featured. This was the era before push-button horns, 70 series and Gevo engines, and double-stack trains.

This CD features the sounds of diesel’s second and third generations. Ride in the cab of Amtrak passenger locomotives from E.M.D. and G.E. on the mainline. Pace alongside Illinois Central GP40 and GP38 diesels on the point of an intermodal train. Pace alongside Union Pacific AC4400CWs on the head of a coal train in Nebraska. Trackside scenes include G.E. C30-7s, C40-8s and AC4400CWs on coal trains, G.E. P42 and E.M.D. F40 diesels on Amtrak passenger trains, E.M.D. F40s on the Metra commuter rush in the Chicago area, E.M.D. GP38 and SD70 locomotives on freight trains and SD70MACs on coal trains. Union Pacific’s business train with E units rebuilt with the innards of a GP38 wrap up this program.