Any railway audio enthusiasts here?

[PaxVobiscum]

I'm wondering if there is anyone who has an interest either in audio-only railway recording, or who perhaps records audio separately as part of a double system for video. Anything more than the usual video camera built-in/on-camera mic really.

I couldn't work out which was the most appropriate forum here to post this (unless the Photography Sites & Videos forum covers it), so mods please move this elsewhere if necessary.

 

[TGVDUDE]

I enjoy the soundtrack of a locomotive just as much as the sight of one working hard, and appreciate those who capture great video clips with top quality sound to compliment it, something which I have found to not be achievable somewhat with standard built in microphones on some cameras

 

[TheJRB]

Well I've been recording more recently as I've been submitting to the automated announcements sub-forum. I use my iPod Touch, a mic that was about £4 that attaches to it and a programme called WavePad. I find wind is the biggest challenge of course!

Also I'm curious as to what particular part of the railway you're referring to. As I was trying to record announcements, it's more of the station ambience and trains coming and going than the journeys themselves.

But I definitely do see the appeal of the railway soundtrack.

 

[PaxVobiscum]

Also I'm curious as to what particular part of the railway you're referring to. As I was trying to record announcements, it's more of the station ambience and trains coming and going than the journeys themselves.

But I definitely do see the appeal of the railway soundtrack.

Railway sound LPs used to be a common feature of railway shops, and there are still specialist CD companies eg http://www.steamsounds.org.uk to cater for what must be a fairly limited market now that there are so many DVDs readily available.

Wind can be a big problem even in stations, but you don't get any thanks if you turn up with a mic boom and zepplin in stations with OLE! That kind of gear is fine if you are well outside the boundary fence recording passing trains. Having been involved in video production at work I tend to feel guilty if I just make do with a built-in mic knowing I could do the audio a lot better.

Recording automated announcements doesn't seem too odd to me. Last on-train audio I recorded was several hours of ambient sound on the Caley Sleeper. Great for insomniac railway enthusiasts I know - perhaps there's a potential iPhone app there!