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I must say another distinctive EMD sound is when they throttle up. And the high bass rumble of a 710 as they approach you. Mmm-hmm! 
Personally I think the sound of a turbocharged 645 locomotive -- the whine coupled with the intense bass rumble that you can feel in your chest -- is the best sound of any locomotive to date.I agree. However the best sound I ever heard coming from an EMD was not from the prime mover, but from the horns. Metro-North FL-9's had 5 chime horns that were absolutely the sweetest sounding horns ever. You could be on either side of the Hudson River and when they blew those horns you'd hear the initial blast, then a very melodic echo as the sound traveled across the valley.
I enjoy the chugging and barking of an old GE, but there's something about hearing a big lashup of GP40s coming toward me in 8th notch that really gets my heart pounding like nothing else.
trainiac wrote:Another unmistakable EMD sound is the chugging of 567 engines, especially 4-stack rebuilds. A few years ago the SLR had a GP11 that was commonly used in over-the-road freights. Talk about more noise than power! Here's a recording of an M420W, a GP40, the GP11, and a second GP40 (under an rpm restriction)--guess which unit is noisier than all the rest!I was listening to the one with CN 5359 and 5418, and talk about fantastic! Two 645's cranking it out in 8 and doing 60.
http://trainiax.0catch.com/slrsept2000-1m3e.wav
More: http://trainiax.0catch.com/merecordings.htm
The construction of the 16 cylinder and the 20 cylinder turbochargers for E3 engines is quite similar. The 20 cylinder has a little larger compressor diffuser area and with the greater exhaust flow it is able to wind up to considerably higher RPM in the top throttle notches. This contributes significantly to the difference in sound, both in amplitude and frequency.I don't think the RPM of the 20-cylinder is different from the 645--both "standard" versions max out at 900 rpm, while the tweaked versions run at 950 rpm. Having said that, it's true that the sound is quite different--and it's because of the number of cylinders. With 25% more cylinders in the 20-cylinder version, it should create a pitch 25% higher than a 16-cylinder engine at the same rpm--which is, in fact, the case. I've never heard a 20-cylinder 645 in person, but I have heard a recording--a cool sounding engine indeed! It also makes sense that 20 cylinders would make more noise than 16.
Metro-North FL-9's had 5 chime horns that were absolutely the sweetest sounding horns ever. You could be on either side of the Hudson River and when they blew those horns you'd hear the initial blast, then a very melodic echo as the sound traveled across the valley.The FL9's used to have Hancock 4700 air whistles that imitated the sound of a steam engine, that were later replaced by the (now commonplace) Nathan K5LA. The K5LA is particularly melodious when in tune!
I probably should have been more specific; when I refer to the EMD "whine," I'm also thinking of the "whistle" sound that comes from the turbo, which is definitely not something you hear from a GP38 or other non-turbo EMD loco.Right on! I like the whistle, a defining sound of any turbocharged loco.
emd_SD_60 wrote:Do any EMD's have a really familiar sound, like the GE's have their familiar chug-chug-chug sound? The only thing I can think so far is their "whine" sound (esp. on the SD40's) and their deep, throaty sound. Anyone else have an idea?Actually there are two distinct sounds to EMD the whine from the turbocharger or if the locomotive is non turbocharged the whine from the roots blower.
trainiac wrote:Right on! I like the whistle, a defining sound of any turbocharged loco.How come GEs and Alcos, which are turbocharged, don't have the loud whistling sound that EMDs have? I realize we're comparing a 2-cycle engine to 4-cycle engines, but you said it's a defining sound of any turbo loco, and whenever I've seen/heard GEs and Alcos in action, I've never noticed any of the whistling/whining associated with EMDs.
