Once when sitting in on a recording session at MTH's sound engineer's office, my friend, a veteran of many most of the subway sets, was rehearsing some in-cab conversation regarding an emergency stop regarding a fallen tree that suddenly appeared on the tracks, when he started to read out the script he'd written, it had him addressing me (playing brakeman) by title, as if calling me on the radio, but in the cab...sitting right across from him.
I (insert emergency brake euphemism here) the session right there, reminding all in the room that not only are the two crew members in the recording literally sitting a few feet apart from one another in the cab, but they'd likely know each other pretty well (like better than first-name basis), and likely have worked with another extensively, and There is No Possible Way a train crew would ever be that formal addressing one another in the cab. The session was completed, but not used on any locomotives (that I know of)
Most recording sessions likely do not have anyone present to deliver reality checks on the scripts. Personally, I don't use crew-talk/chatter functions (not even on subways), except as a demonstration to folks who had no idea model trains could "do that".
Now, as for horn/whistle spamming, that's a whole 'nother pet peeve of mine.
---PCJ
