An Eastbound NS 44T grain train rolls downgrade at the brickyard…MP238 on the NS Pittsburgh Line with 4 units leading and 2 SD40E helpers trailing as the train approaches Altoona, Pa…
As the Eastbound clears my vantagepoint, a Westbound NS 37A begins the climb toward Horseshoe Curve…with an NS ES40DC leading two brand new NS SD70ACe’s…NS 1002, 1003…followed by an SD60, an SD60E and an SD40E…with an SD40E helper set on the rear…
Great! Absolutely Great!
Having been born and reared in Altoona, I spent hours during my youth near the brickyard watching trains. Moreover, our house was less than a mile from the yard. In the summer, when we had all the windows in the house open, I often times would lie in bed and listen to the steam engines working up hill toward the Curve.
In America, if I am correct, the engineer blows two longs, a short, and a long on the horn for a grade crossing. The last long, in many instances, appears to be sounded as the train is inches from the crossing or actually in it. By contrast, in Australia, where I lived for more approximately five years, if I remember correctly, they blow two longs on the horn. Why the pattern in the U.S.? Is it a hold over from the days of the steam engines?
On the Trinity Railway Express, which runs between Dallas and Fort Worth, there are several grade crossings near Dallas where the engineer does not blow the horn at all, although he or she sounds the bell system. Under what circumstances is the engineer permitted to not blow the horn?
There are some so called ‘quiet zones’ where some municipalities have set up with cooperation of the railroad, quiet zones where protected grade crossings (gates, bells, lights) do not require horns to be blown…
In the video, the Engineer on the Westbound train heading upgrade added some extra toots for the benefit of the videographer…
The last ‘long’ is typically supposed to last until the train is into the crossing - then it’s no longer needed, so can cease.
Yes, the ‘long-long-short-long’ pattern is a holdover from steam locomotive days, as are just about all of the other whistle/ horn signals. I could imagine some confusion if it a signal was given with 1 pattern by steam, another if by diesel.
By the way - in my post and thread about the pickup truck on the NS tracks, no one has yet noted that the headline and 2 references in the article all refer to the sound as a “whistle”, not a horn . . . [:-^]