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Steam Rollin'

Today we brought the Rail back to the Trail!
 
Andrea and I broadcast the sounds of a genuine 1880 steam locomotive while riding along the NCR rails-to-trails bike trail on Labor Day. The train sounds were recorded by us a couple weeks ago while visiting the Black Hills of South Dakota. Outfitted with a battery powered amp, we rode along the trail from White Hall to Monkton and back, playing the train recording (snippet below). The result was quite magical, as if a mystery ghost train had returned to its former tracks. Plenty of bewildered and bemused cyclists along the route, with the best reactions elicited by the train's steam whistle echoing down the trail. Great moment with a couple confused fishermen down the hill in the Gunpowder that looked up towards the trail when the whistle went off -- I wonder what they thought of it all!
 
http://www.dnr.state.md.us/greenways/ncrt_trail.html
http://www.1880train.com/

       

1880 Stream Train  

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Comments (2)

Sep 08, 2009
T. said...
I love this! I so wish I could've been there. The people fishing nearby must have had the best show of all. I bet some of them are still wondering what happened.
Sep 09, 2009
Andrea said...
What Mike forgot to mention is at the very end of our ride, just as we're peddling back into the White Hall station, the train whistle let out a huge, triumphant blast to a parking lot crowded with hikers and bikers! Great laughs all around!

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