This study deals with the meaning that musicians and non-musicians attach to two contemporary railway noise compositions as conveyed through verbal and audio-graphic responses. The purpose of this mixed-method study was twofold: (1) to examine similarities and differences between musicians and non-musicians in their responses to contemporary train-noise music; (2) to explore the effect of two train-noise compositional techniques -- orchestral and electro-acoustic -- on listeners' verbal and audio-graphic responses. 14 participants (7 music students and 7 non-musicians) took part in the study. Two sessions were held with each participant. Two musical pieces were presented; one in each session in a randomised order: Villa-Lobos's orchestral "The Little Train of the Caipira" (1930); and Reich's electro-acoustic "Europe during the War" (1988). Four categories emerged: associations (train associations or idiosyncratic imagery), musical features (e.g. tempo, pitch, instrumentation), affect (emotions, assessment, like/dislike), and audio-graphic types (e.g. figurative drawings and musical maps). Qualitative analyses indicated both similarities and differences between musicians and non-musicians by the four categories. The statistical analyses showed a marginal significance between musicians and non-musicians in the second category (musical features). The study highlights the benefits of including environmental noise music in music education programmes for listeners with and without formal musical backgrounds.