I’m posting these rail field recordings while I’m on an airplane, headed home to San Francisco after a mostly frigid week in New York, first in Manhattan and then out on Long Island, from Wednesday to Wednesday, the end of January to the start of February. I have a few more such recordings to share, including two from a restaurant and two from inside an apartment building. The following three were recorded during my initial approach to the city, first on the AirTrain, which connects John F. Kennedy International Airport to the Jamaica station of the Long Island Railroad, and then on the LIRR proper. The excitement of my anticipation was dulled by the low temperatures, the late hour, and the rocky flight earlier in the day. The conscious act of recording sounds rooted me in the moment, even if at that moment I was moving pretty fast.
▰ AirTrain as the Temperature Approaches 0º: This is one of several recordings I made with my phone, an iPhone 17 Pro, while riding the AirTrain from the JFK airport to the Jamaica station of the Long Island Railroad. This occurred the evening on Wednesday, January 28, 2026. Being based in temperate San Francisco, I was not looking forward to the cold that had consumed the northeast. Days had passed since the snow had fallen, and the low temperature meant little if any had melted. My ears couldn’t help connect the brittle quality of the air with the shrill chime of the rail. The slow rhythmic thud is a nearby door that, despite being shut, rattled noisily as we sped along. I had difficultly recording 30 straight seconds that weren’t interrupted by an announcement on the public address system. Eventually I managed to do so. The field recording is posted on Freesound and SoundCloud.
▰ Slowing LIRR in Advance of Approach to Station: Manhattan’s expanded Grand Central Station, which now includes, deep underground, stops for the Long Island Railroad, was approaching — or we were approaching it. Some distance was yet to be covered, and yet already the train seemed to slow. The sound of this segment is nowhere near as loud as other, earlier phases of the trip, a straight shot from the Jamaica station with, if memory serves, just one other stop that time of night. The audio was recorded late on Wednesday, January 28, using an iPhone 17 Pro. The train was close to empty of passengers, perhaps owing to the fierce cold, which was closing in on single digits. The field recording was posted to both Freesound and SoundCloud.
▰ Hitting 95.8 Decibels on the LIRR: I’ve experienced a lot of loud noise lately, and the volume of the Long Island Railroad as it traveled from Jamaica station to Grand Central Station was beyond any in my recent memory — the volume, that is, in combination with the high pitch. I pulled out my phone to register the decibel level, and it pushed closer and closer to 100, maxing out at 95.8, by my (and my device’s) estimation. This snippet was recorded in the evening on January 28, 2026, on my iPhone 17 Pro. Even now, a week later as I post it, the sound is sharp and fierce and implicitly dangerous in a way that makes it a difficult listen. This field recording was posted to Freesound and SoundCloud.