Album Notes

Ride along with the engineers and stand track side to hear the extraordinary sounds of real, working diesel and steam locomotives. This recording is the result of five years of carefully capturing exceptional sonics on state-of-the-art audio recorders.
The diesel segments were recorded at Southern Pacific ® train yard Ozol, in Martinez, California. In the switching yard segment, the three engines are started and warmed up before going into service (selection #20). A scanner enables us to listen in on the 2-way communications between the engineers and the yard personnel (selection #21).
In long cuts in the cab of the steam segments, the shifting of sound is caused by the recordist trying to stay out of the way of the engineers, still capturing the activities, and dealing with the tremendous decibel levels.
Featured Engines:
Engines heard on the Diesel and Switching Yard Segments are GM SW 1500 Nos. 2686 (1973), 2540 (1969), and 2670 (1972).
Steam Engine No. 14 is a 3-truck Shay, built by the Lima, OH Locomotive Works in 1916, run at West Side Lumber Co., Tuolumne County, CA, obtained by Georgetown RR in 1974.
Engine No. 346 is a 2-8-0 built in 1881 by Baldwin Locomotive Works, Philadelphia, in use at the Colorado RR Museum since 1962.
Engine No. 40, built by Baldwin in 1920, is a 2-8-0 consolidation configuration, obtained by Georgetown from International Railways of Central America in 1972.
"Ed has become my new hero for submitting a real one-of-a-kind tape...(He) has done a great job of capturing clean, clear, stereo trains of all varieties...This is a first rate recording..."
-Reprinted with permission from Recording Magazine.