15 May 2010

Don't Hear This Much Anymore

Reading this post by Zymurgian over at Pygalgia's place, about the use of recordings of train horns at railroad crossings (because the real thing is, apparently, too much for the neighbors to bear) reminded me of a couple things.

This:
Tweetsie Railroad (located just outside of Blowing Rock, NC)
which I used to love hearing when I lived in Boone (and the wind was blowing in the right direction),


This All Things Considered piece from 2005 about recordings of train whistles (and photos),

And visiting my (maternal) grandmother in West Virginia. Her house was next to the railroad and the trains whistle sound is an integral part of my memories of my Grandmother.

1 comment:

The Cunning Runt said...

I've lived within sight/earshot of active railroads for all of the past twenty years. I've never found them to be intrusive, not even when living near at-grade crossings, but rather exciting and romantic in the particular, and comforting in the overall scheme of things.

This photo reminds me of the Cog Railway on Mount Washington, whose track was so steep as to require that the boiler's tank was set at about a thirty degree angle to the track to keep it operational on the slopes, and which we raced (and beat!) on its decent from the heights.

Those were the days, I tell ya.