Newbie Question! Using Sound with Operations?

[Gary S]

So I have several sound equipped locos that will be used for switching the industrial areas - how do I use the horn and the bell in a prototypical manner?

Obviously we blow the horn at road crossings. Is there a specified short-short-long-short or whatever?

And when do we use the bell?

When do we use short blasts on the horn as signals?

What all would the bell and horn be used for?

[nachoman]

What all would the bell and horn be used for?

When you pick up your date, and you are afraid to meet her parents, you pull up on the street and sound the horn. If you are a gentleman, you use the bell .

[Gary S]

Very nice Kevin!

[cnw1961]

It probaly won’t help you much, definitely not as much as Kevin’s formidable advice , but I found this on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Train_horn#United_States

[Justinmiller171]

From what I know, when crossing a road you would do long-long-short and then hold down the horn until the engine has completely crossed the road. Bells are used when going through a crossing, going in reverse, during switching moves, and anytime there are people on the ground nearby the train.

[Puddlejumper]

Standard crossing signal is Long-Long-Short-Long.

Two shorts= moving ahead
3 shorts= moving back

horn signals need not be used when radio communication is used. I.E. If your conductor says "PRR 6200 come ahead 15 car lengths to a coupling" you would either acknowledge with "PRR 6200 ahead 15" or with 2 toots of the horn, but not both. When switching using hand signals, you would acknowledge with the horn prior to movement to let the trainman know you understood his instructions.

The bell should be used whenever there could be people around that you want to know of your presence. Going through crossing, platforms at stations, through yards, when passing other trains, etc.

There are many more horn signals, and some railroads had signals specific to that road. For instance, on the PRR 4 track main line, there were DIFFERENT horn signals for each main line track. That way when more than 1 train was present and working with horn signals, the people involved could differentiate between horn signals for a train on track 1 as opposed to, say, a train on track 3 or 4. Very complicated indeed.

[Bob C]

The Wikipedia citation is correct for contemporary times (the crossing signal time limit of 15-20 seconds is a result of modern noise reduction regulations). For operators of other eras, I found a specific article by Andy Sperandeo for use by modelers going further into horn signals...http://jbritton.pennsyrr.com/downloads/w...ignals.PDF. There may have been additional variations or additions by era or property. Another example, and additional references (from our Canadian friends) includes hand/lantern signals -http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/railsafety/rules-tco93-163.htm- portable radios haven't been common all that long. I always admire an operator's use of properly employed and executed horn/whistle signals...it adds to the reality of the experience. Bob C.

[P5se Camelback]

When you pick up your date, and you are afraid to meet her parents, you pull up on the street and sound the horn. If you are a gentleman, you use the bell.

Geez, Kevin, I need advance notice when you're gonna do that! I almost had cream soda right up my nose!

It's all good though ... I'll be chuckling about that one all night now, it hit my giggle button dead center!

As for Whistle/Horn signaling, I have a chart somewhere - I'll have to do a search - that lists them all, which when found I'll post it for the benefit of all. I'm sure everybody knows that a grade crossing requires a long-long-short-long, and even non-railfans know that one (without knowing it's for a grade crossing) because tourist steam railroads use that one for everything , and even when there's no reason to blow the whistle, because the tourists riding the train like to be reminded that they are being pulled by a steam engine ... it's kind of one of the expectations for paying the admission price.

And thanks, Kev ... that was a good one ... unexpected, but good!

[NJ Devils Fan]

Per NORAC rules:

ALL crossings must have bell ringing along with 2 long. 1 short and 1 long at all crossings. The last long blow of the horn MUST be taken THROUGH the crossing itself.

But I must say, the first reply about blowing the horn for your date was, I'm sorry, laugh out loud, belly busting funny. It brought tears to my eyes. That's a good one!

[e-paw]

That's a great link CNW1961. The horn samples are great. If you play them all at the same time it sounds like a loco traffic jam :mrgreen: