The sounds of a summer night mixed with the sounds of passing trains is the focus of this recording. These recordings are more than just whistles and passing trains. These recordings present a complete soundscape of trains in the outdoor environment, from small towns to wooded areas, to swamps and even a thunderstorm.
While this recording will sound good with a good stereo, we recommend listening to these tracks with a good set of headphones. Heard in a quiet room with the lights out and on a good set of headphones, you might catch yourself wondering if you need to grab the insect repellent!
Track Listing 1. An empty Union Pacific tank train passes at dusk with the microphones five feet from the rail at Gorham, Illinois.
2. A Norfolk Southern freight passes in the late afternoon at John’s Spur, Illinois.
3. A second Norfolk Southern freight passes at twilight at John’s Spur, Illinois. The horn gives away the lead locomotive as a former Conrail unit.
4. Frogs sing their nighttime songs at a Union Pacific intermodal train passes through a swampy area of the Mississippi River valley with the microphones a hundred yards from the track near the ghost town of Aldridge, Illinois<
5. Amtrak’s northbound City of New Orleans approaches and whistles through the small town of Anna, Illinois
6. Amtrak’s southbound City of New Orleans passes and whistles into the distance. As the southbound fades from earshot the northbound City whistles off, approaching and passing our location at Cobden, Illinois
7. Canadian National freight M343 works upgrade in the night, approaching our location near Balcom, Illinois. After passing, the train almost fades from earshot when the engines really begin to roar on the grade. The track ends as the train whistles through the distant town of Anna.
8. In the Pine Hills region of southern Illinois, a Union Pacific freight passes through the night as it whistles past several rural crossings. The microphones are located a quarter-mile from the railroad in this nighttime soundscape.
9. Another Union Pacific freight whistles through the night in the Pine Hills region. We are located a quarter-mile away from the tracks in the Big Muddy River floodplain near Aldridge, Illinois.
10. Q195 is Canadian National’s hot northbound intermodal train on the old Illinois Central. Near Balcom, Illinois, we hear the train in the distance whistling as it approaches working up the grade to Anna. The train passes, and then is hear in the distance as the engines work up the grade. The track ends at the train whistles through Anna.
11. We are back in the Mississippi River Valley, as a northbound Union Pacific train whistles through the night. The train is first heard whistling for the two crossings at Aldridge, and then recedes into the distance whistling past rural crossings as it heads toward Aldridge.
12. One final recording of Q195, as the train works upgrade near Balcom as an evening lightning storm approaches. The rain hits as the train passes.
