I have to do this all the time. My username will give you a good clue as to why. I'm correct Id say around 95 Percent of the time due to the heightened sense of hearing being Blind gives you. I do have my Faults though. Firstly, I always have major probs telling a 66 and a 67 apart although dont ask me why and am often no go good at subclasses of passenger stock as theres often too many similaritties.
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If conditions are rite, and a particular subclass is known to have a set number of coaches or something else distinctive then I have a better chance but not always. another issue I have (to my lasting shame) is not being all that good at identifying the different Pacer Classes as again theres nothing too obvious other than 142s if working singly have only 2 coaches.
The sprinter classes arnt too bad as although the traction moters are standardized over several classes, they each have something else different, usually the sound of the breaks but also sounds made by the doors opening. I woant explain in detail other than to mention that 153s/155s have a very distinctive sound when breaking due to the different equipment used compared to a 150 or 156. 158s are easy, again engine sound and the racket from the famously rubbish air con units but think I'd struggle if presented with a 158 and 159 in adjasent platforms. Warning though, the purkins engined 158s can Sometimes sound a little like 170s when idling, particularly from further away.
With diziros, other than 185s I could tell you its a diziro but not which one. Never tried it, but might be able to identify a 444 over a 450 due to door position but not tried it! Another challenge, if faced with them all in one place, or in an area where more than 1 class could work a route would be classes 320, 321, 322, 455 and 456. Out of all these the only giveaways are that 456s are 2 car and 455s compressers sound different. The SWT Refit of doors on there 455s can be a help compared to a Southern example but not always. With electrostars I would struggle to tell what was a 377 and 378 if at Say Clapham Junction but interestingly if hanging around at say Dartford, a 375 and 376 are identifiable due to the different door opening and closing sounds made by a 376.
Networkers are again more dificult as other than 466s being 2 car and some of the 465s being re-tractioned (a crime if you ask me) I couldnt tell which was which if a 365 and 465 with origional kit were side by side. The network turbos sound a bit like 158s but not too similar that they could be confused with one. If in doubt, the loveley door opperation sound of the networkers clears it up. It is however impossible audibly to tell a 165 and 166 Apart.
With 168s, 170s and 171s theres not much again to go on however on the later 170 builds theres some differences in internal door meckanisms that identify them, a fact which is true to an extent on electrostars too. 332s and 333s have similar traction sounds both to eachother and electrostars however different hussle alarms and door release tones. not much to tell between the older PEP Bassed stock but as its now so rare and scattered round the network its less problematic. The only way of telling a 220/221 from a 222 is the door hussle alarm and release alert but interestingly, classes 175, 180 and 185 which share the same traction all sound very different.
Any classes I havnt mentioned have been deliberately left out due to being easilly identifiable but as stated earlier locos are often a challenge however this is partly age related, an older enthusiast may find it much easier. With LU and DLR Stock, the newer builds on DLR Sound slightly crisper and sharper than the oldest batch in service. On LU, The only dificulty ever encountered was identifying 1967 and 1972 stock from eachother but that is not a problem now. The S7s and S8s have different door release tones. Yet to see if the new 458/5 has altered a great deal audibly which may or may not happen. This theory also works with buses and I may just have to start that thread! Feel free to ask questions and il help if I can, particularly if your struggling with a class or something. Cheers.
PS, Just realised telling a 380 from other Diziros is easy due to different door meckanisms.
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1 more obvious giveaway - if you hear the sound of angry passengers, cursing fitters and a fire engine, it means thers a 180 in the area! ↲
