The sound of the distant freight-train passing in the night is a powerful and emotive element in US popular culture.
There are some beautiful sound recordings, here
http://uphs.org/the-streamliner/streamliner-extra/hancock-long-bell-3-chime-whistle-recordings/
I especially like the less-than-perfect recordings that are corrupted by echo and doppler effects.
If you like the sound of a steam whistle, you might like, Tugboat Toccata (1956), by Moondog.
Here is a beautiful concertina illustrated book by Golden Cosmos for Nobrow Press (2016). Pictures from It’s Nice That.
Lovely.
Funny, I don’t think this works as well as the photo I posted earlier. I like the silos though.
Lovelt cab-side sign writing. Holding its own against the machine…
Here is a terrific detail of the 844s enormous driving wheels…just like a Charles Sheeler.
Lovely.
Here is a terrific photo of UP844 against a background of blue skies and gigantic trackside agri-engineering. Lovely.
The Union Pacific engine 844 was the last steam loco built in the USA. The engine has been preserved. I like this info-graphic about the loco; although it should be a little more Klutsis…
The machine isn’t the biggest loco; but it is still massive and was designed to haul 1000 tons at 100mph for hundreds of miles.
The power required to meet the spec needed a massive engine with a big boiler and a huge fire-box. Accordingly, you end up with extra wheels to support the boiler and fire-box and an automatic stoker to feed coal into the fire-box. No human engineer could keep pace with the machine.
Here is a picture of a model of the loco…I love the lettering on the tender. In general, and probably because of the larger sizes of the machines and the vastness of the landscape, the lettering on US trains is big and bold…
There are lots of great videos online too…
I’ve posted before about these monsters, here
I found this wonderful photo of the new style containerised freight train for British Rail, circa 1965. You get a great sense of modernity, against the grimy and broken background.
Containerisation provides, literally, the building blocks of the global economy. There’s a great BBCTV film documentary about this, here
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00scpzn
Well worth watching.
I’ve posted about the identity before, here
I love this, and who wouldn’t travel on a train called, the Sunbeam…perfect.
