Wet wet wet
I'm just reviewing the latest set of recordings from a full day at the ELR yesterday. Fortunately the rain didn't impact on the recordings themselves but merely added to the general discomfort of standing up all day, holding mics in uncomfortable positions and struggling inside confined and dirty places (no, not Bury). After leaving here on Tuesday morning it was raining within 15 minutes and it didn't stop chucking it down until early on Wednesday morning. 50mph all the way up the M6 in heavy traffic and spray, and the same coming back yesterday.
Anyway, enough of that and on to the subjects of my attention; 33109, 37901 and 55022 (again). The 33 was of interest because the first set of 33 engine recordings I did are not that great; adequate but no more. The latest set are much better, still perhaps not the definitive set (I have higher standards these days) but nevertheless better. The horns were very good at both ends. I'll have to compare these with the ones on the existing project to see if there's room for improvement. I also grabbed some good brake release and application sounds which I was missing.
Second trip of the day was on 55022. Again the main objective was to capture better engine sounds than the previous trip. I deployed two mics, and one of them gave me almost exactly the results I was after. It has taken 30 years to improve on the Deltic recordings I made with a cassette recorder at Peterborough in 1982!
Finally it was the turn of 37901, Mirrlees Pioneer. As far as I remember (not that far these days) I've never heard one of these before but I really liked the sound of the engine. Again two mics were deployed, one near the exhaust and the other in the engine room. Having just finished doing the 60 the similarity of the engine sounds was notable. Even the priming pump and cranking sounded very similar. I preferred the more mellow sounds from the exhaust-based recording though and it's probably those I'll run with as they capture the character of the loco better. I'm looking forward to editing these, more so than the 33 or Deltic. They might even leapfrog ahead of the 40 (sorry to those of you who are waiting for that).
55016 Gordon Highlander is pictured at Crewe Works Open day. I forget which year it was (I've got the ticket somewhere) but no doubt someone can tell me.
Off to pack the bags again now as I've got to be at another preserved railway at 0900 in the morning. No peace for the wicked...
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