How does JR make sounds for their locomotives?

DARTrider

Goofy Fictional RR Owner
Hello everyone! I have recently been wanting to learn how JR and other creators create enginesounds, hornsounds and more for Trainz. Do you guys just obtain permission from a railroad to go on the property with some headphones, a big microphone and some recording gear, or do you take videos from the internet? I was wondering this because they are of peak quality, which very little videos of train horns (especially engine sounds) that are of good quality.

How do you guys do it?
Thanks!
 
Hello everyone! I have recently been wanting to learn how JR and other creators create enginesounds, hornsounds and more for Trainz. Do you guys just obtain permission from a railroad to go on the property with some headphones, a big microphone and some recording gear, or do you take videos from the internet? I was wondering this because they are of peak quality, which very little videos of train horns (especially engine sounds) that are of good quality.

How do you guys do it?
Thanks!

There have been times that audio was taken right from a video source on the internet (with permission of course) and times when we have purchased a sound set from a known source but the best is always being right there with a sound recording device and a microphone on the end of a boom. Getting permission and travelling to the target was usually the most difficult part, but luckily due to having the webcam business and travelling around the country for those it was more convenient to schedule audio recordings wherever they were available. Here are a couple of images I was able to find of a trip we did in 2013 to record this GP30.

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Mostly these days we source new sounds from 3rd party partners.
 
That sounds like a fun job! I'll bet local railroad museums would be perfectly fine with letting someone come record sounds of their engines, assuming they're running!
 
Do some of the new sounds not work well with older models? I tried the new 645E roots engine sound in an NS GP38-2 and it sounds very quiet. It sounds as if it was coming out of a small speaker.
 
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