Yesterday while finishing up the tune up/cleaning of the last two of my locomotives in my fleet, I had a little accident. I was cleaning the shell of my Amtrak SDP40F (actually an Athearn bluebox FP45) and noticed that the rear-facing bell of the horn was bent down. I tried to gently bend it back into position, and the horn shattered in about four pieces. Knowing that there was no way to get it back together, I figured that it would be best (and look better) with a replacement horn that was more true to the prototype than what came stock from Athearn. And, since I’m replacing that horn, I’m also wanting to replace the horns on my two Spectrum Amtrak F40PHs with ones like what I’ve seen in the past with all five bells of the horn facing forward. Anybody have any recommendations on what horns I should look for?
Kevin
Hi Kevin,
I have many fond memories of the prototype SDP40fs.
The early batches of SDP40fs were equipped with the Leslie SL-4T and S4T horns which, to me, had such a mellow “trill” sound to them. The S4T is my favorite as it was split into a pair. Unfortunately these Leslie’s fouled very easily so Amtrak replaced them with the Nathan P5a .
Cal Scale does makes the Nathan P5, which in a nutshell, is similar… Unfortunately 2 of the bells (trumpets) face backwards. The prototype version used on Amtrak’s locomotives had all of the bells facing forward. If you get it, you can carefully perform the surgery to have the two bells facing forward.
Bowser has it in stock: http://www.bowser-trains.com/hoother/calscale/calscale.htm
Here’s an SDP40F with an S4T: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alcomike/6792696753/
Now, if only Athearn or Walthers would be willing to manufacture an SDP40f!
Did some checking…
Details West still offers the Nathan K5LA horn with all bells facing forward (Part # AH-252) which would suit your F40s nicely. According to their website, their P5 is “TBA”, so the Cal Scal unit would be the way to go.
Did a little Google search on the horns used for the SDP40F, and I’m thinking the Leslie S-5T on Bowser’s site might be able to be modified to closely resemble a Leslie SL-4T.
It might have a slightly higher profile than the prototype SL-4T, but I’m thinking it would look very close if I simply remove the middle bell. It would be easier than trying to reverse bells and get everything to line up right.
Kevin
Cool idea Kevin,
The manifold profile is different, but on an HO model that’s not going to be very noticeable. Please post a photo when you finish the job.
Will do. I’m thinking that I might be able to modify the manifold since the horn is metal and might be bendable. I figure that at the price, I’ll get two so that if I mess up one, I’ll still have the other one as a backup to use and simply remove the middle bell on it.
Kevin
Kevin,
Do you plan on installing DCC-Sound in your unit? One positive feature of the Athearn Cowls is that there is space for a nice sized speaker.
Actually, I still run DC on my layout. With 24 locomotives, I can’t afford and don’t have the time to switch to DCC and convert everything over.
Kevin