Yo I was wondering What is the loadest and or the quietest train horn you have. Ever
incountered I know one time I got stopped by a Wisconsin central train just as the train was approcing the crossing. The enginer laid on that horn and boy did it get me to jump. On the other hand I dont think I have ever incounterd a quiet train horn but. Iam sure there a few of them out their.[4:-)][#dots]
Haven’t heard any “quiet” train horns, but some of the LA-area light rail lines have really toned down the horns (especially the Gold Line).
As for loud horns, several months back I was in San Timoteo Canyon, watching a train approach a grade crossing near a curve. Talk about LOUD…
Awhile back my son and camped along the BNSF Transcon just west of Flagstaff AZ. We were about 200 yards off the tracks and about a 1/4 mile away from a grade crossing. Out in the middle of the forest (grade crossing was on a access road to a bunch of cabins) the trains were the only noise. We fell asleep that nite and everynow and then I woke up to the sound of the horns. They were running every 15-30 minutes in one direction or another. But, I got used too it and at might nudge abit in the sleeping bag. The kiddo, was out cold.
But around 600 AM I heard a horn and it was LOUD. it down right spooked[:0] me. I shot straight up out of my bag cause I had too see what it was. Dawn was just barely breaking and I could just make out the AMTRAK train running. Its horn was much louder, and higher pitched then the rest of the engines. Even the kid woke up wanting to know what is was.
Yeah, as with above, not sure you can really say “Queit” and “Train Horn” in the same sentence. Unless the engineer is feeling kind.[:D]
Best Regards
John k
Amtrak SDP40 on inaugural EB run of the Boston section of the “Lake Shore” was easily the loudest.
work safe
The North Shore Scenic Railroads GN NW5 has a steam whistle that is quieter than its diesel horn
The loadest train horn would have to be one about to explode.
The quietest would have to be one completely not working.
Hey I’m only joking. Train horns were built to be loud. Also, just imagine what would happen if the weren’t loud enough…I think you would know what would happen then.
[8D][:D][:)][:P][{(-_-)}][(-D][swg][:-^][8D]
Once I was at school, and I heard an F40PH horn. The nearest tracks are three miles away, in Medford, Mass. Thats the loudest.
The not-so loudest one is the sound of an HO scale SW9 with sound at my local hobby shop
The “quiet” horn would have to go to the ones found on some of the ex-SP rebuilt GP35s that the Utah Railways uses. Judging by the sound, I’d say the horns are original equipment on these locos when they were in the employ of their first owner: Southern Pacific.
The horns on the Utah Railway locos are plenty loud, but nowhere near as loud as the “wake the dead” horns on UP’s SD70ACe locomotives. [{(-_-)}]
Some of CSX last additions of the SD70MACs 4600 series have oddly alto pitched whinny horns that just about make your flesh stand on end-forget hair. CSX’s SD70ACEs; some of them, are really loud as well.
Hardest working train I saw was CN train 303 on the Kingston Subdivision through Belleville. 2 Dash 9s and a C40-8M with 192 cars going 55 mph obviously on 8 of the throttle. It was kind of scary because when I was watching the trains that day, the sky was dark and stormy looking and it was very windy; then I heard this thing approach…
Compared to what I’m used to, a SOO engine has a quieter whistle that some of the rest. It has a more distinct sound to it that makes it easier to identify.
Yea, I agree about the SOOs- kind of nasally.
Those UP SD70ACe’s seem to have LOUD horns too…I caught 8331 last week, and holy crap!
I’ve lived next to the tracks all my life and most horns don’t bother me. However, the K5LA horns on the newer CSX 70 Macs are LOUD. They are the only ones that’s ever caused discomfort when I’m out in the yard.
umm…uhhh… I dont know[:p]
WSOR horns I remember:
Loudest ones were on the 4001 and 3802, the 4001 was great for scaring the life out of people after sneaking up on them, as there was no middle ground, it was on or off. 3802 had a great horn, nice and loud, the way I liked 'em.
As for quietest horn, it goes to an SD20 I had on the way back from PDC in a snowstorm, had to blow it repeatedly to keep the trumpets clear.
Randy
In the mid 60s on the old Pacific Electric we had quite a few switch engines on locals that had was called a “peanut” whistle. All engines that we used on the Santa Monica branch had these whistles. They had a muffled sound to them, I think because of the “UPPER CLASS” of folks that lived in that area .Also on that branch as we cruised along on Santa Monica Blvd at about 5mph, we had to obey all traffic signals… same as the automobiles did. We had a real hard time keeping people off of the train…Like we really tried. HaHa…
Virlon
save your ticket… the P.E. will rise again.
I was under a bridge and an Amtrak P42 blew its horn under the bridge b/c of the grade crossing and that just about made me go deaf…talk about loud.
The loudest is probably the whistle on D&RGW 487 (Cumbres and Toltec Scenic). I spent a week volunteering in Antonito, and when the train came, I would stand by the road crossing to hear the whistle. TALK ABOUT LOUD–the invasion of diesels has nothing on that whistle. There reaches a point as the train approaches at which the sound you perceive doesn’t become any louder, and an interesting sensation sets in. 488’s isn’t bad either. TALK ABOUT LOUD!!!
A few days before that, I was volunteering on AT&SF 2926 in Albuquerque. They have the whistle attached to a pipe with 185 lbs. per square inch air pressure, and that whistle startled me when I blew it (and I’m not one to be startled by whistles). It is definitely a “neal before me” whistle. Just imagine that thing on 300 pounds of steam pressure per square inch! However, I don’t like Santa Fe’s whistles on their later steamers very much–they’re too low in pitch for my tastes, and though they are 5-chime, the pitches are often hard to distinguish. The D&RGW’s are higher in pitch, and sound better.
I was surprised when I heard a recording of 3985’s whistle on television–it seems awfully passive for such a prodigious locomotive. Does it sound more “neal before me”-ish in real life?
On the quiet end, the “horns” used on the Gold Line here in LA are pretty much like buzzers–not loud in the least. The cars also have a louder (railroad-sounding) horn (actually a recording) which they use only rarely (it still sounds better, though).
I am quite familiar with the Pacific Electric Eb (E-flat, for those of you who are not musically inclined) “Trombone Whistle,” which is quiet for mainline standards.
On the diesel mainline, I have heard a broad assortment. Some BNSF horns seem to be too quiet, though while I was in Flagstaff in January, there was one which was definitely loud enough for me! Today, I was a block from the tracks in a car, and a Metrolink horn was still very loud. I would have liked to have been
Steam train whistles at Midwest Old Threshers in Mount Pleasant, Iowa…they just about blow your eardrums out![:D]
Definitly the North Shore Shore Scenic Railroads newly repainted Soo Line GP30!
I didnt have a horn blow, but notch eight and 3 hard workin SD45’s , thats loud. As for a whistle, they have a new ordinance , and its 1 15 second blast, and that my friend is loud, being in the cab, windows open, 35 MPH, and a 15 second horn, holy crap, thats harsh, but fun [:P] [wow]
Alec