tom1649
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There used to be a lovely roar in Totley tunnel, best enjoyed on a Class 101 with many windows open.
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Loud stretches of track - past or present
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Logan Carroll
Member
It’s especially noticeable if the person across from you is trying to make conversation and you literally can’t make out a word their saying at points.
I hate that bit. I love to drive with the windows open so either close them along there or just constantly put my foot on and off the pedal just so I don't drop the DSD through not being able to hear it over the roar.
hexagon789
Veteran Member
Try full stop. Holding a conversation on The Subway takes some skill without using mime and/or sign language!
The new stock is supposed to be quieter on sharp curves so I assume it either has wheel lubrication or radial bogies to ease the strain of the tight curves.
SJDCornwall
Member
The western end of Honiton tunnel on the Salisbury Exeter line used to have roaring rails back in the late 70s early 80,s I can remember it being very loud as you approached the western end from the East.
gimmea50anyday
Established Member
Thirsk has a distinctive change in rail pitch on the up as you pass through it at 125mph...
Usually accompanied by a courteous blast of the horn directed at a train cranking colleague sat in the ticket office!
Usually accompanied by a courteous blast of the horn directed at a train cranking colleague sat in the ticket office!
Sad Sprinter
Established Member
The London Underground has some terrible sections of rail roar, has anyone been through the Northbound City Branch Northern Line Tunnel between Euston and Camden Town? Or from South Wimbledon to Morden? Awful sound.
Whistler40145
Established Member
Any tight curve or set of points used by Pacers
The Stadler units will indeed have radial-steering bogies, plus smaller-diameter wheels and a shorter wheelbase.
It is deafening still on the Victoria line between Finsbury Park and Seven Sisters, though just on the northbound. There used to be a decent section of jointed track there which has been replaced by this noisy stuff.
hexagon789
Veteran Member
Should hopefully quieten things, nothing to my ears is comparable on mainline rail or even on the likes of other metros in Europe or the London Underground.
Philip
On Moderation
Does anyone remember the Calder Valley line having a lot of loud stretches years ago and is it still like this now? I remember travelling along it about 13 years ago and I seem to recall a lot of noisy stretches, but I haven't been on it for many years.
Also I can remember a loud stretch on the up line between Romiley and Marple around the same time period.
Also I can remember a loud stretch on the up line between Romiley and Marple around the same time period.
There’s nothing obvious between Hebden Bridge and Manchester. The most exciting it gets is that there’s a rail joint about 10 seconds into Summit tunnel heading east, which (to me at least) makes a nice echo in the summer if you’re on a unit with opening windows
Mcr Warrior
Veteran Member
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No question. The railway equivalent of finger nails being scratched down an old school blackboard.
(You Tube clip of a rather noisy Pacer unit at Lincoln)
Halish Railway
Established Member
There’s still a loud stretch between Halifax and Low Moor (going towards Low Moor) near Bottom Hall viaduct.
A friend who works for TFL claims that Liverpool Street to Bethnal Green eastbound on the Central Line has the worst 'Flange Squeal' on the entire Underground Network. From personal experience it's certainly very loud, but I've not travelled regularly on some of the other TFL sections highlighted above.
Whistler40145
Established Member
That distinctive squeal from Pacers won’t be missedNo question. The railway equivalent of finger nails being scratched down an old school blackboard.
(You Tube clip of a rather noisy Pacer unit at Lincoln)
gimmea50anyday
Established Member
No question. The railway equivalent of finger nails being scratched down an old school blackboard.
(You Tube clip of a rather noisy Pacer unit at Lincoln)
Ooh, I dunno. Wheel flange squeal of mk4s through Newcastle Central station comes a very close second!
Whistler40145
Established Member
Sleaford to Skegness used to be quite a rough ride, quite some squealing around Firsby curve
Sad Sprinter
Established Member
The Up Fast line between Balham and Wandsworth Common has a particuarly loud roar that can be heard through much of the surrounding area.
D6130
Established Member
A lot of people on here are still confusing "roaring rail", which mainly occurs/occured on straight(-ish) sections of track, with "flange squeal", which occurs on sharp curves. For some reason, jointed flat bottom rail, laid on wooden sleepers with elastic spikes or Macbeth fastenings between the late 1940s and the early 1960s, seemed to have been particularly prone to the problem. As well as the well-known stretches already flagged-up on this thread, I can remember very noisy stretches on the G&SWR main line, especially through Auldgirth on the Down; across Farlington Marshes between Bedhampton and Farlington Junction on both lines, prior to the late 1970s relaying; long stretches of the Settle-Carlisle line; sections of the Perth-Dundee line and North Wales Coast Line. A former P. Way colleague in Scotland told me that sections of that type of track with both very soft subsoil (e.g the Fens and Perth-Dundee) and very hard subsoil (e.g. the S&C and G&SW) were particularly prone to the problem. The widespread use of rail grinding trains from the mid 1980s onwards has largely, but not entirely, eliminated the problem. However, recently-ground rails emit a different sort of high-pitched whining sound.
Philip
On Moderation
Was it not so much of a problem with bullhead rail?
I noticed there were different types of the rail roar, in some places it was a fairly high-pitched screaming/singing noise (not flange squeal or the recently ground noise btw), but in others it was a low-pitched noise which sounding almost like a hurricane; the latter seemed more common on slower, jointed track.
The Chat Moss down line? (towards Manchester) stands out for making the high-pitch screaming noise I mention. It was very noisy nearly constantly from around Parkside Junction through to Astley box/crossing. I can remember this for years through the 2000s but by 2009 either new track had been laid or it had been treated as it has been quiet since then. Seem to recall the Liverpool-bound track across Chat Moss was noisy in the 90s but it wasn't by the mid 2000s.
Examples of the lower-pitch hurricane roar include sections of the Mid-Cheshire line around Knutsford area and the Southport and Atherton lines, at least up to a few years ago.
I noticed there were different types of the rail roar, in some places it was a fairly high-pitched screaming/singing noise (not flange squeal or the recently ground noise btw), but in others it was a low-pitched noise which sounding almost like a hurricane; the latter seemed more common on slower, jointed track.
The Chat Moss down line? (towards Manchester) stands out for making the high-pitch screaming noise I mention. It was very noisy nearly constantly from around Parkside Junction through to Astley box/crossing. I can remember this for years through the 2000s but by 2009 either new track had been laid or it had been treated as it has been quiet since then. Seem to recall the Liverpool-bound track across Chat Moss was noisy in the 90s but it wasn't by the mid 2000s.
Examples of the lower-pitch hurricane roar include sections of the Mid-Cheshire line around Knutsford area and the Southport and Atherton lines, at least up to a few years ago.
Masborough
Member
Yes, I remember the 101s being really loud in Totley tunnel, it was more like a howling gale than a constant noise.
And in Beacon Hill Tunnel (the one just east of Halifax) too, in the Down (i.e. Bradford-bound) direction.
Don't even need to play that video to remember that sound with a shudder!No question. The railway equivalent of finger nails being scratched down an old school blackboard.
(You Tube clip of a rather noisy Pacer unit at Lincoln)
I don't remember any on jointed rail ( not that I'm old enough to remember much on heavily used lines ) but perhaps chairs & keys might have prevented the specific type of resonance that triggers the damage. Nearest I can describe what I call rail roar is a very cheap ( so very low frequency range ) badly tuned radio; white noise but a very compressed range of it. I definitely remember it on CWR. I sort-of know what you mean with the screaming, I'm not sure what causes that though.
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