A picture of Canadian Pacific "Royal Hudson" #2860 (The engine that is said and was likely used for the original recording.), sitting idle somewhere in Squamish, British Columbia. (Date unknown)
A picture of Chesapeake & Ohio "Greenbrier" #614 (The engine that is said to have been the responsible for the variant from The Polar Express.), climbing a grade on the Chessie System while pulling the Chessie Safety Express. (Circa 1980/1981)
This is a Skywalker Sound sound effect. It was likely created by Randy Thom, and it debuted in the Dolby Digital Train policy trailer in 1992.
The locomotive used for the original recording has been suspected to be from a big number of steam locomotives, such as Soo Line #1003, Southern Pacific #2472, McCloud River Railroad #18 and Pere Marquette #1225. Most of these however were debunked. The closest match would be Canadian Pacific "Royal Hudson" #2860's Swanson 6 chime. The only difference being is that the whistle had been pitched down a bit.
The variant used in The Polar Express also had a fair share of locomotives that could've been used, but the closest match would be Chesapeake & Ohio "Greenbrier" #614's Southern Pacific 6 chime. However, since it is an edited variant of a pre-existing sound, the origin might be also from #2860's 6 chime, but this is still up for debate.
Used In
Movies
- The Polar Express (2004) (High pitch and speed variant; used as the whistle on the locomotive, when the train starts to arrive at the Hero Boy's house at the beginning of the film.)
Trailers
- Dolby Digital: Train (1992) (Policy Trailers) (Debut; used as the whistle on the locomotive.)
- The Polar Express (2004) (Trailers) (High pitch and speed variant in low volume; used as the whistle on the locomotive when it starts to arrive at the Hero Boy's house.)
Music
- Tom Hanks - The Polar Express (Heard once with a fade in alongside Elektra Records, Crossing Bells and Horn with Electric Train Pass and SKYWALKER, TRAIN - POLAR EXPRESS CHUGGING at the beginning of the song.)
YouTube Videos
- Charlie Studios (Only the edited High pitched and sped up variant is used.)
Image Gallery
Audio Samples
(The sound as heard in The Polar Express.)