Smithsonian Folkways Recordings is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution, the national museum of the United States. We are dedicated to supporting cultural diversity and increased understanding among peoples through the documentation, preservation, and dissemination of sound. We believe that musical and cultural diversity contributes to the vitality and quality of life throughout the world. Through the dissemination of audio recordings and educational materials we seek to strengthen people’s engagement with their own cultural heritage and to enhance their awareness and appreciation of the cultural heritage of others.

In 1957 Vinton Wight recorded and collected the sounds various different Steam Locomotives. He explains that “Stack Music” is “that delightful sound caused by super heated steam, exhausted from the cylinder, through the stack of a locomotive.” Other sounds include the wheels clanking on the tracks, bells ringing and other engine sounds, all of which create an interesting rhythmic listen. As Wight says of train sounds: they can be “soft and soothing” or “loud and commanding”; a sort of “symphony”. Liner notes include information on each train and a biography of Wight.

Year of Recording 1956.

Record Label Folkways Records.

Source Archive Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.

Credits Produced by Vinton Wight ; Recorded by Vinton Wight.

101 2-8-2 No. 1534, Illinois Central n/a 3:26.

102 2-8-2 No. 5352, Burlington n/a 2:55.

103 4-8-4 No. 801, Union Pacific n/a 1:16.

104 4-12-2 No. 9007, Union Pacific n/a 2:35.

105 2-8-2 No. 2599, Chicago Northwestern n/a 4:20.

106 4-6-4 No. 4003, Burlington n/a 3:15.

107 4-6-0 No. 1353, Chicago Northwestern n/a 2:05.

108 4-8-4 No. 809 with 4-6-6-4 No. 3816, Union Pacific & 4-8-4 No. 5629, Burlington “0-5” n/a 2:35.

201 4-8-8-4 No. 4018, “Big Boy” Union Pacific n/a 1:44.

202 4-8-2 No. 2514, Illinois Central n/a 1:35.

203 0-6-0 No. 4471, Union Pacific “Switcher” n/a 1:45.

204 2-8-2 No. 480, Denver Rio Grande Western n/a 4:00.

205 4-6-6-4 No. 3839, Union Pacific n/a 3:30.

206 2-8-2 No. 495 with 2-8-2 No. 493, Denver Rio Grande n/a 2:50.

207 2-10-2 No. 809, Colorado Sout