Heh, I just googled that claim, and you're right, UP did use her voice for Defect Detectors.
I always thought her voice was used for USS Enterprise (and Voyager) Defect Detection only...
I recall her full name being Majel Barrett Roddenberry and she was the wife or Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and provided the voice of the computer on U.S.S. Enterprise...although I did not know her voice was used as that of the U.P. defect detectors...you live and learn a little every day.
How ironic - same function, but for two modes of transportation from different "time warps", and that are about as completely different as could be . . .
U-P detector, milepost seven eight point eight, track one, no defects. Total axles six two four, temperature three zero degrees. Detector out.
May she rest in peace.
Ted M.
got trains?™
See my photos at: http://tedmarshall.rrpicturearchives.net/
I wonder if she will join her husband in the Final Frontier?
I didn't know she had passed, and certainly didn't expect to find out here. Wow! She joins not only her husband but Scotty and Bones in the final frontier. Warp speed!
DennisHeldI debated posting it. I found out about her passing on an Astronomy website and about her U.P. defect detector voice from Wikipedia while looking for info to post to another astronomy website. Majel Barrett (Roddenberry) was in every variant of Star Trek. She was the computer voice. For UP and U.S.S. Enterprise. She also acted as 3 different characters in three different Star Trek series. And, she had married the creator of Star Trek. Just about the last thing I had expected to find in her resume was her UP connection. It's an interesting world. May she rest in peace.
Did it say how old she was ? I checked UP's website ,they dont mention it...
Thats really interesting..I would never thot about them hiring an actor or actress to do those voices...
videomaker Thats really interesting..I would never thot about them hiring an actor or actress to do those voices...
I always thought those detector voices were computer-generated voice synthesizers, like the weather Service uses on their weather-radio broadcasts.
She was 76.
Jim, they can do a lot better than "Sven" these days (that voice on the caller's system used to bug me no end--at least my name was one he could pronounce!).
Carl
Railroader Emeritus (practiced railroading for 46 years--and in 2010 I finally got it right!)
CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)
videomaker Did it say how old she was ? I checked UP's website ,they dont mention it... Thats really interesting..I would never thot about them hiring an actor or actress to do those voices...
Here is a link with more information. As for myself, I was surprised to see she played Nurse Chapel.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/12/19/entertainment/main4678166.shtml?tag=main_home_storiesBySection
Tom
Pittsburgh, PA
zardoz videomaker Thats really interesting..I would never thot about them hiring an actor or actress to do those voices... I always thought those detector voices were computer-generated voice synthesizers, like the weather Service uses on their weather-radio broadcasts.
Some years ago I read that a voice like hers would be used for the data and if everything was OK - see Ted Marshall's post above. However, if a serious defect was found such that a "STOP YOUR TRAIN" message was needed, that voice was much different - either the same person but in a strident or angry tone, or that or a Marine drill sergeant. (LOL) Any truth to that, then or now ?
Either way, an interesting "voice-over" career opportunity for unemployed actors/ actresses. I wonder how often do such things have to be updated or re-recorded, as the technology changes and new kinds of detectors are placed in service ?
Also, who - a "Trekkie" and with a sense of humor, no doubt - at either UP, the detector manufacturer, or its software producer, chose her for the UP's detectors ? Who does BNSF use, for example ?
Finally, not a bad way to leave a piece or a remembrance of herself here, for at least a little immortality, esp. if it helps to promote safety.
- Paul North.
CShaveRR She was 76. Jim, they can do a lot better than "Sven" these days (that voice on the caller's system used to bug me no end--at least my name was one he could pronounce!).
The detectors at Gurnee and Waxdale (Milwaukee sub) are male voices; however, recently the detector at Winthrop Harbor (Kenosha sub) was recently changed to a female voice, but it sure didn't sound at all like Majel's voice (and as a lifelong Trekker, I am quite familiar with her voice).
BTW, she also played the part of First Officer on the Star Trek pilot episode The Menagerie (aka: The Cage).
And of course she played Troi's mother, apppearing on both ST The Next Generation and once on ST Deep Space Nine.
Reality TV is to reality, what Professional Wrestling is to Professional Brain Surgery.
zardoz The detectors at Gurnee and Waxdale (Milwaukee sub) are male voices; however, recently the detector at Winthrop Harbor was recently changed to a female voice, but it sure didn't sound at all like Majel's voice (and as a lifelong Trekker, I am quite familiar with her voice). BTW, she also played the part of First Officer on the Star Trek pilot episode The Menagerie (aka: The Cage).
The detectors at Gurnee and Waxdale (Milwaukee sub) are male voices; however, recently the detector at Winthrop Harbor was recently changed to a female voice, but it sure didn't sound at all like Majel's voice (and as a lifelong Trekker, I am quite familiar with her voice).
Re Majel Barrett:
Lived Long and Prospered.
Hate for this to be in the past tense.
Rgds IGN
This is the only female voice I have found on a UP detector. Any ideas?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YC1POugt0U&feature=related
Her voice was onSP detectors before the merger.
John Timm
DennisHeld On another note. I'm impressed by the number of Trekkers and Trekkies who are railroaders. When I posted initially, I figured that there'd be a very good chance the post would go over with a resounding 'thud'.
On another note. I'm impressed by the number of Trekkers and Trekkies who are railroaders. When I posted initially, I figured that there'd be a very good chance the post would go over with a resounding 'thud'.
I'm going to admit something here I never told anyone else.
Back in the "old days" of running E8's in commuter service, when notching out from idle to run 8, I occasionally would fantasize that I was entering warp speed. Notch 1=warp 1, notch 2=warp 2, etc. What helped this minor fantasy was the harmonic throbbing the twin-567's would generate: from in the cab the sound was similar to the sound effect used in Star Trek when the Enterprise was warping out....
I know, I'm a real nerd. What can I say?
"Ahead, Warp 8!"
Sorry, got to wait for the warp drive to notch out. Rattle-Rattle-Rattle-Rattle-Rattle-Rattle-Rattle-Rattle.
Oops, got a red-over-yellow alert!
zardozI know, I'm a real nerd. What can I say?
Don't know what you can say, but I can say that you're in good company. Or were, last week. You see, I have this wife and daughter... I don't consider myself either a Trekkie or a Trekker, but in this family one has to be conversant just to get by!
Wife was very surprised that (a) I had the news first, and (b) where I got it from!
One of my early computers had a voice synthesizer. I could make it sound like anything from a basso profundo to a high soprano.
The detectors I hear on CSX all sound rather robotic.
I've never been a fan of Star Trek, but trivia like that is always interesting.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
The Conrail detectors were very "robotic." There are still a lot of recordings of them on the web.
NP Red This is the only female voice I have found on a UP detector. Any ideas? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YC1POugt0U&feature=related
That is what the detectors with the female voice sound like on all the ones that I'm familiar with. All the detectors west of Boone to Fremont have been changed to the female voice. Between Boone and Clinton there still are some male voiced ones.
When they first started changing them over someone said the voice was provided by a UP employee from Omaha. It would be nice to think it was her voice instead. I wonder if she got a royalty payment every time a detector "spoke?" Maybe that is why some are talk on defect only.
Jeff
Left Coast Rail Here is the link Mrs. Rodenberry's obituary from the Los Angeles Times: http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-roddenberry19-2008dec19,0,1017655.story
FYI - I didn't see any mention in this of her "voice-overs" for the UP's talking detectors. So we may have a real deeply buried future trivia or history or "6 degrees of separation" (or some other game) question here.
Paul_D_North_Jr FYI - I didn't see any mention in this of her "voice-overs" for the UP's talking detectors. So we may have a real deeply buried future trivia or history or "6 degrees of separation" (or some other game) question here. - Paul North.
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