Whistle/Horn Blowing ?

I probably do because it's fun and I enjoy it.  There are times when I do not.  I enjoy those times too.

It's addictive!   

 

Especially if 'whistle steam' is involved!

The Vision Line Big Boy has such a great whistle that I have to use it!

 

Yellow flag these guys for "excessive whistling".  Penalty:  15 minutes of no whistling.

 

Hardest for me is watching a drive by on an excursion and the engineer lays on the whistle just as he passes.  Usually Rich Melvin.    Talk about ear drum damage.  It's hard to hold your camera and plug your ears at the same time.

.....

Dennis

Often wondered that in some video's as well.

During my career my trains horn saved some at the street crossings leaving the station.

Gates obviously meant nothing to some.

I think every video should include one sampling of the horn/whistle so that viewers can judge if that feature appeals or not to them.  IMO, excessive whistling can detract from the other sounds or features.  But everyone has their opinion.

As Lauren Bacall said to Humphrey Bogart in the movie To Have and Have Not,

"You know how to whistle, don't you?  You just put your lips together and blow"

Agreed.  It really is amazing. 

Most of the videos posted were just showing off just how good the sound is on the new Vision Line BB's. Personally, I loved it.

 

But to answer your question regarding normal layout operations, probably not as much as what we listened to on the videos, but a lot. Sound options are terrific on the modern engines.

Whistles and horns don't bother me. At least the engine is moving on the tracks. What bothers me are the two minutes videos where a minute and a half is crew talk.

Except on either my MTH Dreyfus Hudson or K-4 steam engines, I very rarely use the whistle or horn on my engines.

And Vic, I am in complete agreement with you on crew talk overdose.  There are times I swear if I hear "we're good to go" one more time my brain will melt.  ��

Curt

I like the whistles/horns. Especially the authentic N&W Hooter whistle on my MTH Y6b. Some days I feel like taping down the button....

I always whistle for public crossings and ring the bell when approaching crossings in the yard or when moving in the engine facility.  Also, with a passenger train, I whistle off and then ring the bell until the train is moving.

 

However, I do shut off the bell as soon as possible.  Big Jim is right about the whistle when trains pass the camera in a video, but the bell is equally annoying.

Oh man, don't get me started on the bell thing! Ask any of my former trainees. I don't know how many times I had to tell them to "Turn that dXXX bell off!!!" Then, good ol' NS had their new SD70's delivered with an automatic bell that you could not turn off. Darn thing rang for 45 sec or more after the last blow of the horn...every time you blew the horn!

I wish I could have installed one of those darn things on Wick and Mark's telephone and see how they liked listening to that noise for 45 sec. after they answered the phone! 

I have one steam engine that I find I am addicted to blowing the whistle. I enjoy steam whistles as much as I enjoy seeing smoke blowing from the stack. I was present when the NP Berkshire 765 was in Altoona Pa and saw it taking on Horseshoe Curve. What I went away with was not only the memory of seeing the awesome locomotive but the beautiful rich sound of the whistle. I have the new Lionel 765, the whistle sounds like what I remember echoing in the mountains of Pa. I find I cannot stop blowing the whistle on the 765!I tend to blow whistles in spurts maybe every few minutes. The 765 is different, hearing the whistle and seeing the smoke blowing out is awesome. I cannot stop blowing the whistle. I have to wait a half minute to allow smoke to replenish in the whistle to see the full effect of the smoking whistle. Is there a support group for addicted whistle blowers?

Bob

 

 

Man, those horns and whistles are made to blow, they sound so cool. Yea on a video maybe we should lay off the sounds.

Ray

Ahhh, but you can't beat the sound of the whistle on the Mighty Sound of Steam Milwaukee Special. And then sometimes you just have to improvise...

 

 Do you hear what I hear?

Haha, sic 'em, Big Jim.  I'm with you.

Way back in the day of real Santa Fe passenger trains, I bid in a Fireman position with a deaf old Engineer.  He was a good Engineer, and always made station stops with the bell ringing as we passed the platform, as was proper practice. We would be standing at a station stop, while the train was being worked, and I'd have to shout across the cab, "Ray, the bell's still ringing."

I had a set of five four axle units one trip and the rear unit had a control stand much like is shown below. Notice the horn lever/button above the big red button.

 

 

These units were very noisey, and, that is putting it lightly! The conductor rode the head end with me, while the brakeman rode the rear unit.

 

It is mostly a hard pull for the first twelve miles out of town. At about the forth mile my sub-conscience faintly heard something odd. It was very cold outside, the windows were closed and as I said these units were very noisey. I had other things to concentrate on, so, at the time I didn't pay a lot of attention to the noise. 

 

At about ten miles out, we went through a rock cut and I got a better handle on what the noise was. A horn was blowing back in the consist. I asked the conductor to go back and see what was going on. I watched him go back, unit to unit trying to find which one had the horn stuck open. As he got back to the rear unit where the brakeman was riding, the horn quit blowing.

 

When the conductor got back to the head end, he said that the brakeman had laid his arm up on the control stand right on top of the horn button and the unit was so loud that he didn't even realize that he had been blowing the horn for the past ten miles!

 

A half hour latter, the dispatcher called us up and asked if we had gotten our horn problem fixed. Apparently the entire countryside had been calling in to complain about the horn blowing.