Enough of the junction sound

[sniper297]

Clickety-clack on the railroad track

Welded rails and concrete ties started sometime in the '60s, prior to that railroads actually DID sound like that. What's needed is some type of sound associated with track type, for the old 39 foot jointed rail get the clickety clack and crash bang boom, welded rail get the hum with the occasional tick. I suspect the code is in there, because I have heard different sounds passing over bridges, so it's probably a matter of using a track in the route that has welded track sound.

 

[JCitron]

Here are my results after using the track.

I've since replaced all of my track on my route with the RTS track.

1) The redraw on my route is awesome! There are fewer pop-ups now than before, so aparently the LOD is good and the resource level is low.

2) The sounds are great. This adds to the overall feel of the sim now, and the other track noises make the clunk-bang of the Auran switch sounds less in trusive.

My only complaint is there are no rusty rails, so I'll probably take something with the dirty ties, and do a little photo-editing. More on this later when I get around to it.

@Mosqueto Farmer ---- Holyoke, MA has changed substantially over the years. The old B&M (I'm sure this is what you meant), is now sadly Guilford or PanAm Railways. This company has devastated the railroad service in this state by going as far as refusing to do service even when companies want it.

Holyoke, MA is quite different today, as said above about GTI/PAR , the yards are ripped up, and many of the branches to the mills are long gone. Times are tough in Western Mass. They have been for a very long time, and probably more so now with the destruction of the printing industry during this current recession. Take a look at Google Earth and Bing Bird's Eye view of the area, you'll see what I mean.

My fictional route, that I've been working on for ages, is a representative of New England with a new operator that has taken over some of the operations of Guilford some time in the early 1990s until present.

John

 

[misquetofarmer]

@Mosqueto Farmer ---- Holyoke, MA has changed substantially over the years. The old B&M (I'm sure this is what you meant), is now sadly Guilford or PanAm Railways. This company has devastated the railroad service in this state by going as far as refusing to do service even when companies want it.

Holyoke, MA is quite different today, as said above about GTI/PAR , the yards are ripped up, and many of the branches to the mills are long gone. Times are tough in Western Mass. They have been for a very long time, and probably more so now with the destruction of the printing industry during this current recession. Take a look at Google Earth and Bing Bird's Eye view of the area, you'll see what I mean.

My fictional route, that I've been working on for ages, is a representative of New England with a new operator that has taken over some of the operations of Guilford some time in the early 1990s until present.

John[/quote]

Yeah I have viewed the area on Google earth. As a kid of a bout 10 I got a ride on a Yard shunt one day I am sure the yard supervisor got in trouble for putting me on the engine for a few miles but it was a memory I won't ever forget.

I used to sit on a hillside as a kid for Hours watching the yard shunts at work. Your right it was Boston & Maine I was referring too. its a pity because actually Holyoke had a pretty good layout I would love to recreate in its glory days. In the 60's the Conn River suffered a horrific phosphorous spill that lit the river to a day-glow green all the way to Hartford and beyond. The EPA was created back then and new industrial restrictions had put real cap on the Paper mills in the area. The River was slated as the third most polluted in the country. Many moved out of country where the regulations where not in place. Boston & Maine Suffered and the whole City never regained its prosperity. As you said the area has been in economic turmoil ever since. Its one of the chief reasons I no longer live there. I now live in Beaumont TX...which has as many trains as Holyoke did because of the massive petrol chemical industry that is doing very well here.

 

[Approach_Medium]

When I was a kid, that sound wasn't too far off some of the very old switches that were manually turned. It made it kind of scary actually because it almost sounded like the track was breaking apart. The track was nearly 100 years old and was being phased out of service so getting new switches wasn't in the rail companies best interest. It was B & O out of Holyoke MA. Holyoke in the early 60's was one of the worlds largest paper manufacturing cities. a lot of rails and a lot of heavy paper rolls. there isn't much left to the yards in Holyoke today but I do remember that noisy creepy sound of the switch-men throwing a switch. I haven't been there in years but I assume that the electric motors now are the rule and don't make that noisy sound anymore.

It's not the noise of throwing the switch I object to; it's the sound of the trains traveling across the points I can't stand.

FW

 

[Approach_Medium]

Here are my results after using the track.

I've since replaced all of my track on my route with the RTS track.

1) The redraw on my route is awesome! There are fewer pop-ups now than before, so aparently the LOD is good and the resource level is low.

2) The sounds are great. This adds to the overall feel of the sim now, and the other track noises make the clunk-bang of the Auran switch sounds less in trusive.

My only complaint is there are no rusty rails, so I'll probably take something with the dirty ties, and do a little photo-editing. More on this later when I get around to it.

@Mosqueto Farmer ---- Holyoke, MA has changed substantially over the years. The old B&M (I'm sure this is what you meant), is now sadly Guilford or PanAm Railways. This company has devastated the railroad service in this state by going as far as refusing to do service even when companies want it.

Holyoke, MA is quite different today, as said above about GTI/PAR , the yards are ripped up, and many of the branches to the mills are long gone. Times are tough in Western Mass. They have been for a very long time, and probably more so now with the destruction of the printing industry during this current recession. Take a look at Google Earth and Bing Bird's Eye view of the area, you'll see what I mean.

My fictional route, that I've been working on for ages, is a representative of New England with a new operator that has taken over some of the operations of Guilford some time in the early 1990s until present.

John

Actually, Holyoke is going to see some improvement over the next couple of years. Amtrak received federal stimulus money to improve trackage through there, to restore the Vermonter route to its original, and eliminating the reverse move at Palmer.
IMO, Holyoke deserves Amtrak service more than Amherst, and there is another stop that is also going to be restored, although I cannot recall which one. It's also going to reduce the time on the Vermonter by about 1 hour. I'm looking forward to it. I rode the Vermonter several years ago, and would like to ride it again through Holyoke.

Perhaps with the improvements that Amtrak is doing, PanAm will be more likely to add additional customers. Of course, if Amtrak is going to take possession of the track, then they (PanAM) would have to pay trackage rights.

FW

 

[Approach_Medium]

Hi,
I place a a small length of RTS track in the layout,
( RTS = www.trainzro.com ). This effectively replaces the default track sounds and that obtrusive junction sound over the whole layout.

DaveW

I did that, but the results were not good. When I replaced one section of track with the RTS track, the sounds did change, but were kind of messed up. I got too much "click clack" sound. Maybe if I try replacing all of a specific track with the RTS track I would have better results.

FW

 

[JCitron]

Actually, Holyoke is going to see some improvement over the next couple of years. Amtrak received federal stimulus money to improve trackage through there, to restore the Vermonter route to its original, and eliminating the reverse move at Palmer.
IMO, Holyoke deserves Amtrak service more than Amherst, and there is another stop that is also going to be restored, although I cannot recall which one. It's also going to reduce the time on the Vermonter by about 1 hour. I'm looking forward to it. I rode the Vermonter several years ago, and would like to ride it again through Holyoke.

Perhaps with the improvements that Amtrak is doing, PanAm will be more likely to add additional customers. Of course, if Amtrak is going to take possession of the track, then they (PanAM) would have to pay trackage rights.

FW

That's good news. I wonder if PAS (PanAM Southern) has taken over some of the route? That's the joint venture between NS and PAR. I know they now own the tracks to Rotterdam and track into Connecticut on the Conn River to Plainview and in and around that vicinity. NS has invested quite a big hunk into the venture to bring the line speed up, and improve service. I wonder if this will eventually lead to NS taking over the PanAM network - only a thought, and not official.

I never had a chance to ride the Vermonter, but instead took an NMRA ride from Boston to New London, then up the CV to Brattleboro where the train reversed and we headed back. It was quite a ride, and long before the NEC was electrified to Boston; it was only a dream back then.

Amherst has the train service because of UMASS there. This is their "star" campus that gets all the funding and has the most pull on the state. Lowell and Boston, even though are great colleges, lost a lot of funding that has never returned while UMASS Amherst gets more.

Anyway, back on topic. PanAm, PAS, Guilford, whatever they call themselves, love it when Amtrak and the MBTA take over because they pay little trackage rights, and have almost free maintenance.

@Mosqueto farmer --- I've been in and around TX off and on over the past few years. It's quite a show of trains going through. I've stayed in Amarillo a few times, and hear the trains blowing for the crossings all night. The BNSF yard there is gorgeous! The quality of the track, the cleanliness, is something that I've never expected, compared to the old Guilford/B&M rotted ties and rust we have.

When I was a kid, I grew up in Bradford near the depot and yard. My dad would bring me across the street to watch the freight cars get shunted back and forth. I was all of 3 years old at the time. As time went on, the freights got shorter, and now the old Georgetown branch is no more. The papermill here closed so there's no traffic out to the mill, and the last remaining bit of the Newburyport line is now a bike trail.

John

 

[Approach_Medium]

Wow!, JCitron, you actually remember when the NEC to Boston wasn't electric? I didn't know that it was ever not! Thought the whole thing between Washington and Boston was always electric.

It would be kind of interesting to see the class 1's running what is now local or regional territory. After all, isn't that the way it was 25 years ago?

I'm not sure what Amtrak is going to do about Amherst when the route is changed. I suspect they will offer connecting "AmBus" service.

FW