R Paul Carey wrote:None of NYC's RS-3s carried "chime" horns.
The only chime horns carried on NYC's early Road Switchers (so far as I know) were those on the BLH RS-12s, which were Nathan M-3s.
Paul, when you say "chime" horns I'm guessing you mean those with multiple bells to make harmonies or whatever - I'm not "into" horns so I may not have all the terms correct.
However, I AM familiar with the Nathan "Airchime" which looked like a horse dong and produced a tone somewhat similar to a steam whistle. And some of the NYC locos did indeed have those: (sorry, this darn web site won't let me post the pics without resizing them, which I'm not tech savvy enough to do)
RS2 8221 had one on the short hood end:
http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/nyc8221ags.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
RS3 8320 had one on the long hood end:
http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/nyc8320s.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
And RS3 8322 had one on the short hood end: (I love this picture!)
http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/nyc8322wka.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
No doubt there were more.
I think the idea was to create a softer noise which was more pleasing to nearby residents, but I don't think it was as penetrating. I doubt one of those would meet the dB requirements now in place in the federal regulations.