Western Railroad Discussion > What model horns are on UP freights on SF Peninsula?

Been wondering this for some time, as the horns
on the UP freights I hear around 9 pm here on
the SF Mid-Peninsula are quite beautiful. And
at night the sound carries really well, as the
engineers blow for the grade crossings in
Atherton and Menlo Park.

Sorry -- I can't give anyone any locomotive numbers,
as I rarely ever see the trains.

You-hoo, Jim Evans -- Mr. "Five Chime" -- any info?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/27/17 23:35 by Margaret_SP_fan.

Probably Nathan horns. K5HL
K3LA
K5LLA
K3HL (mostly on AC6000s)

Posted from Android

Thanks, upheritage6. I still wonder what
Jim Jim Evans and others have to say.

Whatever model horn it is that I hear, it does
not have the reedy sounds and the dissonant
"beats" that are normal in locomotive horns
because those things make horns more noticeable
and much harder to ignore than the beautiful chords
I hear from those freight locomotives.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/27/17 23:48 by Margaret_SP_fan.

The UP SD70ACe usually has a K5LLA that sounds rather different from most other horns.

You may want to search for some of these horn types on youtube -- I imagine you'll be able to figure out what you heard by listening to some clips.

Posted from iPhone

Thanks, FiestaFoamer! I'll try that.
(Didn't think of that for the models
"upheritage6" listed.)

If you're listening around 9pm, you are probably hearing the 4-axle power on the Mission Bay Turn. That means the horns are probably Nathan/Airchime K3H's or K3HA's. Good versions of those horns are indeed pretty (minor and inverted major triads, respectively). Unfortunately, Nathan let their quality control go to pot for a time in the 90's and 2000's, so a lot of the three chime K's running around out there are out of tune. Still, three chimes is usually an improvement on the raucous twin chime P horns Caltrain uses.

Evan -- that's IT!! Thank you very, very much

I Searched YouTube for "Nathan K3H Union Pacific"
and found a great audio recording -- "Union Pacific
Nathan Airchime K3ha Train Horn" -- which is just
exactly what Dan and I have heard! I knew it had
to be a major triad, not a minor one, but whether
or not it was inverted, I couldn't remember.

BTW, back when the UP's Broadway Local" used to go
out to Heublein on what remains of the old SP Tracy
Line, I heard the most beautiful horn I have ever heard.
It was a perfect major triad, and so melodious that I
could hardly believe what I was hearing! I had no idea
any railroad had any horns that were that beautiful.
I remember only that the locomotive was UP 25xx, which
I am sure was a 4-axle unit, so it also had that lovely
Hathan/Airchime K3HAa -- except that I thought its horn
was a major triad in the root position, not the first
inversion.

(Hey, Evan - you talk like a classically-trained musician!
That is sooooo cool! So someone else on here knows what
"first inversion" is. And you're a night owl, too, as
I am, or at least it looks that way from the time when you
posted your very helpful reply.)

I guess air horn aficionados do know something about music,
and can talk the lingo. Neat!

Evan is right as I often go to Burlingame to watch the Mission Bay and Broadway pass around 7:30
just as I did in the 1960's when it was SP Train #374 at 8PM sharp heading to LA.

In those days they were running large blocks of F's and LA Division U25Bs, GP35s, and GP9s, all with nice sounding Nathan P3s
or M5s,M3s, and P5s on the Fs.

Back to modern times, in my opinion, the push button activated K3 horns on the UP Geeps used on the two nightly freights, sound pretty
bad! They were using 807 on the point for a while which sounded just OK.

Ten years ago, it seemed that the K3 horns were going on everything but thankfully the K5 type horns came back. SOME of the K5LL horns
on the new SD70ACE and AH locomotives sound very nice, much like the old Nathan M5 horns. I say "SOME" because these horns are known to
blow gaskets which results in bad sounds.

Regards, Jim Evans

Thanks, Jim. I know that one of the beautiful
horns I heard was on the UP 25xx out on the
Dumbarton line, on her way to and from Heublein
a uyear or so before that plant closed in 2011 --
so that wsa at least 6 or 7 years ago. Dunno
what model of locomotive I hear at night on the
Caltrain main line, but they sure have beautiful
horns! Methinks Evan is right that about those
being K3Ha horns. The YouTube recording sounds
exactly like what I have heard.