Train Alerts!!!

[poppi]

Now for the rest of the story LOL.

   1. My brother-inlaws dad is deaf in one ear......30 + yrs as a train engineer. 150 db at 100 feet is enough to make one deaf
       especially when you are only a few feet away.
   2. 2005 db level max was lowered to 110db on all trains easy fix was to run lower SCFMs at the control.
   3. The advent of quiet zones (per bunch of conditions) is being tracked for statistics on safety. (so if a train doesn't toot he may
       or may not be in compliance) (something I'll have to help put together next year) (new system will be coming on board)
   4. A working horn at required specs is required in every state. (my add on is just for fun unless I can meet the specs )
   
  FWIW
Skip

[buswarrior]

Yes, I'd bet there'd be no air preserved in the evacuation process occurring concurrently in the driver's seat...

happy coaching!
buswarrior

[Ednj]

  Dual Train Horns baby.
>
>
1/2" air line

[Van]

Now we're talking ,Have you shot them puppies yet?Bet they'll love you in the tunnels

Just tootin away

   Van

[Barn Owl]

I would much rather have horns mounted on the roof.

I think air horns might look good on the roof but they are more effective at ground level at the distances we need them. On the roof the horns will definitely be heard but the most intense part of the sound pressure will travel over heads or over car roof tops. Since I have fixed my horns I have witnessed several underware fillings when inattentive drivers have crossed my line. I know I shouldn't get as much pleasure out of it as I do, but I'm still working on perfection.



My old horn story from this old link on horns:

(I removed/changed words that I wished I had never used, I am learning to set a better example for my children and others. Talk the talk, and walk the walk.)

http://www.busconversions.com/bbs/index.php?topic=6373.0

Air horns are so worth it! I rank them up there higher than Jakes. My trip out this spring I had a (inconciderate person) pull in front of me and did a quick stop. All I had was my electric horn to blow because my air horns where still sitting in the bay where the PO had left them. I decided then I needed to change that. I hooked my compressor to the horns and not much. Well that explains why they where disconnected. I took them apart, cleaned them, and gave them a tune up. Boy are they loud! On the GM they are mounted forward the drivers steer tire up in a small cavity. I thought that it was a odd place for them until I tried them. In their mount they blast at an angle toward the ground only to have the blast bounce up off the pavement right at the perfect height for cars (No joke, they will hurt your ears). My second trip out (now with the air horns working) it was dark and I was on an unfamiliar busy street. I was traveling down the far right side of the road when I found out that I had one block to be two lanes over in the far left. First lane change went OK, but as I was starting my second, a lady in a convertible top down Saab decided to ignore my turn signals and dash in beside me. What a (not a nice lady)!  Well I couldn't make my turn and we both were stopped parallel at the light, so I lay onto my beautiful air horns that were right beside her head. I think she saw Jesus. I'm still LMAO at the thought of the "stink" she must have left on the seat of her car. Priceless!

[JackConrad]

   I prefer the sound of the old steam locomotives.  I got this 4 note brass train whistle from Richard Bowyer a couple years before he passed away. It is plumbed with 1/2" tubing and controlled with a 1/2" ball valve.  This allows you to "play" the whistle.  We also have 2 pair of air horns and a pair of loud electric horns. Each pair is controlled by a separate switch. However, the OEM horn buttons on the steering wheel are labeld EMERGENCY ONLY. It you hit this switch you get 4 air horns and 2 electric horns. If I use my left thumb on that switch and my right hand on the ball valve, well, let's just say "they will hear me".  Jack

[poppi]

Went to take a picture of mine...and this is what I got


Turns out mine is just like jacks but not as shiney 

Skip

[Sean]

   2. 2005 db level max was lowered to 110db on all trains easy fix was to run lower SCFMs at the control.

I think as long as Skip has mentioned the newer FRA limit, it bears mentioning that locomotive chimes are measured at a distance of 100 feet, so that number is 110dB at 100 feet away.  By contrast, automotive horns are measured at 6 feet (and many aftermarket models tout sound levels measured at a mere four inches away), which is why you will see an awful lot of truck horns rated at 139 dB or even more.  These numbers are not at all comparable -- the inverse square law means that, at ten times the distance, the audible intensity drops by a factor of 100.

To use an extreme example, the Wolo horns cited earlier, 152 dB at four inches, would measure just 127 dB at about 5 feet, and at 100 feet, they would measure about 102 dB.  That is only about 1/5th the sound pressure (energy) of a 110 dB locomotive chime.  "Loudness," of course, is a more subjective measurement, so you can't really say the locomotive is "five times" as loud, but, believe me, you will sure notice the difference.

Just FYI.

-Sean
http://ourodyssey.blogspot.com

[Van]

And that's what counts .

[John316]

Thanks so much guys!!! I will write more later. This gives me mucho foodo for thoughtso (now I am going to go down to Mexico and see if I can round up some swine flu ).

Thanks a lot guys.

God bless,

John

[Tim Strommen]

http://www.airhornsoftexas.com/Train_Air_Horns.html

This is the guy I've been talking to...  Several different types of horns, reman'd.  I'm looking at a Nathan K5LA (5-chime), which will be facing forward attached to a separate 25 gallon tank and driven by a brake relay valve (actuated by a solenoid pilot hooked into the existing "beep-beep" electric horn).  The tank will be filled by a 100psi cracking pressure valve after a check valve (to ensure that the horn gets serviced last, and won't kill the brake reservoirs...) plumbed via the aux tank.

I like the idea of attaching a secondary horn to the left side of the rig (back/down firing) - perhaps attached to the turn signal circuit just to remind those who miss the "<-- passing side, suicide -->" sticker on the back of the bus.

-T

[JohnEd]

Good hunting down south, John.  Write often....don't visit till the incubation period has passed without event.

John

[TomC]

On both my big rig and my bus I am using the 4 chime Buell train horn kit for trucks.  Go to buell.com and notice how much bigger in diameter the horn throat is by the base reed end of the horn.  These horns really get out and have a distinct tone to them (purposely toned differently then any available train horn so not to be mistaken for a train).  Good Luck, TomC

[BG6]

If you have a runaway, it doesn't matter how much air you have available for the brakes -- you are already beyond that point.  The drum diameter has already increased to a point where there is not enough pushrod left to apply the brakes, or they have already cammed over.  By this time, you will have already tried the spring brakes (if so equipped) to no avail.  Now all you can do is hope and pray you can make the runaway ramp before you plow into some unsuspecting soccer mom with a van load of kids.  And now, you'll want the loudest darn horn you can muster.

In this situation, "preserving air" will not be on your list.

In that situation, I would be more concerned about the probability of TAKING TO the air . . !

[BG6]

   I prefer the sound of the old steam locomotives.  I got this 4 note brass train whistle from Richard Bowyer a couple years before he passed away. It is plumbed with 1/2" tubing and controlled with a 1/2" ball valve.  This allows you to "play" the whistle.  We also have 2 pair of air horns and a pair of loud electric horns. Each pair is controlled by a separate switch. However, the OEM horn buttons on the steering wheel are labeld EMERGENCY ONLY. It you hit this switch you get 4 air horns and 2 electric horns. If I use my left thumb on that switch and my right hand on the ball valve, well, let's just say "they will hear me".  Jack

Whistles are illegal in most states, specifically banned in the law.  This is because they can be mistaken for emergency vehicle sirens.