| This engine is my favourite streamlined locomotive- its a real classic, the epitome of Art Deco industrial design. It has been out of action for a while, since I couldn't find spare parts for it. Here's footage of it on the rails again, after a while in its box. The music is the first movement from Steve Reich's "Different Trains", a piece which meditates on his childhood memories of travelling across America by train with his governess. Since he travelled in the years mentioned by the voices (1939, 1940, 1941), it is likely that he was on this very train. I've always thought it a great evocation of riding on a train. The voices, train bells, and whistle sounds are all part of the music, not added on top. The engine itself was quite fiddly to fix, given the intricate linkages, and gears which all required cleaning out. The accellerated footage of me repairing it gives you an impression of how long it took! All the usual copyright stuff applies, I do not own the rights to the soundtrack, it is a Nonesuch CD, with the Kronos Quartet and Steve Reich. Owned by WMG |
