Reginald Gardiner – Trains

I used to love this record a long, long time ago. My brother recently passed away and was a train buff all of his 90 years. We are having a celebration of his life on 9th May and I was wondering if it is possible to buy this record to play in his memory.

This is an hilarious tour-de-force performance in which Gardiner depicts the sounds, personalities, & behavior of trains only by vocal means. This version was recorded in London on September 15, 1934 & originally issued on Englsh Decca 10" 78 rpm F-5278. He made two other versions. The original, unissued version was titled "Impressions of A Train Journey": recorded on two 10" 78rpm sides for Zonophone on December 30, 1931. It was apparently not issued. He recorded a third version for U.S. Decca in Los Angeles on January 23, 1941. Unlike the other two versions, this was originally issued in a set of two 10" 78s (typically noisy Decca black label pressings). It was reissued in the 1950s on one 12" vinyl 78. It has significantly better fidelity because they are vinyl pressings. That version is DU-915. The 1934 version refers to English trains. The 1941 version refers to American trains. It has a prelude describing the sounds made by wallpaper! I do not know if the 1931 version is available in any format.

If you enjoy whimsical audio depictions of trains, then I refer you to the Columbia Juvenile 78 rpm Set J-3:"Herman the Littlest Locomotive". It's performed by its author, Vernon Crane. I also enthusiastically recommend "The Man With The One Track Mind", written by Lucille Fletcher and broadcast by CBS (The Columbia Workshop series) on June 30, 1940. Summary: a henpecked pharmacist has an obsession about trains. After an argument with his exasperated wife, he turns into a steam locomotive and visits the great trains he that admires at the New York World's Fair.