Eastern Railroad Discussion > It sounded like a UP locomotive horn

On several trips to the West, I've noticed that the horns on Union Pacific locomotives have a different sound than those I hear on Amtrak, CSX and Norfolk Southern trains in the East.  At first, I thought it was a matter of being in the West - trains just seem different out there.  However, recently, I played several Trainorders videos with UP diesels and noticed that the horns all had the same sound.  Don't know how to describe the sound except that it is "shorter" and the sound is less melifulous than from eastern railroads' horns.

Because it was so warm in Pittsburgh this evening, I decided to commute home part of the way by walking.  I walk on a riverfront trail which parallel's CSX's former Pittsburgh & Lake Erie RR line.  Upon leaving the trail headed towards a main street in Pittsburgh's South Side, I heard a locomotive horn being sounded for a grade crossing.  It sounded just like a UP diesel horn and my first thought was that I exaggerated the differences in horn sounds between those of UP and CSX.  I turned around to watch the train and, sure enough, saw a pair of UP units running light!

I'm sure someone will know more, but the pattern for a while had been UP and BNSF using the K3LA horm, and NS and CSX using the K5LA. Lately, it seems to be not so cut-and-dried.

The difference in sound is primarily because the western roads typically chose the Airchime 3-chime K3LA for their horns, versus the 5-chime K5LA the eastern roads embraced.  I'm not sure of the reasons why, but until the newer GEs and EMDs began to be delivered with the same horns to meet newer decibel level requirements, it was very easy to know when you had western power coming at you, even if you couldn't see it, just as you describe.

Here is a sample of a K3LA:  http://www.dieselairhorns.com/sounds/K3LA_CSX.mp3

And a K5LA:  http://www.dieselairhorns.com/sounds/K5LA_L%26N351_Runby_KSRY.wav

Good ear!  Ed's (RIP, big guy!) site is still alive and well, so enjoy checking out the various horn types on there.  You might find that becomes just as much a part of the hobby for you as what kind of locomotives are on the train.
 

 

I remember when I was a kid and asked about the different chime of locomotives that traverse the west (and north, like Canada).  I was told that lower frequencies had a tendency to draw moose trackside, whereas the higher pitch chime didn't.  Maybe someone can confirm, since that was quite a while back....

John R -- CP Spring
Carlisle, PA



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/05/19 04:59 by steamfan.

Growing up on Georgia/Family Lines/Seaboard System, if you heard ANYTHING besides a Leslie 5 chime, you knew it was time to get down to the tracks. A Nathan P3 always meant SSW or SP, and an out of tune Leslie 3 chime meant (usually) a UP unit. The occasional Frisco engine sounded exactly like the "home road" stuff, however.

Nowadays, CSX is all K5___, all the time. Quite dull.  The K3 horns on western power seem to be confined to older units; everything new-ish, as noted above, has some K5 variant.

Thanks to all who responded.