Just a quick simple question what kinda sound does a magnet train make. Zoom Whoosh hum bwizeezle whiz howl screech hmwaba? I'm writing something but can't get past the first line involving a magnet train.
Posted by MaryRobinette (Member # 1680) on :
From the inside or outside?
Posted by Kolona (Member # 1438) on :
What's a 'magnet train?'
Posted by EricJamesStone (Member # 1681) on :
Magnetic levitation, often shortened to "maglev." Electromagnets are used to make the train "float" above the track. Since there is no physical contact between train and track, there would not be the traditional sounds of train travel.
Never having ridden a maglev, I don't really know what it sounds like. I assume that the main sound would be caused by the interaction of the air with the train, and so it might be a sort of whooshing.
Posted by Christine (Member # 1646) on :
wooshing was my first impression as well...definitely no sounds that come from friction, only air resistance.
Posted by punahougirl84 (Member # 1731) on :
Do you need to use a sound in your opening? I have a short story turning into a novella in which maglevs are used, and I found it interesting to use other senses (choo-choo being so cliche for trains - even my twins know THAT sound!). I used visuals, and the feeling when the train starts to move...
Other than that - they use maglevs in Germany and Japan, so you might google with those included and see if you can't find articles about the experience of others riding the trains and see if they comment on the sounds.
Posted by Alias (Member # 1645) on :
AM I the only one who doesn't ever use onomatopoeia in their story? (with the ocassional "thump-thump") of course.
Posted by Jules (Member # 1658) on :
I concur with punahougirl84 -- one of the most interesting facts about mag lev trains is that they are _much_ quieter than traditional trains. At which point describing how they sound is probably not a good plan, because your POV character is unlikely to notice what they sound like...
I understand that there was once a mag lev track in London, too, although I'm not sure whether it's still in use.
Posted by teddyrux (Member # 1595) on :
www.howstuffworks.com has an article on Maglev trains. Some maglev trains use rubber wheels and others float. They can also do 300+mph. You'd have to take the wind into consideration. I'd give the train a distant humming noise that grows louder as it gets closer. Unless of course your trains go FTS, faster than sound. Then you could have a sonic boom as it approaches.
Rux
:}
Posted by Jules (Member # 1658) on :
I'm fairly sure if it breaks the sound barrier you'll hear nothing until it passes you. The boom will happen all of a sudden then Posted by Pyre Dynasty (Member # 1947) on :
Thank's everybody, I even got a word I wasn't even looking for. FTS won't work for me, although sonic booms are fun. I don't often use onemonopia but when it wakes the girl up how else can you describe it? Anyways thanks.
Posted by Doc Brown (Member # 1118) on :
Because magnetism is silent, the sound of the train will be mostly determined by its shape as it moves through the air. So the sound can be as loud or soft, high or low, pleasant or unpleasant as you want.
Got an eco-conscious democratic society? The train will probably be just a hushed whisper.
Got a paranoid, safety-conscious society? The train will probably make loud beeping noises to warn people to get out of the way. It will probably travel at about half speed, too.
Got a society dominated by profit-hungry corporations? The train will probably sound like rolling thunder because it is constantly run at faster-than-maximum speed. It will also clutter loose, rusty parts over the countryside because it is never properly maintained.
Got a society dominated by religious zealots? The train will probably not run at all, because it's hard to control people who are free to travel.
In short, you can use this maglev train to say a lot about your milieu.
Posted by Survivor (Member # 213) on :
Okay, most of those societies just wouldn't have mag-lev trains at all.
Maglevs go "whoosh". Most of them have retractable wheels to handle the ground at low speed, so when you first start out there will be "road noise" from the wheels, and you can sometimes hear the humming from the magnets. These noises are all present with conventional trains, but because the full weight of a train on a metal track makes so much more noise, you never hear those quieter noises.
Inside a properly designed maglev train, you should almost never hear anything, with the exception of the magnets humming during acceleration/deceleration. You will notice this the first time you ride a maglev, the lack of audible cues to the movement of the train is usually described as "eerie" (it may be that when we experience acceleration in the absence of such sounds, there is a mild vertigo as well--the best cure for this is to plaster your face against a window and ignore anything inside the train until the acceleration is over).
