The curious case of the stuck horn in the night

[whole diary]

[bobm]

From Get Reading

Train company apologises for 'trumpeting screech' which 'woke up the whole of Berkshire'

The strange noise heard in Woodley on Thursday night

Those who thought the mysterious trumpeting sound in Woodley and beyond was a signal of the end times have a bit longer to wait.

South West Trains has apologised to passengers and people living near the railway line after admitting the disturbance was one of its trains.

People living near the Reading to Waterloo train line were woken up or disturbed by the baffling sound around 11pm on Thursday, July 13, as the train made its way through the area.

On Monday, July 17 a South West Trains (SWT^▸ (South West Trains)) spokesman said: “We are sorry to any passengers and local residents who were inconvenienced by this noise on Thursday night.
“This was caused by a technical fault which has now been fixed.”

People reported hearing the noise as the train went past Wokingham , Earley , Caversham and Newtown with many blaming a stuck horn.

SWT has not clarified what caused the noise but did tweet passengers and getreading to say: "It was one of our trains. As to the horn was sounding, we are waiting for the driver's report. It was most likely a fault."
 
One frustrated passenger Mavdo, commented on getreading claiming: "The rear cab was blaring it's horn all the way from at least Ascot to Reading.
"It was absolutely deafening standing next to it, and it could be heard for more than eight miles!

"It was completely illegal at that time, and even though it would have inconvenienced me, that train should have been stopped and taken out of service. At least it wouldn't have woken the whole of Berkshire!"

Commenter Michelle Hobson added: "Heard it in Caversham it was strange started low noise then got louder then quiet again then louder couldn't say what direction, glad it wasn't just me."

Danny Cooke, added: "The train passed 30 feet from the back of my house in Wokingham. It was definitely a southwest with a stuck horn!"

[stuving]

So that's what I heard. But when it went through Wokingham station, its sound was changing and not much like a horn. Initially I took it for a very raucous locomotive (not the diesel, the electrics and other bits that whizz round), but was puzzled that with an SWT^▸ (South West Trains) train each way at the time it couldn't be that.

Thinking about it, it was loud as the down SWT train came in, and again as it moved out (unseen by me), but quieter as it sat at the platform. So I wonder what really caused the noise - it could have been a horn, if ill, but I suspect it wasn't.