Category Archives: Railroad Audio Product Reviews

Discussions about our railroad audio products that we carry.  Or even about other railroad audio products that have been on the market in the past.

Featured Products, NS, NS, Railroad Audio Product Reviews

New RAILROAD AUDIO CD TITLES

Photo of 1-West Productions™ Railroad Audio CDs

We’ve added more RAILROAD AUDIO CD Titles to our Product Line. The Series is called NORFOLK SOUTHERN-N&W 1980s AUDIO ™, Volumes 1 – 12. All CDs contain vintage NS in operation, starting in Winter of 1986.

Listen to older EMD units: SD45s, SD40-2s, SD40s, GP30s, GP35s, GP40s, GP38s, GP38-2s, SD9s, GP9s, etc.; GEs: C30-9s, U33Bs, etc., & 1 S-switcher ALCO (TLE&W). Run-through freights, switching, locals, & more were recorded near the Bellevue, Clyde, & Flat Rock, OH areas, with 1 recording near NE Grand Rapids, OH of the TLE&W.

Volumes 1-4 were recorded in Mono, & the volumes after were recorded in Hi-Fidelity/Stereo/Panning Stereo. Minutes of each Volume vary from 18 minutes to over an hour.

Photo of NORFOLK SOUTHERN-N&W 1980s, VOL. 1 AUDIO ™, from 1-West Productions ™ Front Cover
Example of 1 of our RAILROAD AUDIO CDs now available for purchase.

We also have a few new MODERN RAILROAD AUDIO CDs also available.

Photo of Audio CD Front Cover of RAILROAD SCANNER RADIO-CSX-CHESSIE, 1987/88 AUDIO, VOL. 4™ from & © Copyright 2020 1-West Productions ™
Example of 1 of our RAILROAD SCANNER RADIO AUDIO ™ Products.

Additional Audio CDs that we now carry include RAILROAD SCANNER RADIO AUDIO, with vintage 1980s Conrail, NS-N&W, & CSX-Chessie. Listen to dispatchers, crews, shops, trains, & more. We will have modern railroad scanner radio audio available as well. Keep checking back.

Videos are great, but also so are AUDIO CDs, where you can listen & use your imagination for imaging- a totally different experience.

Each Volume has a description of each Audio Track on the back cover, with photos of actual trains that were recorded at the time.

Enjoy!





© 2020 1-West Productions™/PJ Duplication Prohibited.

Featured Products, Railroad Audio Product Reviews

New Railroad Audio CD (1-West Productions™): Modern Railroad Sounds with Norfolk Southern (2010s+) ™

We’ve released from our Audio Department a long-overdue audio CD of modern railroad sounds, called Modern Railroad Sounds with Norfolk Southern (2010s+) ™. We presently have vintage railroad audio CDs available, however a glimpse of modern railroad action sounds also sparks some people’s interests.

Photo of Front Cover of Audio CD Modern Railroad Sounds with Norfolk Southern (2010s+) ™ from 1-West Productions ™ AUDIO CD
Modern Railroad Sounds with Norfolk Southern (2010s+) ™ AUDIO CD

This album consists of NS in action on their Districts of Toledo (ex-NKP W&LE Dist.-Toledo Div./N&W Pittsburgh Div.-Toledo Dist.), & Fostoria (ex-NKP Dist.-Ft. Wayne Div.), & Chicago Line (ex-LS&MS/NYC Toledo Div./PC Toledo Div./CR Dearborn Div.-Chicago Line). We recorded at towns of Clyde, Danbury, Oil Station, & Fostoria, OH in 2018-2020. Most are recorded in stereo, some in mono and hi-fidelity.

We were trackside capturing sounds, and also recorded distant ambient and background audio. Also some nearby recordings of idling NS GEs. One of the trackside run-through trains at Clyde was pulled with 2 BNSF wide cab units.

Locomotives that we were able to record the information on during trackside recordings were: NS 7100 series EMD GP60s, NS 4116 EMD GP38AC (ex-N&W), NS 9861 GE 9-44CW, NS 9719 GE 9-44CW , NS 7673 GE ES44DC, NS 9264 GE 9-44CW, NS 9427 GE 9-44CW, BNSF 5753 GE ES44AC, BNSF 7575 GE ES44DC, NS 3659 GE ET44AC, NS 1002 EMD SD70ACe, & NS 3645 GE ET44AC.

Railroad videos are a great way to watch vintage to modern action, but railroad audio sounds can give us a different perspective & allow our imagination capture the image and action. Look for more new titles here on our website to be released in the near future.

For a few of our Railroad Audio Album Samples, please click on our Soundcloud Page and YouTube Page.  For more of our Modern and Vintage Audio Recording Albums, including Vintage Railroad Scanner Radio Recording Albums, please visit here.

 

 

 

 

© Copyright 2020, 2022 1-West Productions™/PJ.

 

N&W, NS, Railroad Audio Product Reviews, Railroad Scanner

New Norfolk Southern- N&W 1980s Vol. 11 AUDIO CD

New Railroad AUDIO CD for September 2015, of NS action from 1987 (and more- see below!):   NORFOLK SOUTHERN- N&W 1980s, Vol. 11.  This CD was produced by 1-West Productions™, and contains recordings of freight action- no pictures.  Why an audio-only version?  It gives the listener something new to use with their imagination.  Back in the day, radio shows were the hot item for entertainment before TV.  Listeners had to use their imagination for the scenes as they took place, and would become a different world.  Although having a picture is nice for seeing certain features and such, having a variety of formats can be appealing as well.

Back in 1987, we recorded the trains around the Bellevue, OH area during NS’s early merger days of the N&W and Southern Railway.  We used directional mics to help give the natural movement affects of the trains, as we hear them in person.

The CD contains older standard cab locomotives from GE & EMD, background ambient sounds, and horns that have become more rare compared to today’s horns we hear on units.

Image of Norfolk Southern- N&W1980s Vol 11 audio CD cover

For more information, please visit this page here.  Update 3/2022:  We now have Norfolk Southern-N&W 1980s Vol. 1-12, Vintage Scanner Radio Audio Albums/Recordings of NS, CR, & CSX,  and Modern NS Audio Albums/Recordings now available!  Please click here for a full list!  You can also find a few samples of our Audio Albums on our 1-West Productions™ Soundcloud Page and YouTube Page.

 

 

© Copyright 2015, 2022 1-West Productions™/PJ
Railroad Audio Product Reviews, Railroad General Discussions

Railroad Audio Recordings

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There’s a form of recording trains besides by film- Railroad Audio Recordings.  For years Railroad Audio recordings have been a favorite of people who enjoy just listening to the sounds of trains passing by. They were introduced mainly on vinyl records, then to cassette tapes, and now on CDs.

Remember the old time radio shows that were popular back before TV? If not, that’s how Americans were entertained in their homes, besides the occasional trip to the movie theater. These were audio shows transmitted live over mainly AM radio stations that were usually on some kind of schedule. The shows were comedy, horror, drama. news-related, adventure, and more. When people listened to these shows, it made them use their imagination. sometimes that’s better than seeing the actual picture on screen. Nothing beats a picture on screen, but when our imagination is put to use, it can be a wondrous thing.

Train recordings have been around and produced since the 1940s and earlier. These were recordings of steam- powered trains. As diesels came into use on the railroads, more recordings were of diesel locomotives. As time went on, more powerful and improved diesel engines were manufactured, and recordings of these were also made.

Also as time went on, better audio recordings were made, with stereo and even panning effects. Panning is where one can literally hear something move from one speaker to the other, in at least a 2-speaker system. What a great affect for the listener of a railroad audio recording. That effect is produced with separate mics on separate channels, each facing direct opposite of each other, usually spread very far apart. Producers of audio recordings have been using that effect on Railroad Audio since at least the 1950s and 60s.

That’s how we recorded most of our vintage Norfolk Southern, N&W, and SOU Railroad Audio material in the 1980s and later.  You will hear that effect in most of our recordings that we offer.

Norfolk Southern 1980s Vol. 12 Audio is a good example, recorded in Ohio in 1987 (found HERE).

NS1980s- N&W Vol. 12 AUDIO CD 1-WP™

We all love our Railroad DVDs and video, but we also should love our Railroad Audio CDs to spice up our imaginations from time to time.  Enjoy!

 

© Copyright 2015 1-WEST PRODUCTIONS™/PJ