Western Railroad Discussion > How far can you feel the rumble?

Sometimes out on the UPRR Overland between Lovelock and Winnemucca, Nevada on a still night one can sense an approaching PSR Monster many minutes before it arrives. 

Am curious how much of a tremor such a train produces. 

There's a gold miners saloon out there pretty close to the tracks and nothing else. Sometimes you'll feel a rumble and when you go outside the train will still be 4-5 miles away.  

It seems like sound but it's deeper and a "gut feeling". 

Trains sure are big machines!

Chuck

 

If you have a seismograph, you can sense the rumble a lot farther.  Check out this 2020 thread, "Using seismology to track trains near Mt. Shasta"-  
https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,5157243,5157549#msg-5157549

mapboy

It all depends upon the terrain....taking earthquakes for example, in Califonia they are terrible but fairly localized because all of the ground there is broken rock having quaked many many times. In the east we do indeed have earthquakes....and a relatively mild one can be felt up and down the entire eastern seaboard...because our ground is solid more or less and vibrations travel far. So the rumblings of a heavy train with much horsepower is going to be felt as far away as the local ground can carry the vibrations to you without interruption! 

It dewpends how many SD 45s are pulling a heavy train up grade and of course the ground material.
RB

When I railroaded west out of Kansas City, the main tracks between Turner and Holliday were near the south bank of the Kansas River. When stopped at Morris, you could feel your engine tremor or shake when a train went by on any of the other main tracks.

Posted from Android

I remember well in the early 60s waiting to watch the Cal Zephyr go by being able to here it long before it came thru town