Southern Pacific Detectors Overview

CAMCO (Harmon)

SP's CAMCO units received a custom voice of Katherine Reynolds, a professional voice-over artist and announcer for NBC out of San Francisco. She was also used in various SP employee training videos. CAMCO (Consolidated Asset Management Co.) was a Harmon subsidiary that specialized in distributing railroad materials, including communication & signal products such as defect detectors. Some of these units reverted to the familiar male Harmon voice after SP's purchase by Union Pacific.

CAMCO (Harmon)
STC Sentry System

SP's Sentry System units utilized the voice of Linda Shenefield, an STC employee who has since retired. Her husband, Paul, was the male voice used on their detectors.

This is the voice commonly mistaken for Majel Barrett of Star Trek fame, a popular tale in railfan folk lore. This has been debunked by Southern Pacific employees and other industry professionals.

STC Sentry System
Unknown

An unknown detector model seen on the Wilmington Line in Illinois. It is possible that these are Servo System 9000 units with a custom voice, as SP had numerous System 9000 units and preferred female voices to male. However, System 9000 audio recordings on the former DRGW all have the male voice. If anyone has any concrete information on these units, please contact us.

Unknown