Trains are big, monstrous, scary, fascinating, powerful machines. They are also a ton of fun to point microphones and prove to be excellent studies for microphone configuration and pickup patterns.

trains

A major BNSF line runs along the Columbia River Gorge that forms the border between Washington and Oregon states, moving freight and other traffic between the coastal harbors and the interiors.

I took the opportunity of my wife's short business trip to Yakima (I'm the one with the vehicle)to camp overnight near the rail and record the comings and goings with minimal traffic. Not only do I love recording trains, these monstrous powerful beasts that roar like steel dragons, I had also just acquired my first 32-bit recorder and something this dynamic and loud seemed like a good test of it's capabilities.

These trains are long, and heavy, often requiring 2-4 engines to pull and another 1-3 to push. The spot I chose was in the middle of a long run where the trains are able to open full-throttle. A little rough-hand math can give us the length. At an assumed speed of 55mph/ 88.5kph (though usually faster), taking 1m46s to pass means this particular train was roughly 1.62 miles/ 2.6 km in length.

Minutes-to-pass divided by 60 minutes per hour gives us the fraction of an hour in time. Multiplied that by velocity yields length. Math!

(minutes/60)*mph=miles
(minutes/60)*kph=kilometers

This is just one sample of the 22 passes that came by that night.

As always, if you hear something you like or would like to hear more for licensing or general listening, please message me either directly through SoundCloud or click on one of the way-too-many social media links above.

Happy listening!

NWSFX - Trains

BNSF Freight Train pass 04

A major BNSF line runs along the Columbia River Gorge that forms the border between Washington and Oregon states, moving freight and other traffic between the coastal harbors and the interiors.

I took the opportunity of my wife's short business trip to Yakima (I'm the one with the vehicle)to camp overnight near the rail and record the comings and goings with minimal traffic. Not only do I love recording trains, these monstrous powerful beasts that roar like steel dragons, I had also just acquired my first 32-bit recorder and something this dynamic and loud seemed like a good test of it's capabilities.

These trains are long, and heavy, often requiring 2-4 engines to pull and another 1-3 to push. The spot I chose was in the middle of a long run where the trains are able to open full-throttle. A little rough-hand math can give us the length. At an assumed speed of 55mph/ 88.5kph (though usually faster), taking 1m56s to pass means this particular train was roughly 1.77 miles/ 2.85 km in length.

Minutes-to-pass divided by 60 minutes per hour gives us the fraction of an hour in time. Multiplied that by velocity yields length. Math!

(minutes/60)*mph=miles
(minutes/60)*kph=kilometers

This is just one sample of the 22 passes that came by that night.

As always, if you hear something you like or would like to hear more for licensing or general listening, please message me either directly through SoundCloud or click on one of the way-too-many social media links above.

Happy listening!

BNSF Freight Train Pass 03

A major BNSF line runs along the Columbia River Gorge that forms the border between Washington and Oregon states, moving freight and other traffic between the coastal harbors and the interiors.

I took the opportunity of my wife's short business trip to Yakima (I'm the one with the vehicle)to camp overnight near the rail and record the comings and goings with minimal traffic. Not only do I love recording trains, these monstrous powerful beasts that roar like steel dragons, I had also just acquired my first 32-bit recorder and something this dynamic and loud seemed like a good test of it's capabilities.

These trains are long, and heavy, often requiring 2-4 engines to pull and another 1-3 to push. The spot I chose was in the middle of a long run where the trains are able to open full-throttle. A little rough-hand math can give us the length. At an assumed speed of 55mph/ 88.5kph (though usually faster), taking 1m37s to pass means this particular train was roughly 1.48 miles/ 2.38 km in length.

Minutes-to-pass divided by 60 minutes per hour gives us the fraction of an hour in time. Multiplied that by velocity yields length. Math!

(minutes/60)*mph=miles
(minutes/60)*kph=kilometers

This is just one sample of the 22 passes that came by that night.

As always, if you hear something you like or would like to hear more for licensing or general listening, please message me either directly through SoundCloud or click on one of the way-too-many social media links above.

Happy listening!

BNSF Freight Train pass 02

A major BNSF line runs along the Columbia River Gorge that forms the border between Washington and Oregon states, moving freight and other traffic between the coastal harbors and the interiors.

I took the opportunity of my wife's short business trip to Yakima (I'm the one with the vehicle)to camp overnight near the rail and record the comings and goings with minimal traffic. Not only do I love recording trains, these monstrous powerful beasts that roar like steel dragons, I had also just acquired my first 32-bit recorder and something this dynamic and loud seemed like a good test of it's capabilities.

These trains are long, and heavy, often requiring 2-4 engines to pull and another 1-3 to push. The spot I chose was in the middle of a long run where the trains are able to open full-throttle. A little rough-hand math can give us the length. At an assumed speed of 55mph/ 88.5kph (though usually faster), taking 2m15s to pass means this particular train was roughly 2 miles/ 3.32 km in length.

Minutes-to-pass divided by 60 minutes per hour gives us the fraction of an hour in time. Multiplied that by velocity yields length. Math!

(minutes/60)*mph=miles
(minutes/60)*kph=kilometers

This is just one sample of the 22 passes that came by that night.

As always, if you hear something you like or would like to hear more for licensing or general listening, please message me either directly through SoundCloud or click on one of the way-too-many social media links above.

Happy listening!

BNSF Freight Train pass 01

Ah, the mighty Westward BNSF Freight Train. Here we listen to it's mighty roar as it progresses on a westward migration. Stunning in it's majesty, rare to find in its pristine, untouched habitat: the long tracks. Like its cousin, the Eastward BNSF, it beats the ground in a display of dominance guaranteed to attract attention and hopefully a mate.
A rather more recent introduction to the Pacific Northwest soundscape, BNSFs have established themselves as long-term residents, outcompeting indigenous rivals for the scarce resources necessary to survive in an unforgiving yet beautiful landscape.
Unlike its cousin, the Westward BNSF appears to fear the sun and lives its life in constant flight of the sunrise, its screams only serving as painful reminders to others of its species of the horrors that await if they don't flee.
In this clip, a BNSF can be heard racing by at its full natural top-speed of almost 55 miles per hour, making it not quite as fast as the swift Cheetah. Unlike that sprinter, the BNSF is it in the race for endurance and can maintain this rate as long as there is track to run on and energy to consume.

Westward Migrating BNSF

Field Recordist / Sound designer
Shhhhh. Listening to nature.

To license sounds or for all other inquiries: info@andymartinsound.com

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Westward Migrating BNSF

Andy Martin, Field Recordist