Twoku:
Two trains blur / mournful Doppler sound / howling horns.

Trains passing / blurring mournful sound / of their horns.
// haikumages // ©russ murray
“Haikumages” are short poems (mostly haiku and senryu-style) combined with images (mostly original photographs and graphics) by Russ Murray.
2 responses to “Trains passing / blurring mournful sound / of their horns.”
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I never understood what “doppler” means, and I know it is used with vintage movies that have trains in them.
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It’s about sound, and the source of sound as it moves towards and away from you – it compresses waves (higher frequency) approaching you, and decompresses or stretches them (lower frequency) as it moves away from you…therefore a contstant tone (a one-note train horn) sounds like it’s changing – sliding like a trombone – from high to normal pitch as the source moves towards you, then from normal to lower pitch as it moves past and away from you. When two trains approach on adjacent tracks, blowing their horns, there is a huge din – a concussion as their noses pass and slam the compressed air in opposite directions – your train horn tone stays constant (same tone), while the horn of the other slides lower gradually and fades…
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