BEFORE THERE WERE FREIGHT TRAINS....

[upchuck]

WHAT DID TORNADOS SOUND LIKE?...

[chad thomas]

??? A Herd of Buffalo ???

[upchuck]

IN PENNSYLVANIA?

[chad thomas]

Do tornados sound different in Pa.? [swg]

[CopCarSS]

I think the "It sounded like a Freight Train" thing really caught on in the early 90's after the Kansas Turnpike video made its rounds (Remember the bridge girder movie?...by the way, most experts now advise that hiding next to bridge girders is a bad idea...just for reference). After the tornado passed, the "narrator" made a comment that it "Sounded like a Freight Train."

Shortly thereafter, and around the time of the Plainfield, IL F5 (which struck within about 5-10 miles of my house), Tom Skilling (well known weatherman to the Chicago folks) ran a special called "It Sounded Like a Freight Train."

So I guess the real question is, what was the sound comparison before the 1990's? I don't remember that era that well, as I was born in 1980, and didn't really start getting interested in tornadoes til I was 11 or so (the time of the Plainfield tornado).

[Mookie]

I think trains came before tornados....

[blhanel]

QUOTE: Originally posted by CopCarSS

I think the "It sounded like a Freight Train" thing really caught on in the early 90's after the Kansas Turnpike video made its rounds (Remember the bridge girder movie?...by the way, most experts now advise that hiding next to bridge girders is a bad idea...just for reference). After the tornado passed, the "narrator" made a comment that it "Sounded like a Freight Train."

Shortly thereafter, and around the time of the Plainfield, IL F5 (which struck within about 5-10 miles of my house), Tom Skilling (well known weatherman to the Chicago folks) ran a special called "It Sounded Like a Freight Train."

So I guess the real question is, what was the sound comparison before the 1990's? I don't remember that era that well, as I was born in 1980, and didn't really start getting interested in tornadoes til I was 11 or so (the time of the Plainfield tornado).

My memory must be messed up then- I seem to remember tornado descriptions from my youth ('60s) that compared them to a hundred freight trains.[%-)]

[Anonymous]

Bees, I hear they sound like a huge swarm of bees.

[CSXrules4eva]

TORNADOS in PENNSYLVANIA??? We did have one in 1972 though. What a weird combination, I would imagine twisters in PA would sound like the rush of an overflowing / violent / flooded Susquehanna or Lehigh River.

[vsmith]

I remember reading a passage from Ben Franklin discribing the sound of a tornado "As if the entire Continental Congress was collectively passing wind for the duration of the cyclone..." That musta been a Mighty Wind! OK joking aside....

I've heard of "100 jet engines" analogies also. The frieght train analogy goes back to the late 19th century, prior to that usages like " a tremendous roaring ", " a torrent of wind", or "like a great waterfall" were used. Tornados prior to the 1850's were rarer events due the the smaller size of the nation, it wasnt till mid-19thC when the west was being settled in great numbers that the stories of the "terrifying waterspouts on land" became more widespread. In the early years of the nation, many promenant scientists on the east coast dismissed the stories as folklore until other respected scientists actually observed then in the 1830's and 40's. They were absolutly terrifying to settlers who had never in there wildest dreams imagined such phenomenon. Its been said that the first thing a Kansas farmer built was the root cellar/storm shelter...then they built the house and barn!

It would be interesting to see more of what was written in the days before steam became more widespread.

[AntonioFP45]

Facts are documented that tornadoes have actually hit Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York State. We don't hear of it often since the occurences are rare, but it does happen when conditions are right.

One of the "creepiest" videos I saw on TV was the view of a high, grassy green hill in Pennsylvania. Sky was gray, but the sun was shining. A few seconds later at the top of the hill grass could be seen churning up in the air. Then a huge black tornado comes into view as it apparently had climbed the steep hill! Almost seemed like it was alive!

This sounds corny, but I actually had thought that tornadoes could not climb hills or mountains. I learned something new!

BTW: As a kid in the early 70s, I remember reading about witnesses comparing the rumbling sound of a tornado to that of a freight train.

[Anonymous]

I remember as a youngster taking shelter in our basement during a tornado warning, and at the height of the storm a train came blasting through town. We thought that was it for sure until we heard the horn blowing for the crossing.

[vsmith]

QUOTE: Originally posted by AntonioFP45

Facts are documented that tornadoes have actually hit Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York State. We don't hear of it often since the occurences are rare, but it does happen when conditions are right.

One of the "creepiest" videos I saw on TV was the view of a high, grassy green hill in Pennsylvania. Sky was gray, but the sun was shining. A few seconds later at the top of the hill grass could be seen churning up in the air. Then a huge black tornado comes into view as it apparently had climbed the steep hill! Almost seemed like it was alive!

This sounds corny, but I actually had thought that tornadoes could not climb hills or mountains. I learned something new!

BTW: As a kid in the early 70s, I remember reading about witnesses comparing the rumbling sound of a tornado to that of a freight train.

They do but they tend to dissapate faster in hilly country , but as long as the conditions in the atmosphere that created the tornado are unaffected by the topography it will continue.

A little history lesson, I found out that one of the first recorded damaging tornados in Southern California occured in 1909 in Pasadena (gulp!) on the street right next to where I live (YIKES!)[:0]

[snakespol]

QUOTE: Originally posted by upchuck

WHAT DID TORNADOS SOUND LIKE?...

Nothing! Before trains I don't think there was ANYTHING, look it up![:D]

[dldance]

I have only seen 7 or 8 tornados. Mostly the sound of the pouring rain drowned everything else out (pun intended). We got 4 inches in 20 minutes once.

dd

[CopCarSS]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dldance

I have only seen 7 or 8 tornados. Mostly the sound of the pouring rain drowned everything else out (pun intended). We got 4 inches in 20 minutes once.

dd

Only 7 or 8?!?!?!?!?! I've been chasing the things for 10 years, and the closest I've gotten was this Meso:




That bugger went on to produce an F2/F3, but sadly, I didn't have time to chase it very far. Seen some huge Supercells with some really cool downbursts, softball sized hail, and hail 3+ feet deep, abut still have yet to see live tornado. Sigh...I guess spring is only 6 months away...

[Anonymous]

I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.

[Modelcar]

...The referrence of "sounds like a freight train" has been phrased for some time now....Goes back at least decades....Here in Indiana, along the tornado alley.....we've heard that comment as long as we've been in this area....1962.
Tom Skilling, meteorologist {mentioned above}, seems to be one of the best...Here in Indiana we seem to have a good bunch of them and I mention one of the best....Bob McClain...{who happens to be a railfan too}.

[Anonymous]

I remember Tom Skilling, when he was a meteorologist at WITI-Channel 6 in Milwaukee, back in the 70's and 80's.[:D]

He was also listed in the credits for the movie "Twister"(how odd?[;)], but I can't seem to find his scene/scenes...[:(!]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by upchuck

WHAT DID TORNADOS SOUND LIKE?...

.....

A tornado?[?]

[:D]

[Anonymous]

Dear vsmith,
I hadn't know that you lived in Pasadena, as do I (south of the Colorado Bridge).

I have to say, I've never seen one.

Sincerely,
Daniel Parks

[greyhounds]

Just as an FYI, the "official" end of "Tornado Alley" is 63rd and Cass in a western suburb of Chicago. (I do not remember which suburb, but I lived near there for years - they do all run together. Maybe Darien?) I've lived in the midwest almost all my somewhat long life and I've never come close to seeing one.

A tornado did hit my old home town of Manito, IL a few years ago. It caused minor damage and I'm long since gone from Manito. Manito is on the Illinois & Midland (former C&IM). I can't imagine anyone saying a tornado sounded "Just like the C&IM").

[upchuck]

I IMAGINE A TORNADO IS QUIETER IN AREAS OF FREIGHT TRAINS RIDING
ON WELDED RAIL

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by CopCarSS

QUOTE: Originally posted by dldance

I have only seen 7 or 8 tornados. Mostly the sound of the pouring rain drowned everything else out (pun intended). We got 4 inches in 20 minutes once.

dd

Only 7 or 8?!?!?!?!?! I've been chasing the things for 10 years, and the closest I've gotten was this Meso:




That bugger went on to produce an F2/F3, but sadly, I didn't have time to chase it very far. Seen some huge Supercells with some really cool downbursts, softball sized hail, and hail 3+ feet deep, abut still have yet to see live tornado. Sigh...I guess spring is only 6 months away...

Those are the most incredible torando pictures I have ever seen[:0]

[Anonymous]

Nowadays, the timetable tells locomotive crews to take shelter in the locomotive's nose compartment if a tornado happens. What did they do during steam days? Hide in the water tank?!

[CSXrules4eva]

QUOTE: Originally posted by CopCarSS

QUOTE: Originally posted by dldance

I have only seen 7 or 8 tornados. Mostly the sound of the pouring rain drowned everything else out (pun intended). We got 4 inches in 20 minutes once.

dd

Only 7 or 8?!?!?!?!?! I've been chasing the things for 10 years, and the closest I've gotten was this Meso:




That bugger went on to produce an F2/F3, but sadly, I didn't have time to chase it very far. Seen some huge Supercells with some really cool downbursts, softball sized hail, and hail 3+ feet deep, abut still have yet to see live tornado. Sigh...I guess spring is only 6 months away...

Cop Car once again you have posted some really beauiful pictures. I really do like your style in taking pictures. I do have to say this much. I do wish I could see a tornado, sometime during my lifetime. I've never ever seen one before. And, I only thought going after flooded areas here in PA, looking at violent rivers was a thrill. lol I still do like to do that though and it still is a thrill but, chasing a tornado would be much more of a thrill too me!!!

[edkowal]

Actually, although people are trying to describe it as best they can, it's really the other way around when you think about it.

Freight trains sound like tornados.

-Ed

[Anonymous]

And chiken really tastes like rattle snake.[:D]

[zigg72md]

Since we are tlking about it. There was a killer tornado through my neck of the wood a couple of years back. we have one about every 20-30 years. (I live in southern Maryland).

[adrianspeeder]

QUOTE: Originally posted by AntonioFP45

Facts are documented that tornadoes have actually hit Pennsylvania...

Yes several every year... Been right next to two of em and I don't wi***o be again.

QUOTE: Originally posted by upchuck

WHAT DID TORNADOS SOUND LIKE?...

QUOTE: Originally posted by upchuck

IN PENNSYLVANIA?

QUOTE: Originally posted by upchuck

I IMAGINE A TORNADO IS QUIETER IN AREAS OF FREIGHT TRAINS RIDING
ON WELDED RAIL

Turn off the caps lock...[:(!]