Are the air horns on locomotives getting louder?
More and more Union Pacific locomotives are using the Nathan M3R1 horn, which is very similar to that used on Canadian Pacific and Canadian National locomotives for years and this horn is characterized by a car horn like tone, though of higher pitch than the Leslie S3R1 that they are replacing on more and more new locomotives delivered to the railroad. The loudness may depend on atmospheric conditions at the time the horn is sounded for a grade crossing. It is also dependent on how the horn is tuned prior to installation on the locomotive. As locomotives come due for shopping for overhaul, it is safe to assume that the horn will be one of the items changed out as the locomotive is out shopped after overhaul.
Are the air horns on locomotives getting louder?
actually that is not true at all Nathan has not gotten a large order of M3 horns since back in the late 1960's they have a mellow tone and play the cord C#,E,A they sound great but because of the fact they need to be tuned about every six months that they are in service they fell out of favor.
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from the 1960's through the late 1980's the two primary horns on the UP were Leslie's RS-3L and Prime's 920 which both play the deeper cord B,D#,A. Starting n the 1990's UP started to favor Nathan's K3LA which is their dominant horn today it plays the higher cord D#,F#,B
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recently UP has been getting Nathan K5HL horns on it's new locomotives this goes against UP's long tradition of using 3 chime horns the new five chime horns play the cord C,D#,F#,A#,C the result of the 2 extra bells is a louder horn. I am a locomotive horn collector and own both an RS-3L and K3LA
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If you want to know more about locomotive horns you might want to check these sites:
http://atsf.railfan.net/airhorns/
http://www.hornwhistleboard.com/
http://www.trainweb.org/mdamtrak199/horns.html
http://www.dieselairhorns.com/
http://www.uprr.com/aboutup/funfacts/signals.shtml
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I've wondered that myself. I live in southern New Mexico and regularly have trains pass through here. The horns are loud, especially at night. You don't have to be right next to the track to hear them. You can be several miles away and hear them just fine.
Sound travels differently through colder (more dense) air. You may be noticing the sound more because of that fact.
There are hundreds of different types of horns. There are no new %26quot;louder%26quot; horns although certain horns are louder or sound louder due to pitch. Theres many different configurations, single note, 2 chime, 3 chime, 5 chime horns etc. I know in canada they also need to have a specific note to one of the trumpets.
I don't think they are getting louder. These horns can average up to 200 db, Its loud enough to require the crew of a locomotive to wear ear protection. I liked one of the responses posted earlier that goes into details that describes how railroad are phasing in newer air horns .
Given the trend for some urban neighborhoods to lobby municip;alities for No Blow crossings, I doulbt if railroads will employ horns significantly louder than ones currently in use.
