A picture of Texas & Pacific Railroad #610 (The engine that was thought to be responsible for the recording.), somewhere in Hot Springs, North Carolina, when it took part in the Southern Railway Steam Program during the late 1970's and early 1980's. (Exact date unknown)
A picture of Southern Pacific GS-4 #4455 (The engine that is actually responsible for the recording.), departing San Francisco's 3rd & Townsend Depot with local train #122 sometime in 1955. (Exact date unknown)
This sound effect can be found on the Hanna-Barbera Sound Effects Library, which was made by Sound Ideas. The whistle was thought to have been from a Hancock 3 chime steam whistle that was recorded from Texas & Pacific Railroad steam locomotive #610.
However, it was recently found out to actually have been from a Southern Pacific GS-4 locomotive, specifically #4455, according to YouTube user "JOEMAMA928". As a full version of the sound effect has been found in the Internet Archive called "Standard Sound Effect (463B) PASSENGER TRAIN" which can be found below. According to the sound effect’s description, it says "Courtesy Southern Pacific R.R", which confirmed the sound effect was recorded from a Southern Pacific locomotive. However, both of their whistles sound almost identical, considering the fact that they both have Hancock 3 chime whistles, which is likely why most people thought it was from Texas & Pacific #610. Not to mention, #4455's whistle can be heard squealing in a very similar fashion to how #610's used to, which would very likely confuse those who hear it into thinking it could be #610.
Judging by how the pattern of the whistle goes, it's likely that #4455 was going through a railroad crossing. And because there is no doppler effect when the whistle blows, it's likely the person who recorded this sound effect was onboard #4455, rather then being on the ground near the railroad crossing it would go through.
Similar Variations[]
- Standard Sound Effect (463B) PASSENGER TRAIN (original recording)
Clean, Full Length and Unedited Link to the Sound[]
Used In[]
TV Shows[]
- The Further Adventures of SuperTed
- The Perils of Penelope Pitstop
- Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo (First whistle only - used once for the train in the intro.)
- Secret Squirrel (Heard in "It Stopped Training" and "Gold Rushed.")
- Wacky Races
Web Originals[]
- B. Happy (Heard once in Episode 3.)
YouTube Videos[]
- Fast Freight Productions
- Super Foxy Railway Prodcutions
Image Gallery[]
Audio Samples[]