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Privacy
This is a cookie free zone. I do not use cookies to collect information
about my visitors.
Information stored in server logs by my web host (Hostroute)
is not used by me other than to gather anonymous statistics.
If you provide an email address I will only use this for the purpose
for which you supplied it. It will not be used by me for any other purpose
or passed on by me to any other person or organsiation.
If you have any concerns about privacy please get
in touch.
Playing
the audio clips
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On most of the pages on this site there are audio recordings
that you can listen to. There's not much point visiting otherwise!
These recordings are stored as mp3 files which most visitors should
be able to play without any problems. You will find information
and a 'play' button in the audio clip boxes, illustrated on the
right, on each page. The information provided about each recording
is from left to right; a short title, the playing time of the
recording, a download and play button and the size of the mp3
file.
Note: the pages have changed appearance since I wrote this but
I'm sure that you will get the idea!
The 'download & play' button has changed ends and is now a
'play' button since that is what most visitors will find happens
when they click it!
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For most visitors it will only be necessary
to click on the button marked 'Play' and Windows Media Player
will open and the file will begin to download and play.
Others may find something a little different as illustrated to
the right. They should select 'open this file from its current
location' and click 'Ok'. Once the download is complete the mp3
file will begin to play in the default player. For most users
this will be Windows Media Player. If you do not have a suitable
mp3 player,or you want something better have a look at the section
below which has links to a number of players.
You can directly download and save
a recording on your PC by right clicking on the Play button and
select 'save target as' from the menu that appears (or it may
say 'save link as' or something like that. Once saved you can
play the recording anytime, even when off line. Non-broadband
users (like me) may find this the best way to hear the recordings.
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In the download
dialogue box you can also select 'Save this file to disk' which
will allow you to save a copy on your PC. If you select this you
will be asked to select a location in which to save the file.
Once the file is downloaded to this location you will be able
to play it whenever you want.
If you remove the tick from the check box marked 'Always ask before
opening this type of file' then you will not see this dialogue
box again for mp3 files and the download will go ahead without
any prompting from you. If you have already done this and want
to change back then you can do this in the following way:
Open Windows Explorer.
Click on 'Tools' then 'Folder Options' then on the tab marked
'File Types'.
Scroll down the list of file types until you find mp3.
Click on this and then on 'Edit'.
Ensure that there is a tick in the check box next to 'Confirm
open after download' and click 'Ok'.
If you have any
other problems have a look at the FAQ below
or if you are really stuck, send me an email.
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MP3
Players
There are a number of third party players listed
below but don't forget that you can always use Windows Media Player.
If you use Windows 9x, ME etc. you should already have this on your
PC. You can get the latest version from the Microsoft website.
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Musicmatch
This one is my
own particular favourite and includes most features that I want.
To get a copy click on the link below.
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Winamp
Also very popular.
I've not tried this one recently but, by all accounts, it is very
good. Click on the link below.
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Real Player
I tried this one.
Didn't like it! It appears to take over your machine!
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Some technical information about
the mp3 files.
So, how do I make the mp3 files? Well, as noted in 'Some Background'
below I am gradually working my way through my recordings and transferring
the good bits onto Audio CDs. This requires the production of a digital
file (in .WAV format) from the analogue recording. I then use Musicmatch
Jukebox to convert these files into mp3 format. For my own use, playing
from hard disk, I sample them at 128kb/s but for use on the web to keep
the file size down I use a sampling rate of 64kb/s. On many encoders
anything less than 64kb/s will only give mono playback but with the
latest version of Musicmatch you can go down as low as 32 kb/s and retain
stereo.
I could go on at length about how I produce the digital files and probably
will do one day but, until then, if anybody wants advice about how to
do it, please contact me.
Briefly, all I do is connect the line output of the cassette recorder
or mini disk player to the line input on the sound card in my PC then,
using some software, record the track from the cassette onto the hard
disk. I can then either burn the resulting WAV file onto an audio CD
or produce an mp3 file. I usually do both.
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Some technical information about
the recordings.
Most of the original recordings were made in stereo on cassette tape.
Some of the earliest recordings were made on a mono Sony recorder. In
the early '80's I used an Aiwa 'walkman' sized stereo recorder which,
despite the lack of manual settings gave some remarkably good results,
particularly on-train. My first serious recorder was a Marantz CP230.
Recording quality was excellent but reliability wasn't! I was on to
my third replacement machine in two years before I gave up and bought
a Sony DC6. Not quite as good quality as the Marantz but it worked.
The only maintenance it needed in 12 years use was to have coal and
cinders removed from it's insides occasionally. A couple of years ago
I decided that I needed to replace the DC6 and decided to try Minidisk.
After an abortive attempt with a Sharp recorder I got a Sony MZ-R35.
It is very convenient to use and, despite not having usable level controls
(it does have manual level setting but this is almost impossible to
use!) it produces very good results. However, I have to say that, under
ideal conditions the DC6 was better. I would love to give DAT a try
but can't afford it. And if I could afford it I couldn't really justify
it for the amount of recording I do these days. Now, given a time machine........
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Some Background
Back in about 1964, soon after I first started to get interested in
railways and steam locomotives - Ok, I'll admit it, it was through train
spotting but that only lasted a few years. Anyway, soon after I started
I recall wandering into, I think it was W. H. Smiths record department
and finding a small selection of records of railway sounds and I bought
one. 'Pacific Power' it was called, one of the Argo Transacord records
of Peter Handford's recordings. After listening to that record I was
hooked and I decided that I wanted to make some recordings.
At that time we had a tape recorder at home. A reel to reel one, this
was in the days before cassettes were even a twinkle in Mr. Sony's eye,
and it was about the size of two breeze blocks but only a little heavier.
Worse still it was mains powered. As the nearest railway line was about
3/4 mile away this wasn't a practical proposition. Now there was a battery
powered version which was only the size of one breeze block but the
drawback was the cost. £49 19s 6d if I remember correctly, which
doesn't sound like much unless you only got 5/- (25p) pocket money so,
at the time, that goal was unattainable.
As often happens, eventually my finances caught up with my requirements
and a year or so later I scraped together enough money to buy a battery
operated reel to reel recorder. It only cost £19/9/6 (£19.50)
from Dixons and only weighed as much as a house brick. Watch out Handford
here I come! As I should have expected it was an unmitigated waste of
space, time and money. Firstly, the tape recorder was cra...., sorry,
not very high quality and, more importantly, I had very little idea
how to use it. My first attempt was one weekday morning in the school
holidays on the 11.34 Harrogate to Kings Cross which I knew to be steam
hauled as far as Leeds, on this occasion by B1 61406. From a compartment
in the front coach of this train, all 3 vehicles of it, I confidently
stuck the microphone out of the window, probably on the wrong side for
the wind, and hoped for the best. The 'best' does not describe the result.
In fact 'result' is hardly appropriate either.
My next attempt was only slightly more successful. This was at the lineside
near Newley & Horsforth station (on the Leeds to Shipley and Ilkey
line). At this time there was plenty of freight about, most of it still
steam hauled, and in the space of a couple of hours I had recorded the
passage of perhaps a dozen trains. Ok, most of them were not making
much noise when they passed me but there was one train, hauled by an
8F which made plenty of noise restarting from a signal check. Well,
due to the aforementioned cra..., poor quality recorder it was hardly
possible to tell what most of the recordings were supposed to be and
the 8F, well, you could hear it, just. Very disappointing.
After that experience, apart from one very successful recording session
some years later with a borrowed Uher reel to reel recorder that I couldn't
afford to buy, many years were to go by before I made the attempt again
which is why I have no 'real' BR steam recordings.
It was in the late 70's when steam hauled railtours were beginning to
become more frequent that I made my next foray into railway sound recordings.
By this time the technology had improved, although breeze blocks were
still lighter than the recorder I bought, and I knew only a little more
about the technique required. I would have done far more recording in
these early days had it not been for the breeze block. By the time I
had added my photographic equipment, food, beer, etc. to the pile required
for a day out, adding something the size of a breeze block frequently
was not an option. Rescue arrived in about 1982 when I spotted in a
Hi-Fi shop a reasonably priced Aiwa 'Walkman' sized cassette player
that actually recorded. It was wonderful! I no longer have it as I passed
it on to a friend (Hi Ken!), but as far as I know it is still going
strong. With a decent microphone the quality was good the only drawback
being the lack of any manual control of recording level. But it was
so convenient to carry and use and use it I did. It accompanied me everywhere
and, gradually, getting a recording became more important than the photography
and film making that had been important in the past. Since then I have
worked my way through various recorders culminating in my current Mini
Disk recorder and, since getting serious about recording in the early
80's I have amassed something like 700 hours of recordings on 400 cassettes
and a growing pile of mini disks.
Right from the start I edited the recordings that I made down to compilations
of the best bits and spent hours editing the recordings using two tape
decks. This editing process was not always easy. I remember spending
one entire Sunday afternoon editing a particular recording of 777 'Sir
Lamiel' on a Welsh Marches Express. The particular recording in question
was of the start from Abergavenny and the ensuing climb to Llanvihangel.
It was a really good recording, the only problem was that, soon after
the start, someone (you know who you are!) standing next to me in the
corridor of the front coach coughed! So, I attempted to remove the cough
by editing it out. The technique was this: Using two tape decks I would
record from the original tape the first part of the track to beyond
the cough. After rewinding both tapes I would play the newly recorded
tape up to a point just before the cough and pause it there. Then I
would start the original recording and, just after the cough, start
the second recorder thus missing out the cough. This, if done carefully
was extremely successful however, the problem was that it was impossible
to tell how successful it was until the entire track had been recorded
which took 15 minutes or so each time. Sometimes the editing was obvious
but, with a lot of trial and error I managed to get this track just
right, without the cough. Some time later I gave a copy of the edited
tape to the person responsible for the cough in the first place, he
had already had a copy of the unedited tape complete with his cough
and, after he had heard the edited copy he commented to me that he was
glad I had managed to get rid of the cough from the original. He told
me that it had been really annoying him every time he listened to it
and it was only after he had listened to the track quite a few times
that he realized that he was the perpetrator!
Nowadays, such an edit would be the work of a few moments and would
be completely undetectable first time thanks to the wonderful world
of digital audio editing.
Which brings us nearly up to date. Right from when CD audio recordings
first appeared I wanted to get my audio recordings on CD. One problem
with having 700 hours of cassette tape is that every time you put the
cassette into a deck you can never be 100% certain that you will be
able to get it back out again in an undamaged state as cassette decks
have been known to chew up tape. Add to this the fact that recordings
on tape do deteriorate over time and the advantage of CD becomes obvious.
Once again, eventually, technology, finances and my requirements coincided
so I am now able to achieve yet another goal and I am gradually working
my way through all those recordings, digitizing them and putting the
results on audio CDs. So far I have 20 or so and plenty more to do.
I have also been converting these tracks to mp3 files which give excellent
results coupled with a small file size. In mp3 format at near CD quality
I can get the contents of up to 10 audio CDs on a single data CD. Which
brings us, finally, to this web site.
In the past I have always passed round copies of recordings, originally
on cassette and now on CD, to friends and acquaintances so this web
site is a logical extension of that.
I hope that you enjoy it.
Also, have a look at Why have you done all this?
in the FAQ.
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Buying CDs & using PayPal
If you visit my CD pages and want to buy one
(please!) you will see that I now allow payment through PayPal.
I originally did this primarily to make things easier for overseas customers
who have to pay an arm and a leg to get a sterling money order. I am
quite happy for UK customers to use this facility but, as there is a
small charge (approx. 5%) to me if you do, payment by cheque is still
the preferred method!
If you have never used PayPal before you may be a little dubious about
signing up for an account. Handing over your credit card details on
the internet still does worry some people but both services offer a
secure environment for transactions and, so far, I have had no difficulty
with their service. About 80% of my sales are now through PayPal.
If you want more information I would strongly recommend that you visit
their web site (PayPal)
and have a look at the help pages. This should answer all your questions
about using this service and setting up your account.
If you open an account with PayPal (an account is not required unless
you expect to receive money) they do make a small charge to you when
you first register your credit card, currently less than £2.00
but this should be refunded to your account when you make your first
payment.
You do not need to give them your Bank Account details unless you expect
to need to withdraw funds from your account.
The answers to most questions that you will have will be found on the
help pages but if you have any other questions please do not hesitate
to contact me and I will do my best to answer
them.
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FAQ
Do you hate
Yahoo Groups?
If the answer is yes then you are not alone apparently! Quite a few
of you have not joined the mailing list simply because I have been
using Yahoo. Well, now I can understand why and, so that you are not
left out, I have decided to set up my own list.Details
here.
Why can't I hear anything?
The first question to ask is; can you hear sounds on your computer
anyway? If the answer is no, then it is really beyond the scope of
this FAQ to sort that one out for you. However, as a simple test have
a look in Control Panel (Start Button, Settings, Control Panel) and
click on the Sounds Icon. Select one of the events. Is the small 'Play'
button near 'Preview' greyed out? If it is, then you need to sort
out your sound card installation. If it isn't, select a sound from
the drop-down list and then click play. Did you hear anything? If
you didn't then go to the the Volume Control (Start, Programs, Accessories,
Volume Control or double click the small speaker icon in the system
tray at the right hand end of your task bar). Check that the setting
of the sliders is correct and that both Wave and Volume are not muted.
If that didn't fix it then I'm afraid you are on your own! Sorry.
Ok, if you are really stuck drop me an email.
So, assuming that your sound set up is Ok and you can hear some sounds
from your computer then the next most likely problem is the lack of
a suitable player. If this is the problem then go to this section
and download one. If you think that you have a player but the tracks
are still not playing then ensure that the file type mp3 is registered
to this player. Download an mp3 file (see above)
then start Windows Explorer and locate the file you have just downloaded.
Double click it. Your player should start and begin playing. If it
doesn't you will get a dialogue headed 'Open With'. Scroll down until
you find your mp3 player, select it and select 'Always use this program
to open this file' before clicking Ok. Even if you do not have a dedicated
mp3 player you should have Windows Media Player which will probably
be listed as 'mplayer'.
The last possibility is that the file downloads are not completing
properly. When the Internet is very busy or you have a slow connection
you may find that, on occasion downloading 'times out' before finishing.
If this happens to you you should try again. On the second or subsequent
attempts if you save the file in the same location and with the same
name you may find that the download restarts from where it left off
- this is called 'resuming' and some servers support it. There are
also some software download accelerators that you can install to assist
this process. I don't use one so can't advise you what to use but
a search with your favourite search engine should find them.
If after all this you are still not getting any sound then, like you,
I'm rather stuck. You really need an expert. If you solve any problems
that I haven't covered please tell me about
it and I'll add it to this FAQ.
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Why does it take so long before
I hear anything?
When you click on the 'Download & Play' button that is exactly
what happens. First the mp3 file downloads to your PC then your player
starts and only then does the track start to play. The downloading
part can take quite a long time.
What to do when downloads
keep failing?
I can guarantee that while downloading a recording, on occasion the
download process will fail. Sometimes it will just stop part way through
and not move. Sometimes it will terminate with an error message saying
something like 'connection with server lost' or something about having
timed out. Welcome to one of the frustrations of using the www otherwise
know as the World Wide Wait! The internet is a very busy place with
files of all kinds flying around the place in droves. It's no wonder
things go wrong from time to time. However, when this happens to you,
don't panic, all is not lost, probably. Some web space providers support
something called 'resuming'. Resuming does exactly what it says on
the tin. If you get part of a file downloaded and try again it will
resume from where it left off. So, if you get 9 minutes into a 10
minute download and everything stops, try again, you may find that
you still only have another minute to go. Make sure that you save
the file in the same location as the last time. If you still get problems
there are a number of pieces of software that you can download, often
for free, which will help. These are often called download accelerators
or download managers. The best known is Getright and when I get round
to it I'll provide a link. Until then, any search engine should find
it for you. If even this doesn't do the trick then you can always
contact me, there may be alternatives.
Can I keep a copy of an audio
clip?
Yes, of course you can. There are instructions for downloading a copy
above in the 'Playing the audio clips' section.
Just remember that I retain copyright.
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Can I get a better quality
copy?
Yes, of course you can. To save space these mp3 files are encoded
at a low sample rates. I have then at CD quality mp3 and as tracks
on Audio CD. Contact me and let me know what
you want.
Can I put audio clips on a
CD?
Yes, of course you can. BUT you may only put the original mp3 file
on a CD with the ID3 tag unchanged. You may NOT write the file to
an audio CD. If you want an audio CD or want to use one of the tracks
on an audio CD contact me or see my CD
page.
What is an ID3 tag?
An ID3 tag is part of an mp3 file that contains information about
the recording such as the track title, cover art, etc. If you have
a suitable player you can access this information. Musicmatch will
display tag information.
Have you got a recording of
......?
Back in the 80's I was out travelling behind steam on the main line
most weekends. It cost me a small fortune! If I'd continued doing
this right through the 90's it would have cost me a large fortune
so I have more from the 80's than from the 90's. Most of the 80's
recordings are on-train main line steam. Later recordings tend to
feature either preserved railways or lineside recordings of main line
steam.
If you travelled on a particular train and want to know if I have
recordings please contact me - you never know.
Likewise, if you require a particular recording for some reason or
are trying to put together a commercial product, contact
me. I'll be delighted to help, especially for money!
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Your text is too small (or
too large).
Look for the 
button at the top of the page. If you click it you should get a larger
size of text. This feature requires Java to be enabled for your browser
and will probably mess up the formatting but at least, you should
be able to read the text.
If, on the other hand, you find my text too large then you should
sit further away from the monitor!
How often do you update these
pages?
It is my intention to update these content of these pages every couple
of months. But we all know what happens to intentions. If you would
like to be informed when I change the content you can subscribe to
the steamsounds mailing list.
How can I get in touch with
you?
Of course. See Contact Information below.
Why have you done all this?
(Have you read 'Some background?)
What a really good question. Phrases like, 'because I don't get out
much', 'because I don't have a life' or even 'because I'm a sad b...........d'
spring to mind. But the real reason is 'because I enjoyed it all so
much!'. Back in the 80's and early 90's I thoroughly enjoyed the time
I spent travelling behind steam on the main line. It was a very enjoyable
part of my life during which I made some very good friends, met a
lot of interesting people, visited a lot of interesting places, travelled
through Bramhope Tunnel quite a lot and, not to put too fine a point
on it, enjoyed myself. At the time I always used to pass around copies
of my recordings and now, thanks to the Internet, I can share them
with even more people. If that makes me a sad b.......d, then Ok,
that's me! And, you never know, perhaps someone who I knew back in
those days and haven't seen for far too many years will see this and
get in touch. By the way, I've shaved off the
beard!
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Other languages?
If English isn't your first language try one of these translation
services:
Google
(I use this one).
Lycos
Systransoft
(Works best if you register).
Other questions?
Who am I? David Bailey, the ex-photographer, Scarborough Spa Express
season ticket holder, amateur train driving computer simulation programmer,
amateur (very) web page designer, and once upon a time time editor
of HLPG News and the Steam Sun!
Any other questions - contact me.
Email Problems?
I get a suprising number of feedback messages, requests for details
of the CDs, list subscriptions etc. that, when I try to reply I find
that the email address provided doesn't work!
Often this is due to the senders mail box being full or simply the
a mistake in the address. In adition AOL seems sometimes to have a
problem with some email addresses refusing email. So, if you use AOL
and don't get a reply, it may be due to this. One easy solution is
to get an alternative email address from another provider. Hotmail
and Yahoo spring to mind.
To try to ensure that everyone who contacts me can get a reply I have
set up an automated reply to each request. Providing your email address
is valid and working you should get an almost instant responce which
will tell you that I have recieved your message. If you do not get
this then there may be a problem.
If you want to test your email address to ensure that everything is
working enter your address in the box below and press send. If everything
is OK you should get an automated responce within a matter of minutes.
If you don't you may have a problem!
Contact Information.
If you want to get any further information about anything
on this site, request a recording or tell me about your railway sounds
site then you can contact me using the feedback
page.
The steamsounds
email list.
If you would like to be informed by email when the steamsounds
web site is updated then join the steamsounds mailing list. You will
generally only receive emails when the site is updated. Your email address
will not be used by me for any other purpose or passed on by me to any
third party and you can unsubscribe at any time. You can subscribe from
the home page or see this
page for details. Need any help with this? Contact
me.
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