Trivia: Most annoying sound made by a train

[whoosh]

Any door opening beeping, with exception of the original "bing" bell sound on 365s.

The squeak squeak squeak from the vestibule connections on Mark 3s.

Mark 4s are worse, with an awful constant groaning noise when the 91 is pushing.


Class 317 air suspension groan than sounds like a large pig snoring. Particularly prevalent in the driving cars.

As for Paxman Valentas, they will always be awesome. VP185s inside the cab though - sound like rubbish tractors, rather than iconic trains.

 

[prod_pep]

Definitely the high-pitched squeak the Electrostars make when braking. They all seem to do it several times while stopping.

 

[Taunton]

Without a doubt ... constant and self-congratulatory "See It Say It Sorted" announcements.

The 'Sandwell and Dudley' announcement, squeezed into the station list on Anglo- Scottish via the W.Mids, was (or even is) like that - with the added distinction of being made in the local accent.

"Sandwoll and Doodloy"??

 

[GtNortherner]

The ear-splitting howling noise of approaching northbound/departing southbound trains around the curve at St Pancras Thameslink...

Although a notable one-off I experienced on what I think was a mk4 set on the ECML (it could have been an HST though... can’t remember!) came close... the guard and buffet car steward tried to make simultaneous announcements over the tannoy, apparently without realising that they were actually talking over each other... whilst it was initially slightly amusing to hear that “this train would be calling at a selection of hot and cold sandwiches, tea and coffee”... etc... very quickly turned into a load of incomprehensible babble...!

 

[Skie]

Various 507’s over the years that upon brake release (and sometimes randomly) would emit a screech so loud any passengers nearby would be forgiven for acting like it was the mythical “brown note”. Entertaining enough on the underground stations until it got you, too.

 

[BogiePicker]

- see it say it sorted announcements

- over-loud announcements on 195s

- the annoying underfloor knocking noise on most 195s

- the grating noise when the doors open on voyagers

Agree with points one to three, wholeheartedly. 195s are just a bit bright as well. And they mispronounce 'Frizinghall'.

Point four I can't corroborate from memory, and do have a bit of a soft spot for the poor Voyagers anyway.

Not keen on under-carriage noise from 180 at high speed, a repetitive low-frequency throb. Voyagers seemed better. Love 158s but not their noise.

 

[Pit_buzzer]

Agree with points one to three, wholeheartedly. 195s are just a bit bright as well. And they mispronounce 'Frizinghall'.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 30 Dec 2020 ==

When do 195s get to announce Frizinghall?

 

[py_megapixel]

When do 195s get to announce Frizinghall?

If I remember correctly, an automated announcement of the station name is played usually immediately after the doors open at each station. I believe @BogiePicker is referring to the fact that the automated system pronounces it "Frizzing-hall" when it should be "Frysing-hall" (with the I as in "Friday")

 

[Halish Railway]

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 30 Dec 2020 ==

When do 195s get to announce Frizinghall?

It’s not just the Civities, Sprinters have miss pronounced Frizinghall when they’ve worked services when the Bingley sub-station is turned off.

 

[py_megapixel]

YIt’s not just the Civities, Sprinters have miss pronounced Frizinghall when they’ve worked services when the Bingley sub-station is turned off.

Yes, I believe that all of Northern's fleet uses the same set of station name recordings with the exception of the 333s. This is in contrast with the health and safety announcements which are different depending on which class of unit you are on

 

[vinnym70]

Loose fitting sliding doors on 321s which rattle when another train passes or when it's just moderately windy.

 

[Halish Railway]

Loose fitting sliding doors on 321s which rattle when another train passes or when it's just moderately windy.

How about the doors on a 150 which rattle constantly?

 

[Bletchleyite]

How about the doors on a 150 which rattle constantly?

All the Mk3 based EMUs and DMUs suffer the same issue, plus the PEP EMUs - and perhaps surprisingly Electrostars too.

 

[CBlue]

Loose fitting sliding doors on 321s which rattle when another train passes or when it's just moderately windy.

The rattles I could deal with when travelling on 321's up the ECML.

However the loud BANG from the doors and windows whenever passing something doing 125mph on the fasts or at speed in the Potters Bar tunnels was seriously unpleasant!

 

[Bletchleyite]

However the loud BANG from the doors and windows whenever passing something doing 125mph on the fasts or at speed in the Potters Bar tunnels was seriously unpleasant!

Agreed - to be fair, the force there was enough to visibly deform the bodyside of a Mk3 coach, let alone to rattle the doors! (It also caused the old 4-piece folding doors on Pacers to come open, hence their replacement with more modern 2-piece bus doors with a bodged-on lock at the side).

 

[billio]

Made by a train - the TPE trains to Scarborough when in York Station.

 

[berwicksfinest]

Topping all of the above sounds, The most annoying sound .............. silence

This means something has gone wrong, everything shut down and i've gotta do some work to get the bl@@dy thing going again.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Topping all of the above sounds, The most annoying sound .............. silence

This means something has gone wrong, everything shut down and i've gotta do some work to get the bl@@dy thing going again.

Must admit that one thing I've always liked about Classes 319 and 320/321 is that, if you're in a trailer vehicle, when the train stops at a station there is near-complete silence. Most other (even non-aircon) EMUs seem to at least have a motor alternator set on every vehicle.

 

[Steddenm]

The "If you see something that doesn't look right...." constant announcements.

 

[xotGD]

Made by a train - the TPE trains to Scarborough when in York Station.

I assume you meant to post in the "Best thrash on the network" thread but posted here by mistake?

 

[Pete_uk]

What ever that noise is on a 800 when it gets up to a certain speed

 

[Paul Jones 88]

Sitting on a 379 last with my girlfriend, all of a sudden BANG, right above us, it shocked her enough for her to knock over her coffee, I told her what had made the noise but she didn't understand, so I then explained that the big springy doo dah on the roof had touched the big wire fing and she was OK.

 

[DorkingMain]

After several years on the railway, the sound I still can't get used to is flange squeal

 

[greatvoyager]

Point four I can't corroborate from memory, and do have a bit of a soft spot for the poor Voyagers anyway.

I’ve only noticed a bit myself, although it’s something I tend not to pay attention to.

To me, the pacers have the worst sound as the doors close. Always sounds like the door is going to break.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I’ve only noticed a bit myself, although it’s something I tend not to pay attention to.

To me, the pacers have the worst sound as the doors close. Always sounds like the door is going to break.

The worst door sound is to me Class 158 doors opening, which sound like they are about to wrench part of the bodyside off as they do.

 

[Halish Railway]

What ever that noise is on a 800 when it gets up to a certain speed

Is that the sort of ‘voooom’ that the pantograph(s) make at speed?

 

[randyrippley]

two things come to mind

first the screaming singing neon lights on the Mkiii and a/c Mkii coaches when they were new.

the other was the barrage of explosions which would come from a first-gen DMU with a blown head gasket. Experienced this several times, but the worst was a Carlisle-Newcastle trip in the 1970s in boiling hot weather, where the driver was stopping frequently and topping up the radiator from streams and farm troughs with a bucket. Being hot we had all the windows open so the sound was even worse. It was one of the sets fitted with window bars so had all the elegance of a prison cell

 

[py_megapixel]

I’ve only noticed a bit myself, although it’s something I tend not to pay attention to.

To me, the pacers have the worst sound as the doors close. Always sounds like the door is going to break.

The worst door sound is to me Class 158 doors opening, which sound like they are about to wrench part of the bodyside off as they do.

Honestly my worst experience with doors anywhere on the network has to be on a 185. It almost feels like the door controller had personality (but not in a good way!) - it bongs enthusiastically for a few seconds, inviting you to push the button. But when you do, it had a complete change of character - it thinks about it for a few moments, and, presumably after an internal whinge of "Oh come on, do I have to?", it reluctantly heaves the doors open with an unpleasant hydraulic whine, and the same in reverse for the closure, where, for good measure, they bang shut horribly.

I really don't understand why Siemens let such an overall well designed and constructed unit off with such an awful door mechanism.

The nicest doors I think have to be the Coradia ones, which glide smoothly open the moment you push the button.

 

[supervc-10]

They must have been made by the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation!

 

[Bletchleyite]

Honestly my worst experience with doors anywhere on the network has to be on a 185. It almost feels like the door controller had personality (but not in a good way!) - it bongs enthusiastically for a few seconds, inviting you to push the button. But when you do, it had a complete change of character - it thinks about it for a few moments, and, presumably after an internal whinge of "Oh come on, do I have to?", it reluctantly heaves the doors open with an unpleasant hydraulic whine, and the same in reverse for the closure, where, for good measure, they bang shut horribly.

I really don't understand why Siemens let such an overall well designed and constructed unit off with such an awful door mechanism.

The nicest doors I think have to be the Coradia ones, which glide smoothly open the moment you push the button.

I have certainly noticed that the TPE units (both 185 and 350) seem to have slower and more "painful" door operation than WMT 350s. As they are all Siemens maintained I'm not quite sure why this is, but it's noticeable.

You don't like the reassurance (and nostalgia) of the "Teutonic slam"?