Horns...how close can i get??

I am having a Tsunami installed in my SD45-2 #6666....How close can i get with the horn? I know it's a 3 chime, and that most CR loco's had the same type horn but beyond that, exactally what type is it?

Usually a Leslie 3-chime, EL units kept their horns though and may have differed from standard Conrail issue.

ST214 wrote:I am having a Tsunami installed in my SD45-2 #6666....How close can i get with the horn? I know it's a 3 chime, and that most CR loco's had the same type horn but beyond that, exactally what type is it?

Nearly all of the locomotives inherited and purchased by Conrail used three-chime Leslies.

Locomotive air horns are not toys. Use of them on a motor vehicle is a violation of law in many locations and probably
should be a violation everywhere. Severe hearing damage can result from somebody who is close to one of these things.
Use of one on a road can put panic in other drivers. I would think you could get an electric horn that would resemble an
locomotive air horn but an air horn, not for me and should not be for anybody else either.
Noel Weaver

There seems to be two different topics here.

For the model train, the Leslie 3-chime should do it. The SD45-2s just had them in an unusual position, dating from EL days apparently related to one tight clearance somewhere on the road (I have forgotten the details). You might pick up a DVD or try and track down one of the remaining units (which seem to primarly stick around north Jersey) if you want to be 100% sure.


For a motor vehicle, an air horn is only as good as the compressor behind it, and to make an air horn really go requires a large one. I recently installed a Harbor Freight set with a little compressor and the volume is dissapointing, not that I expected the world but it's no louder than a regular horn. Probably the best legal compromise for an automobile would be to use the "train" horns marketed for over the road trucks, which give the same/smilar notes but take up less room and require less air to operate. Given the way people drive these days and the number of times I've been cut off, I certainly would not be concerned with panicing other drivers, in fact I want them to think they're about to crash so they won't do that anymore.

Piggybacking on "lvrr325's" good answer regarding air horns,

(Courtesy of Yahoo Answers)

"First off there is a lot more than just a horn for the big truck horns, their ran from an air compressor or off a reserve air tank and cost a lot to get the true big truck air horn sound. Second, a loud horn is not necessary for a small car, the concept behind the air horn is it takes a fully loaded big truck three times the distance to stop, so they are required three times the audible warning capability in case of of brake failure or stupid drivers. that is why trains have such a mega horn system, it takes them over a mile to come to a stop...a louder horn is cool but is also annoying, and because your horn is louder, doesnt make your point more valid. New Yorkers seem to be the only people who use the horns because they think people really care what they think, but we dont, horn honkers really blow...just learn to drive for other people and keep your cool, people make mistakes, and a horns dont correct it...if they are close enough to hurt you, they are close enough to hear you."

Charlie

i'm totally lost in this topic. it seemed like the OP has a model loco, and wants the sound to be exactly (or close) how the prototype sounded. somehow, it has become a post about putting horns into vehicles? i don't get that from the OP. why are we discussing new yorkers blowing horns, and horns in cars and trucks? isnt the question simply "what horn sound would be correct, for my model locomotive"?

charlie6017 wrote:Piggybacking on "lvrr325's" good answer regarding air horns,

(Courtesy of Yahoo Answers)

"First off there is a lot more than just a horn for the big truck horns, their ran from an air compressor or off a reserve air tank and cost a lot to get the true big truck air horn sound. Second, a loud horn is not necessary for a small car, the concept behind the air horn is it takes a fully loaded big truck three times the distance to stop, so they are required three times the audible warning capability in case of of brake failure or stupid drivers. that is why trains have such a mega horn system, it takes them over a mile to come to a stop...a louder horn is cool but is also annoying, and because your horn is louder, doesnt make your point more valid. New Yorkers seem to be the only people who use the horns because they think people really care what they think, but we dont, horn honkers really blow...just learn to drive for other people and keep your cool, people make mistakes, and a horns dont correct it...if they are close enough to hurt you, they are close enough to hear you."

Charlie

That was accurate until maybe 1990, but in this era of cars with stereos that I can hear and feel the bass coming out of the stereo from half a mile away, motorcycles that can similarly be heard as far away, etc. a loud horn is becoming more and more a necessity. When you can't hear your own horn in your car going down the road with the radio on, it's not loud enough.

Per a relatively recent Railplace photo, CSX put a 5-chime on one of their SD45-2's. In about the same place, tight down to the cab -

Lets leave automobile horns out of the discussion, as the OP never wanted to do that to begin with.

Correct......I was referring to models, as i model Conrail in HO scale. While were on the subject of horns, Tsunami's now come with an option to use a car horn

keeper1616 wrote:Lets leave automobile horns out of the discussion, as the OP never wanted to do that to begin with.

Consider yourself as having one stern lecture credit for the next bad thing that you do !