A picture of Pere Marquette #1225 (The engine that was used for the recordings.), passing through the town of Rosebush, Michigan in 2007.
This is a Skywalker Sound effect that was created by Tim Nielsen, and it is not available on the Lucasfilm Sound Effects Library.
Its most notable usage was being used as the chugging sound that emits from the locomotive in the 2004 motion-capture animated Christmas film, The Polar Express.
Before it's usage in The Polar Express, it was first used in the Dolby Digital Train Policy trailer from 1992, as well as being the footstep sound for the Iron Giant in both The Iron Giant, and Ready Player One.
It should be noted that it should not be confused with the thumping element from SKYWALKER, EXPLOSION - DEEP THUMP AND CRACKLE.
The variant that is used for the Iron Giant and the other media it was used in can be found on the Series 8000 Science Fiction Sound Effects Library, under the name FOOTSTEPS - GIANT ROBOTIC FOOTSTEPS, COULD ALSO USE AS AN INDUSTRIAL PRESS, SCI FI, albeit just the same take repeated throughout the track.
Basic Info[]
A picture of Pere Marquette #1225 passing by with it's train, while being recorded by Tim Nielsen on the right with a boom mic. (Circa 2004)
Another picture during the time the recordings were being created. This time showing a majority of the 12 sand hoppers that 1225 pulled to make it's heavy chugging noises. (Circa 2004)
A black and white picture of Tim Nielsen (left) and Will Files (right) resting their arms on the front of Pere Marquette #1225 likely before the sounds were recorded.
- First recorded: 1990
- Creator: Tim Nielsen
- Owner: Skywalker Sound
- Origin: United States
- Year debut: 1992
- First heard: Dolby Digital: Train (1992) (Policy Trailers)
- Area used: Worldwide
The locomotive that was used for the recordings was a 1941-built Pere Marquette "N-1" class Berkshire type steam locomotive, numbered 1225, who currently runs at the Steam Railroading Institute in Owosso, Michigan.
In real life, the locomotive does make chugging sounds that sound sort of identical to the sound effects that were recorded by the crew at Skywalker Sound, but not entirely identical.
So in order for the locomotive to make the heavy chugging sounds you hear in the audio samples, it hauled 12 hopper cars that were fully loaded with sand, to ensure that it would make some sort of "bigger-then-real" sounds that the sound crews could use during post-production.
One thing that has puzzled some people is that the first appearance (Debut) of this sound being used in media is a 1992 policy trailer by Dolby Digital, where a steam locomotive is seen chugging away and disappearing in a cloud of it's own steam. But the article where the photos that were used on the right said that the sounds were first recorded in 2004 at the Steam Railroading Institute with locomotive #1225.
So it is currently unknown if these sounds were first recorded in either 1990, 1992, or 2004, and if they were done by Pere Marquette #1225 or a completely different steam locomotive.
Used In[]
TV Shows[]
- Gravity Falls
- Family Guy (Used as Joe's Mecha's footsteps in the episode "No Meals on Wheels".)
- Talking Tom and Friends (Needs clarification.)
Movies[]
- Cloverfield (2008) (Repeated a total of 14-15 times to accent a tank when it rapid fires at Cloverfield before it fires a shell at it while Hud takes cover behind an SUV.)
- Fast Five (2011) (Either slightly edited variants of this sound or a near identical sound is used quadrice for the sound of the vault banging as Brian and Dom drag it through a bank during the final chase sequence.)
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2011)
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
- Ice Age: Collision Course (2016)
- The Iron Giant (1999) (Used as the walking sound on the Iron Giant.)
- The Island (2005) (Heard once right when the armored truck crashes into the side of the police car at an intersection after one of the officers says "Dispatch, we're two minutes out.".)
- Jungle Cruise (2021)
- Jurassic Park 3 (2001) (Used once as a speedboat strikes a rocky surface.)
- The Lone Ranger (2013) (An edited variant is heard once right as a supply cart rolls over the camera near the beginning of the film.)
- Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003)
- Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (2012) (Used as the chugging sound for the "Fur Power" circus train's locomotive.)
- Mars Attacks! (1996)
- Monsters, Inc. (2001) (Heard twice in a slightly lower volume.)
- The Peanuts Movie (2015) (Used for the chugging of the train's locomotive at the County Fair.)
- The Polar Express (2004) (Various different edits; used, debuted and introduced for the chugging sound on the locomotive.)
- Ready Player One (2018) (Used as the walking sound on the Iron Giant.)
- Rugrats in Paris: The Movie (2000) (Used for Reptar Robot's footsteps.)
- Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)
- The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) (An edited variant of this sound or a very similar sound is used for Bowser's footsteps as he walks towards the entrance to the Ice Kingdom at the beginning of the movie.)
- Titanic (1997) (Heard once in a low volume right before the Titanic's engines stop abruptly when Chief Bell orders the reversing engines to be engaged.)
- Toy Story 3 (2010) (Used once as the chugging sound on the Prairie Pioneer No. 95 at the very beginning before Mr. Potato Head blows a hole into the money boxcar's roof.)
- World Trade Center (2006) (This sound or a near identical sound is heard once when part of the wall to the elevator shaft crumbles as the floor gives way underneath John.)
Trailers[]
- Dolby Digital: Train (1992) (Policy Trailers) (Debut; used as the chugging sound on the locomotive.)
- The Polar Express (2004) (Trailers) (Used as the chugging sound on the locomotive.)
Video Games[]
PC:
- Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars (Can be heard during the level "Hostage Crisis".)
- The Polar Express (2004) (Can be found as a sped-up and higher-pitched in the games' files listed as "train_ex_loop_02".)
- Poppy Playtime (Slowly increasing in tempo, looped; used as the chugging sound that emits from the train's locomotive in Chapter 2.)
- Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II
Mobile:
PlayStation 3:
Xbox 360:
Nintendo Wii:
Nintendo DS:
Music[]
- Tom Hanks - The Polar Express (Heard once with a fade in alongside Elektra Records, Crossing Bells and Horn with Electric Train Pass at the beginning of the song.)