'The Fading Giant' 12" 33 RPM Stereo Vinyl Steam Train Record O.W.Link
£
20
$
26
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Description
1958 'The Fading Giant' - Sounds of Steam Railroading Volume 2 recorded by O. Winston Link 12" Mono LP Vinyl Record.
Not one in a million Americans ever again will ride a scheduled mainline passenger train behind a live and breathing steam locomotive. That time is gone. Remembrance of the unique, indefinable glow in such trips fades and disappears. It was a singular thrill, that steam train riding, a sense of high adventure wrapped in warm well-being: The start from the pulsing terminal, the yards with their clickings and hangings, chuffings and quick glimpses of other travellers on other trains, the open country where whistles made no distinction between thronged highways and farmers' lanes, the solid roar of bridges beneath, and the always unexpected smash of tunnels with darkness all around and echoes banging upon echoes. And the little stations: A long wailing engine call and the hiss of slowing to the local agent's platform domain. The start with its first uncertain puff, then the rhythmic power growing heavier and heavier, quicker and quicker until the car wheels ticked the rail joints into new, strange lands.
That time is gone. But 'The Fading Giant' will bring you back the memory strong and clear. For half this record was made on a train in the last days of passenger steam on the mountainous Norfolk & Western. Few such recordings have been made successfully. They are usually distorted. On train sounds — as car wheels or the locomotive's roar dominates the ear. The feeling of actually riding the train simply isn't there. But after long experimentation Link and his assistants found the proper place for the microphone and added their knowledge of techniques to create a balanced image.
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