Mounting locomotive horns on my truck?

Trains Magazine General Discussion
1

…is most likely against some local regulations we have where I live. (Surprise!) [|(]

What I want to know is if there is a way I could do it digitally. Any ideas?

There is enough room under the hood for me to mount a sizable speaker of some sort (yes, heavy duty speakers, I know computer speakers won’t work [;)])

Another cool thing to do would be mounting a bell in the bed. (The mechanical ones they have on diesels, I have no interest in the steam ones you have to manually ring) A) Would this be a better option, and B) does anybody know of a source where I could get one of these bells?

Thanks for all your help and ideas, I realize that this is probably just a dream…

Acela

2

I had a small electronic device on my car at one time. I got it a Chicago Mailorder house, Whitmans? Whitakers?.. don’t remember the name anymore. They mainly sold car parts.

The device ran off the car cigarette ligher socket for power. Had a smallish speaker in a “water proof” plastic housing, about 4 or 5 inch diameter and 2 inches deep, that was to be mounted behind the grille. There were 4 buttons for different “authentic” (ha ha ha, that term still breaks me up!) Railroad sounds. A “bell”, a “steam whistle”, a Diesel horn, and a “chugging engine”,

The bell was not too bad, but I could not tell if it was supposed to be an engine bell or a grade crossing bell. The Steam whistle was just two short, “lifeless” blasts of a general steam whistle. The Diesel horn was more like a cross between a French horn and an Oboe, again rather “lifeless”. The chugging engine I was never able to determine if it was supposed to be a steam locomotive or a poorly running Diesel.

All the sounds only played a fixed time period; holding down the button made no difference, it just played once. The steam whistle was about 2 seconds, but the others were closer to 4 or 5 seconds.

I did have fun with it!

One time while being directed to a parking space at a fair I accidently hit the chugging engine sound and the teenager directing me commented that my car sure needed some work.

Another time, I was at a grade crossing on a city street and a young couple with a child were standing at the tracks. The Father figure was pointing up and down the tracks as though teaching the child about safety at RR tracks. I slowed as I crossed and hit the Whistle button! The Man stood up straight so fast I though he’d throw his back out. His head swiveled back and forth looking both directions in rapid succession. In the rear view mirror I

3

I believe most states have laws against installing whistles, sirens, and bells on road going vehicles.

As for tractor trailer trucks having train horns, those can be bought at truck stops as kits. I have seen five chime “train horns” for sale at the bigger truck stops.

4

I suspect your supplier was J C Whitney

http://www.jcwhitney.com

5

YEAH! J.C.Whitney… That was the place.

They have lots of various add on horns and stuff.

http://www.jcwhitney.com/horns/c2545j1s17.jcwx

and the “Big Railroad Sounds” device:

http://www.jcwhitney.com/garage-pro-railroad-horn/p2009067.jcwx?filterid=c2545u0j1

a bit different than what I had, but basically the same thing.

I also notice a bell;

http://www.jcwhitney.com/90db-electric-ding-dong-city-bells/p2010181.jcwx?filterid=u0

6

First let me tell you that the horns you hear at the crossing are not running full blast, and these things are loud, very loud.

Unless you have a way to regulate the air, a 3 chime horn at street level blown at full volume will cause damage to anyone near or in front of it, and I doubt you want to go to the expense of mounting a horn, compressor and valve, plus a limiting regulator.

We have a jerk down here who has mounted a 3 chime in his pick up, he delights in driving through parking lots and sounding the horn whenever he gets the chance, and I have personally seen his scare a lady so badly she had a wreck.

She was backing out of a parking slot; he was traveling down the lane, then stopped, and waited until she was most of the way out of the slot and blasted her with it full bore….she was so scared she floored the gas and slammed into the cars across and behind her, destroyed her car and heavily damaged two others…he thought it was hilarious until the cops showed up, they ticketed him for excessive noise and aggressive driving, and on the accident report, they listed his horn and his actions as the cause of the accident.

I am pretty sure his insurance company found nothing funny about it at all.

Trust me, train air horns make the ones on 18 wheelers sound like bicycle horns, and I stress again, they can cause physical damage at full volume and at street level.

As advised, email J.C Whitney for their catalog and look at the quieter and cheaper alternatives, and think before using it.

No one expects a sound like that behind them on the freeway, and scared people do stupid things.

7

All I’ll say is my spare tire on my '08 F-250 is in the bed with a chain and not in it’s spot under the bed. Also my favorite horn happens to be a Nathan P5.

Adrianspeeder

8

And stupid people do things to scare others.

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There’s a message thread right now on the Model Railroader magazine forums with links to some You-Tube videos of a locomotive air horn mounted in a farmer’s field to scare away birds, and a person with horns mounted on the roof of his car. The message originator even says where you can buy them and what they cost.

http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/209461.aspx

I’m not sure what the penalty would be for using them, but I have heard a semi driver here in Sierra Vista with them on his rig. You can hear them from a long way off.

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Thanks for your concern, and as much fun as having a real one would be, I understand that it is generally not a good idea probably illegal in my area anyway.

Everybody else, thanks for the help!

Keep it comin’ !

Acela

11

What I need now is a Graham White 353-100 valve.

Adrianspeeder

12

What about bells?

Not like the big brass thing on steamers, but the modern ones with the “air ringer” (as Semper Vaporo put it …)

?

Acela

13

An electronically adept person could proably assemble such a device with little problem.

Emergency vehicle sirens are usually about 100 watts - loud enough to be heard, but not totally deafening at close range (although probably still loud enough to get you a ticket if misused).

An older, transistor-based siren might be easier to modify. The speakers aren’t terribly expensive - new they run on the order of $100+

Couple it to some form of solid state recorder and sample the desired sounds.

There are train horn enthusiasts with pretty sophisticated set-ups on vehicles. Most have at least a large air tank, and sometimes an auxiliary compressor.

Disclaimer. I only told you one way to do it. Don’t be blaming me if you’re stupid with it and get in trouble…

14

Larry,

Ironically, the site you linked in your post is where I got the idea! And don’t worry, whatever happens, I won’t be blaming you [;)]

Thanks for your input,

Acela

(now why is my text blue???)

15

There was another video on You-Tube a few months ago of a home-made motor bike with an air compressor and locomotive horns mounted on it, and the owner was blasting the horn as he drove down the street.

See / hear it here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=when3v7NVFk

16

Ed is right. I heard a train horn behind me from a truck who (at least in my way of thinking) had no reason to do it. The only reason I didn’t jump a foot was because I was belted in.

17

I’d like to get an electronic version of the steady pulsing ‘beat’ of the air-and-mechanically-driven diesel bell for 2 applications:

  1. To sound automatically when I put our station wagon in reverse - like one of those ‘back-up beepers’, but with way more class; and,
  2. For my bicycle to sound when passing other people on trails and roadways. The ‘ding-a-ling’ thumb-operated versions are too cutesy for me, and not authoritative or different enough.

Neither one needs to be very loud - just distinctive and strong enough to separate from the background noise, cell phone ring tones, and other distractions and ambient noise.

  • Paul North.
18

Great ideas, Paul and Larry! This looks more and more plausible all the time! Now where could I get that recording Paul mentioned… Thanks everyone! Acela

19

Honestly, the first thing I would do is to check my local DMV codes/laws very carefully. If you can pass that ‘test,’ then by all means, high ball ahead!! Good luck!

20

Won’t an MP3 player “Loop” on a song? Record one clang of a bell and play it back in a loop. There are battery operated speakers that plug into these players that are not all that big that could be hung from the handlebars of a bike. Or on the rear bumper of your car.