Bochum public transport Railway Steam engine Steam Locomotive

Steam Whistle

The Prussian passenger steam locomotive P-8 (production series 38 2267) with tender was built by the Berliner Maschinenbau AG in 1918.
Up until the Second World War it had been on duty for the Reichsbahn Directorate of Erfurt in Thuringia. After the Second World War the locomotive carried passengers and freight in Saxony until the 1970s. Today it is in the possession of the railway museum in Bochum and is used for special rides through the Ruhr District.
What you hear is the sound of its steam whistle. The steam whistle serves the purpose of generating acoustic signals. In order to generate the sound, the train driver pulls a cord in the driver's cabin, thereby opening a valve, so that steam shoots out of an annular gap and against the sharp edge of a bell. This makes the bell vibrate rapidly, which creates a whistling sound. In railway traffic this type of steam whistle is used to give warning, attention and directing signals.

Sound recordist: Konrad Gutkowski/Julian Blaschke
Photographer: Konrad Gutkowski/Julian Blaschke
Video recordist: Konrad Gutkowski/Julian Blaschke

Specs:

Decade:
Filesize:
Duration:
Channels:
1910s
1.9 MB
11 s
2 (Stereo)
Sample rate:
Bit rate:
Bit depth:
Level:
44.1 kHz
1411 kb/s
16 bit
110,2 dB

Recorded on April 19, 2014
Eisenbahnmuseum Bochum
Bochum, GERMANY
Creative Commons License