Transacord

[David Thorpe]

I suspect that quite a lot of people here will remember the old Transacord LPs of steam locomotive sounds. They're long since gone, but I've just learned (thanks RMWeb) that some of the recordings are available again in mp3 format, usually £3.50 to download what was an LP. I'm presently listening to, and much enjoying, "The Railway to Riccarton". Really good stuff. The catalogue, currently with 45 old steam LPs now digitalised and available for download, can be found at http://www.transacord.co.uk/ .

DT

[Tim V]

My records will still play!

[Enigma]

And my cassettes. The track I really like is part of a selection of recordings taken on Gresford Bank and features a 28xx on a heavy mineral train just about making it over the summit. It nearly stalls several times but gets there in the end. The recording was done at night and the sound travelled for miles, starting at Rossett and finally disappearing probably somewhere around Gresford Colliery on the way to Wrexham. The funny thing is that I can remember being woken up one night as a lad and hearing just the same effect . The line from Wrexham to Ruabon was only a couple of hundred yards away across a field and was, for a heavy train, quite a challenge on its way South. The loco was certainly making heavy weather of the job and I started hearing it when it was probably leaving Croes Newydd yard and it finally went quiet when it was passing Hafod Colliery so 3 miles or so. At 10-15 mph this took quite a while! This has stayed in my memory for probably 60 years and I've always wondered if it was the same train as the recording.