Train Departure Announcement Generator and Soundscape Software

[Philou]

@Hawksey I permitted myself to download your .zip file. Windows 8.0 gives the same message but in using 'Run anyway' it won't open directly as Norton then says 'Not safe - don't do this' (my words), again, hit 'Run anyway' and Ta-daa, it opens.

 

Quite good, the only thing I found is that there is quite a lag in the nice lady saying the time: 'The train blah blah is the (very long intake of breath) 08 (very long intake of breath) 25 Great Western ....................'

 

Also, I note that there is no Platform 0 - a few UK stations have them.

 

I assume that the third icon along the top is for creating a set of custom announcements - is the number of announcements limited to the page (10/12 - I didn't count) or can you add more?

 

I thought it was quite good - and some of the ambient sounds were quite fitting for S.Wales - rain/thunderstorm and sheep - oh yes, lots of sheep .

 

Is there a time limit on purchasing the package? I note there are a number of 'free goes' in the trial pack.

 

Cheers,

 

Philip

 

[truffy]

15 hours ago, Opelsi said:

British Rail Apologises for the later running/cancellation  of this service due to: Frozen Points / Locomotive Failure / Failure of a preceding train / following a slow running freight train / ASLEF industrial action / Crew shortage / Diversion / Football Hooligans / Trespassers on the line / Protesters / No available Guard                

You missed Leaves on the line / The wrong type of snow / There’s an R in the month etc. etc. etc. 

[Hawksey]

Hi

The lag is due to file loading times...the faster your pc/hard drive the less lag you will get, but I will look into making the file size smaller and that should help.

If enough users ask for platform 0 I'll add it but can't imagine many model railway layouts have a 0?

The third icon takes you to a screen where you can load up to 10 previously saved announcements.

Create your announcement on the main screen, hit the save icon (floppy disk next to play button), it can then be loaded in to any slot in the 'departure board' (load icon on left of screen) and played back (play icon on right of screen)

The demo runs for 7 days after which you'll need to purchase an unlock key

[cravensdmufan]

Hi Phil,

 

Pleased to say I managed to download OK;  I bypassed Windows Defender then my Malwarebytes Premium did a quick scan of it - no threats of course.

 

Well I have to say it's brilliant!  Fair play to you.

 

I would definitely like the British Rail one when you have it available please.  Could I make a request to include TOC options for Network SouthEast, Intercity and Regional Railways please?  E.g. the 09.30 Network SouthEast service to Reading.

 

Thanks

 

Vivian

Edited January 22, 2021 by cravensdmufan
Additional wording

[Huw Griffiths]

On 15/01/2021 at 03:41, Opelsi said:

Very interesting system and great for 21st Century though would be interested myself (if like many I anticipate) it could be backdated for BR (eg. 1970's) and Steam (eg. 1930s) eras with the associated differences including voices of the period, named trains, relief and additional extra, long closed stations, BR regret to announce........ (late running, cancellation), passengers (not customers), second or third class (not std), Inter-City, Sealink,  etc etc

 

Ah yes ... the change from "passengers" to "customers".

 

Of course, a number of us who were commuting by rail during the mid-late nineties / early "noughties" are fully aware of the real distinctions here:

• Passengers existed before privatisation - afterwards, they were referred to as customers.
• Passengers got taken for a ride - customers did not.

Instead, we were just kept waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting. Some of us also got fed up of the trains we needed to catch being selected - day after day - to be cancelled, whilst others (which were of no use to us) continued to run. From personal experience, I know that, in some areas, there definitely appeared to be a "pecking order" for which services actually ran - which passengers were prioritized - and which were viewed as expendable.

 

For example, during one month, one of the trains I needed to travel on (and for which there was no viable alternative) got cancelled more times than it actually ran. For some strange reason, a number of us started referring to it as the "ghost train". On a lot of days,  the operator often seemed unable to decide whether or not they could be bothered to run it - with constantly changing announcements and "information" screens in the few minutes before it turned up (or didn't). Although some of us would recognise this as authentic, I suspect it might be difficult to replicate using an "announcements" app.

 

However, sometimes, the "treat customers with contempt" attitude extended to on-train announcements. I can remember one journey home in 2002 - when a bull had strayed onto the line, just in front of the HST I was travelling on. Heavy braking was followed by a number of the vehicles in the train briefly becoming airborne - plus lots of vibration and a strong smell of burnt beef. It was a while before we heard anything - but, eventually, we were told what had happened. After several hours, the train was put back onto the track.

 

Eventually, the train was pulled slowly back to the previous station - where it pulled in, about 5 hours after it had left. A minute or two before this, there was an announcement from one of the on-train catering staff: "On behalf of (name of franchise), I wish to apologise to first class passengers for the delay to your journey." I recognised the voice of the person who'd made the announcement - and got a chance to challenge her about this, pointing out that "those of us in steerage were also delayed".

 

I know she took the hint - and learnt the lesson.

 

Afterwards, I found out that the driver had, fortunately, come out of this experience physically OK (although, I would imagine, something of a nervous wreck).

 

 

As for other eras, I wonder how many people from former NSE areas would really want a voice over to sound like "Sonia" (as in "she gets on yer nerves").

 

 

9 hours ago, Michael Hodgson said:

Kings Cross announcers sometimes demonstrated their ignorance of the correct pronunciation of Kirkcaldy and Burntisland.

 

But if you want an authentic sounding tannoy announcement it should be completely unintelligible, especially at the end of a platform.

 

9 hours ago, Foden said:

You’ll just need to find Gavin from Autoglass to do the voice recordings (make sure to catch him on a bad day for the full ‘I couldn’t give a toss’ aura), and you’ll have a pretty authentic station announcement for New St in the 80s/90s!

 

Sounds like some other areas in the late 1990s. I quite often found myself waiting for connections at Newport - where the guy who did many of the announcements didn't bother to turn the microphone on until he'd already started speaking. As a result, Manchester bound trains were often announced as "chester Piccadilly train on platform 3 ...".

 

 

Ultimately though, apps like this will appeal to some people - and not to others. There's also a lot of work involved.

 

 

Huw.

[Roy Langridge]

Don’t forget the nonsense of some announcements in privatisation. For example, at Liverpool Street who could forget the “the train standing at platform nine is the 12:30 One service to Norwich” (you have to say it).

I am another who would be very interested in a 1980s version.

 

Roy

[Hawksey]

v1.1 is now available to download. Just a small update to fix a few glitches

 

http://www.pipnbean.com

 

Still plugging away at a BR 60's>80's version, I'll post updates/blog on the above site

[Hawksey]

Hi all,

I'm trying to select the best announcement voice for the BR (60>80's) version.

So far narrowed down to these 3...what do you think is best suited for the time period?

Ryan, James or Brian?

(please ignore the strange pronunciation Inter City!) 

 

Ryan

 

James

 

Brain

 

Edited January 29, 2021 by Hawksey
Add links instead of downloads

[cravensdmufan]

9 minutes ago, Hawksey said:

Hi all,

I'm trying to select the best announcement voice for the BR (60>80's) version.

So far narrowed down to these 3...what do you think is best suited for the time period?

Ryan, James or Brian?

(please ignore the strange pronunciation Inter City!) 

 

Ryan

 

James

 

Brain

 

I think James.   (Ryan is a bit fast and not so deep, and Brian sounds kinda sad!).

 

Maybe try us with a few more just to be certain?

 

 

[Riddles]

I actually prefer Brian. He speaks authoritatively and with a calming voice, not sad.

[Garry D100]

Very interesting.

Any plans to go down the app route for those of us without windows or mac os?

 

Thanks

[Opelsi]

Hi again,

 

I think James also - though as mentioned above, maybe try some more on us too.

 

I do think the slight pause Brian has between 13 & 28 sounds very good.

 

Very excited about this product.

 

As I mentioned previously (amongst a multitude of announcement phrase suggestions)  is it possible to include some kind of interface within the programme to facilitate the use of multiple speakers with interactive options for which ones can be triggered for given sounds. This would allow the announcements to be played in the station and for example, and signal box leaver sounds play elsewhere on the layout.

 

Appreciate you interacting in the development of this thank you!

 

[Hawksey]

14 hours ago, Garry D100 said:

Very interesting.

Any plans to go down the app route for those of us without windows or mac os?

 

Thanks

 

I'm looking into doing a 'cut down' version for Android. Might be few months away by the time I learn the system and get it on the Google Play store.

No plans for Apple Ios yet.

 

13 hours ago, Opelsi said:

As I mentioned previously (amongst a multitude of announcement phrase suggestions)  is it possible to include some kind of interface within the programme to facilitate the use of multiple speakers with interactive options for which ones can be triggered for given sounds. This would allow the announcements to be played in the station and for example, and signal box leaver sounds play elsewhere on the layout.

 

Well, I had a think and a play...2 channels/outputs is easy, I would just use stereo audio with the effect just on one channel.

Any more channels would need hardware in the form of a 5.1 (6 channels) or 7.1 (8 channels) surround sound card or usb unit. About £30-£80.

I'd then have to find a way of directing the audio to the selected channel, announcements to the station, cows to the farm, bells to the church, etc. (that's the difficult bit!!)

So, yes it's possible and I'll try and add it in a future release.

 

21 hours ago, cravensdmufan said:

Maybe try us with a few more just to be certain?

 

These are the only 3 that sound realistic, the rest of the voices are very robotic.

I'll generate a few more announcements just to check'

 

Can anyone remember what kind of intro tune they had in the 70's/80's?? the bit that goes bing-bong on todays ones.

Was it the same or more like a xylophone? 

[Roy Langridge]

17 hours ago, Hawksey said:

Can anyone remember what kind of intro tune they had in the 70's/80's?? the bit that goes bing-bong on todays ones.

Was it the same or more like a xylophone? 

There are a some 1980s station announcements on Youtube.

 

Roy

[BR(S)]

On 30/01/2021 at 12:50, Hawksey said:

Can anyone remember what kind of intro tune they had in the 70's/80's?? the bit that goes bing-bong on todays ones.

Was it the same or more like a xylophone? 

 

I've listened to about 10 announcements on YouTube from the 1980s and 90s (none for the 70s) and they all have the "bing-bong" that can be heard here at 7:48:

 

 

[cravensdmufan]

1 hour ago, BR(S) said:

 

I've listened to about 10 announcements on YouTube from the 1980s and 90s (none for the 70s) and they all have the "bing-bong" that can be heard here at 7:48:

 

 

Great video footage - loads of good station sounds!   Ah, the good old days of BR!

 

There's also a good three bong chime at 8:59

[Hawksey]

Thanks for info.

I've managed to generate this now

 

https://www.pipnbean.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/BR_Chime.mp3

 

Phil

 

 

[cravensdmufan]

3 hours ago, Hawksey said:

Thanks for info.

I've managed to generate this now

 

https://www.pipnbean.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/BR_Chime.mp3

 

Phil

 

 

That sounds excellent.

[jamespetts]

The subject of station announcements in the 1980s is something that I have looked into in a little detail of late as I am working on my own automated announcement system for my model railway, albeit my system is not intended as a product for others to use, but is rather part of my own layout's automation using TrainController software.

 

As I am developing my system bespoke for my own layout, I have taken a different approach to Phil/the developer of this system, and, instead of using a computer generated voice, I have recorded my own voice: this is viable for my process as I do not need to read out the name of every station in the country to do this, but rather just a limited number of calling patterns and lead-in/lead outs, delay notices, etc., necessary for the timetable that I will be running.

 

However, I thought that it might be helpful to share some of the fruits of my research here for Phil or anyone else developing automated station announcements to use.

 

First of all, the chimes. This is an interesting topic. My own memory of the details of this period is a little hazy as I was born in 1980, but I vaguely remember the three note chime as shown on the "Slam door train memories" video being novel in perhaps about the early 1990s or late 1980s (I think that I heard it first at Reading), suggesting that it may well have been new around this time. This is not by itself very reliable and it would not surprise me if I were proven wrong on this by more accurate source material, although the Youtube videos that I have seen so far have not falsified this.

 

Phil's reproduction of the version of the chime used at Marylebone, which I think was fairly universal, is excellent. My own reproduction, which is here, created using MIDI software is slower and not quite identical melodically, but gives the general impression of the three note chime used at the time. Incidentally, my version is freely available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 4.0 licence.

 

In the 1980s, it was not at all uncommon for station announcements to have no chimes at all: see this video of Banbury in 1988, for example, at 1:56 (Edit: replaced the timestamp with a timestamp for a complete announcement).

 

 

The video by City Transport Info linked above is actually an excellent example of the earlier, synthetic two note chime that seems to have been used a great deal at Ealing Broadway (and I had been trying to find this video for a long time, so thank you to whoever posted it).

 

Here is another video of the two tone chime at Ealing Broadway circa 1990 (see 2:51):

 

 

The two tone chime was not confined to Ealing Broadway, however: here is a video of it in use at Oxford in 1988 (see 8:19):

 

 

 

This still seems to have been in use at Oxford in 1991, as seen here at 3:04:

 

 

There seems to have been an intermediate style of chime, seen here at Reading in 1990 (13:14), comprising a three note synthetic chime:

 

 

 

It is the melody and rhythm of this announcement that my version, linked above seeks to capture. As I indicated, I produced my version in MIDI software, and I was unable to find an instrument that matched the synthetic version of the chimes, so I copied the voicing of the acoustic version instead.

 

Some other observations on chimes: these seemed to be used only by medium sized stations such as Reading, Oxford, Ealing Broadway, etc. Smaller stations tended to have more basic equipment, if they did announcements at all, and larger stations (e.g. Paddington) had such frequent announcements that presumably chimes would have been overly frequent and considered irritating and unhelpful. It was also commonplace - from memory - for chimes in the days of non-automated announcements to be omitted if one announcement followed closely after another. I have replicated this in my own TrainController implementation of announcements.

 

Secondly, again, largely from memory, but also from fragments from the various Youtube videos, the actual pattern of words used in announcements changed over time. From the early 2000s or so, when announcements were automated, a standard pattern emerged (I am not entirely sure of how much regional variation that there has been in the last ~20 years) along the lines of:

 

"The train now arriving at platform number / [platform no.] / is the / [departure time] / [operator] / service to / [destination] / calling at / [intermediate stops]; / platform / [platform no.] for the / [departure time] / service to / [destination]".

 

The /s represent the boundaries between the different pre-recorded parts and consequent slight unnatural pauses.

 

Pre-automated announcements were, as one might expect, more varied in style. Certainly in the 1980s, as we can see in the Banbury video above, the time was often omitted, and "service to" was replaced with "train for", so that one might get something more similar to,

 

"The train now arriving on platform 5 is for London Paddington, calling at Ealing Broadway and London Paddington. Ealing Broadway and London Paddington, platform number 5".

 

The actual words in the Banbury announcement are,

 

"The train now approaching platform 3 for Oxford, Reading, Basingstoke, Winchester, Southampton Parkway, Southampton, Brockenhurst, Bournemouth and Poole."

 

Note the omission of the word "is" between "platform 3" and "for Oxford...".

 

In the video of Ealing Broadway in 1990 that I linked above, we have,

 

"The train arriving at platform 2 calling at Westbourne Park and London Paddington..." (the announcement is cut off so it is not clear whether it ends here; and yes, platform 2 is correct: this video was taken during engineering works and a blockade of the relief lines).

 

Intonation patterns were quite interesting and difficult to describe - suffice it to say for the present that they were quite different from the intonation patterns of the automated announcements and often quite distinctive. A good example of a distinctive intonation pattern is from this Ealing Broadway video from the early 1990s at 3:42 (and notice again the two tone chime):

 

 

Note also the words used:

 

"The train arrived platform 3 the late running 1823 service calling Hayes, Slough, Burnham, Taplow, Maidenhead, Twyford and Reading. Platform 3. British Rail apologise for the inconvenience".

 

This announcement omits quite a few words for the sake of abbreviation: "the train arrived platform 3 the late running..." instead of "the train now standing at platform number 3 is the late running..."

 

Note also the emphasis given to the word "inconvenience". One suspects that this announcer may have been at the end of a long shift.

 

At some point in the late 1980s or early 1990s, sector names began to be introduced into announcements: in the Reading 1990 video above, just before the time stamp given, we have a reference to "Network Express" in a partly captured announcement, the "Network Express" services being the semi-fast locomotive hauled commuter trains from Paddington to Oxford, Newbury, Banbury and Westbury. It was around this time that speech patterns such as "the train at platform 5 is for London Paddington..." began to be replaced with "The train now standing at platform 5 is the 13:06 InterCity service to London Paddington...", the "[sector name] service to..." pattern being, from memory, a widely adopted standard that was presumably intended as a prelude to privatisation when the sector name would be replaced by the TOC name.

 

Other noteworthy points about announcements is that they often referred to catering facilities, and, again if my memory serves me correctly, these references were standardised in wording in the early 1990s and phrases such as "a buffet car serving drinks, snacks and light refreshments is available aboard this train" became very common. For non-passenger workings, "The train now standing at platform X is not for public use; please stand clear of the train on platform X" or similar was a common form of announcement, with the phrase "not for public use" appearing to be standard.

 

I also recall that there were fairly often non-train related announcements, most often in the form "If there is a [Mrs. Smith] on the station, would you please contact the booking office on platform no. 4" (which presumably would happen when Mrs. Smith dropped her purse or railcard and somebody handed it in).

 

This is a delightful topic - really, the accuracy of the detail of station announcements is just as interesting as the accuracy of detail of the trains, track or signals for realistic operation, and getting station announcements to work in conjunction with the actual service of timetabled trains on a layout is a joy.

 

If anyone can find a training manual from the period incorporating reference to how to make station announcements, that would be extremely interesting for anyone wishing to refine a system for modelling station announcements accurately.

 

Finally, here is my video of timetabled operations on my own (under construction) layout, showing my automated announcements in action.

Edited February 3, 2021 by jamespetts

[cravensdmufan]

We had a nice 3 bong chime at Peterborough 1989/90 as captured by Roy Harrison in one of his many excellent videos from days gone by; at 1:43 and 4:48 sounding  particularly clear on this one:

 

 

The more I see these YouTube videos, the more I miss good old British Rail. At least we can recreate those wonderful times on our layouts. There have been so many brilliant models released over the past few years we're spoilt for choice.

Edited February 3, 2021 by cravensdmufan
Wording

[Roy Langridge]

On 22/01/2021 at 16:15, Hawksey said:

Hi

The lag is due to file loading times...the faster your pc/hard drive the less lag you will get, but I will look into making the file size smaller and that should help.

 

 

Probably teaching you to suck eggs, but have you considered pre-loading the sound file as the buttons are selected so that by the time you play the announcement it is all loaded?

 

(Former software engineer in me coming out).

Roy

[Hawksey]

10 hours ago, jamespetts said:

Secondly, again, largely from memory, but also from fragments from the various Youtube videos, the actual pattern of words used in announcements changed over time. From the early 2000s or so, when announcements were automated, a standard pattern emerged (I am not entirely sure of how much regional variation that there has been in the last ~20 years) along the lines of:

 

"The train now arriving at platform number / [platform no.] / is the / [departure time] / [operator] / service to / [destination] / calling at / [intermediate stops]; / platform / [platform no.] for the / [departure time] / service to / [destination]".

 

The current version (probably to be renamed 'Train Announcement Generator 2000' when 'Train Announcement Generator BR' gets released) is based on the Atos Anne (2002-present) system.

The BR version will mostly be based around the KeTech - John Elgar (1989-1996) system.

 

Though it wont be 100% accurate, I am aiming for 100% atmosphere 

 

Loads of info here:

Generic Station Announcements

 

 

2 hours ago, Roy Langridge said:

Probably teaching you to suck eggs, but have you considered pre-loading the sound file as the buttons are selected so that by the time you play the announcement it is all loaded?

 

(Former software engineer in me coming out).

 

The hours and mins (84 files) are already pre-loaded, everything else gets called from hard drive when needed. I did try pre-loading everything...worked ok on my 64gb ram pc but a 16gb laptop slowed to a crawl 

 

[Roy Langridge]

Just now, Hawksey said:

 

The hours and mins (84 files) are already pre-loaded, everything else gets called from hard drive when needed. I did try pre-loading everything...worked ok on my 64gb ram pc but a 16gb laptop slowed to a crawl 

 

 

I can see that happening. I was thinking of a half-way house where you just pre-load what is selected on the buttons, binning what is not needed when a different button is selected.

 

I don't know how your program is structured, but could it be a user preference to allow all pre-loading for those with lots of memory?

 

Roy

[Hawksey]

Just a little update on progress:

The forthcoming BR version is progressing well and hopefully will be released in a few weeks time.

Main screen is looking like this..

 

 

The 'Service' screen so far...

 

 

If anyone has any additions or suggestions please let me know.

I'll be working on digitising the announcements and stations next

 

 

Phil

http://www.pipnbean.com

 

[Hawksey]

Just a little new feature I forgot to mention...selectable network branding on the 'Your Station' sign.

You can of course still change the name to your model station name

 

Regional Railways

 

Network South East

 

British Railways