Overcast skies and damp conditions seem to amplify them the most.
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Because sound moves through the air as a wave it’s effected by that air.
So if the wind is blowing towards you, you will get more sound,
If the air is really cold you will get more sound (cold air is more dense)
Simply put, dry ground absorbs sound. Water reflects it. This is the same reason sound travels across a lake so well.
Take into account also the types of trains, the commodity they are handling as well as the current wheel conditions. Some may be good new wheels on an empty commodity train. Some may be old crappy wheels on a loaded coal train and smash the living hell out of them rails
When the skies are especially cloudy, AM radio signals travel much further than normal. I grew up near Detroit, and I remember that when storms were looming and there was heavy cloud coverage I could pick up WLS from Chicago as clear as a bell.
Usually. The denser the air the better sound travells through it.
Cold air is denser than hit air. And humid air is also denser.
Wind and turbulence can also have an affect on sound.
The times when you will most often have the best scenarios for transmitting sound (the loudest train) is cold humid mirnings when the air is very still (or blowing gentally in your direction.)
When it’s warmer aloft (an inversion), conditions are right for refraction of sound waves back towards the surface.
I sleep outside in the summer. In the evening, I can’t hear the highway 1.5 miles away, but in the early morning it sounds really loud. Thanks for explaining.
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