Nathan Manufacturing, Inc. is a division of Micro Precision Group which manufactures Airchime, Ltd. train horns mainly for North America. It is one of two major train horn manufacturers in the United States, with Leslie Controls, Inc. being the other.
Nathan also makes P-series and M-series horns for railroads and CS-Series and KJ-series horns, KSV vertical mount horns, steam whistles, heated horn assemblies, electronic pressure regulators, control valves, flange lubricators and glo rod gauges. [7] [ clarification needed ]
| No. | Note | Freq. (Hz) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | D#4 | 311 |
| 1L | C4 | 262 |
| 2 | F#4 | 370 |
| 3 | A#4 | 470 |
| 3L | A4 | 440 |
| 3A | G#4 | 415 |
| 4 | C5 | 512 |
| 4A | B4 | 490 |
| 5 | D#5 | 622 |
| 5H | E5 | 660 |
K Horns:[ clarification needed ]
P-series horns also include single tone (P1), three-chime (P3) and five-chime (P5) versions. The bells are sand-cast. Frequency ranges may be from 220 to 554 hertz. [8] The P-series horns have longer bells and a heavier manifold than the M-series. [3] The name of the horn is a P followed by the bells that face forward, followed by R if any are reversed, and then the numbers of the reversed bells; a P12345 is a true five-chime horn with all bells facing forward, while P135R24 has bells 2 and 4 reversed. [9]
Robert Swanson founded Airchime Ltd., beginning by making custom steam whistles in his British Columbia home. He preferred the sound of steam whistles over the single-chime horns made by Leslie and Westinghouse Air Brake Company. In 1949, he introduced the Hexatone H5, of which some odd (88) were made according to Robert Eugene Swanson's personal manufacturing/sales records. The H5 was only preceded by the H6, of which (4), including a cast iron H6 prototype known as the 'Iron Maiden', were only produced and never sold in any quantity to any railroad and were considered experimental. The H-series and N-series, also rare, preceded the M-series manufactured by Nathan in the United States and Airchime Mfg. Co. of Vancouver, B.C., Canada. Airchime Mfg. Co's M3H became the standard 3-chime horn used in Canada. The Holden Co. Ltd. was the Canadian Distributor of Airchime Mfg. Co's locomotive air horns and steam whistles and did not manufacture any horns or whistles, a very common misconception.
Captain Charles Benter, who followed John Philip Sousa as Marine Corps Band conductor, played a role in developing what is called "the most melodic horn in railroading". The five-chime horn Swanson and Bentor came up with became the H5 and H3-series horn, characterized by "short, fat bells that were welded together by their flares, the power chambers not being on an even plane, and copper air tubes supplied air to all five bells from an air-chest below the largest bell. The H3 had three chimes, and the H5 five chimes. This is the horn that Bentor had Swanson modify to A 7th major from C# diminished 7th.
The H5 and N3 were evolved into the superior M-series horns. (M standing for "Modulation") Both the 3-chime and the 5-chime had all power chambers on an even plane, and the M5 eliminated the air tubing, instead using a manifold that internally supplied the air to all 5 (or 3) bells. The M5 is still to this day considered by historians and collectors as the most musical of all locomotive air horns. Although supposed to have been originally tuned to A 7th major, 1st inversion with doubled third, few if any M5s ever blew that diatonic chord. M5 bells tended to be varying amounts of hertz off from the diatonic keyboard, just like a chime steam whistle, so about any sound close to various chords could be heard on a healthy M5.
In the early 1950s, Swanson introduced the Nathan Truck Horn in T-E and T-5 versions. In 1953, the truck horn was refined for use on locomotives, becoming the P-series. Swanson, whose Airchime never made the horn, sold the rights to Nathan. He never liked the P-series [10] considering the K-series to be the ultimate horn, with the P (President's whistle) being a cheaper alternative. The P-series did its job, and was easier to repair than the M-series [9] because each M-series bell had a separate diaphragm, while the P-series horns had the same diaphragm for each bell, a practice Leslie was already using. [4] M-series horns also needed more frequent maintenance. The P-series was Nathan Mfg. Co's equivalent to the Leslie SuperTyfon.
All generations of P-series horns "used a steel diaphragm disk. Also, the orifice opened up into a fairly wide, oval-shaped hole in the horn's internal chamber." The second generation P-series diaphragms remained the same stainless steel, however the inlet to the power chamber was now round, due to elimination of the core in the casting pattern. The changes made no difference in the sound. [9]
The P3 was used by the first diesel locomotives of Illinois Central and Southern Pacific. The P5 was used for the passenger trains of Illinois Central, Rock Island and Southern Pacific, along with various freight units, especially those on the old Southern Railway. [4]
In 1954, the K5H/K3H made their debut, using a D-sharp minor chord (D-sharp, F-sharp, A-sharp) because of Canadian regulations. "H" stood for "high-pitched" because none of the low-pitched bells available were used. Later, "H" referred to high-profile manifold, while L stood for low-profile. The K5H is Swanson's best yet imitation of a steam train chime whistle, heard at a distance it was described as "unresolved" and "haunting". [6] [11] It was used by Norfolk Southern and CSX (some of whose older engines still use it), and by C&NW. Early K-series horns were sand-cast, like the P-series, but later ones would be die-cast. [4]
In the early 1960s, Nathan introduced the low-profile P3 manifold, replacing a five-chime manifold used previously even though the horn had only three chimes. Southern Railway used this design.
Deane Ellsworth of Amtrak developed the P5a (A for Amtrak) in 1976. While the P5 blew an A7th Major chord, the P5a reverted to Swanson's original C# diminished 7th by shortening the #4 bell the same 7/16" that Swanson lengthened the #4 bell on the H5 in 1949 at Bentor's request. [9] Also used by Amtrak was the P01235, with an "0" bell which was an octave lower than the #4 bell it replaced. [12]
In 1975, Deane Ellsworth, who was in charge of locomotive appliances for Amtrak, wanted to bring the superior K5 to America. However, he did not like the D♯ minor 6th of the K5H and personally asked Robert Swanson what could be done. His designer came up with a novel way to lower the pitch of the #3&4 bells to lower their pitch, altering the K5H chord from D♯ minor 6th to B major 6th, and which reminisced of the old M5 chord in structure, but was higher in pitch, which Ellsworth liked. At the same time, Airchime came up with a lower-profile bracket and the new chime was called the K5LA, and it cheery chord has become very popular from the old Chessie system (first user of the K5LA) to Amtrak, Southern and many other roads The K5LA designation included a "K" for the double-diaphragm kettle drum design, an "L" because of its low-profile manifold, and an "A" for American tuning, to differentiate it from Canadian tuning. By the later 1980s, the K5LA was North America's most popular locomotive horn, and today it remains one of the most-used 5-chime horns in the world, [6] surpassed by the K5LLA and the K5HL.
In 1976, Nathan had two other foundries cast P bells, but new castings were used that did not have the right pitches. The 1, 2 and 3 bells had a slightly higher pitch, and the 5 bell a lower pitch. The result was D, F, G-sharp, A, C, a discordant D minor 7 sharp 11. These horns are considered the third generation P series. [9]
In 2005, Federal Railroad Administration regulations specified a maximum decibel level for horns, resulting in the development of the K5LLA (the extra "L" means low-pitched, with the first bell tuned to middle C) for EMD and K5HL for GE. [6]
Wind chimes are a type of percussion instrument constructed from suspended tubes, rods, bells, or other objects that are often made of metal or wood. The tubes or rods are suspended along with some type of weight or surface which the tubes or rods can strike when they or another wind-catching surface are blown by the natural movement of air outside.
Rail transport terms are a form of technical terminology applied to railways. Although many terms are uniform across different nations and companies, they are by no means universal, with differences often originating from parallel development of rail transport systems in different parts of the world, and in the national origins of the engineers and managers who built the inaugural rail infrastructure. An example is the term railroad, used in North America, and railway, generally used in English-speaking countries outside North America and by the International Union of Railways. In English-speaking countries outside the United Kingdom, a mixture of US and UK terms may exist.
Milwaukee Road 261 is a class "S3" 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotive built by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) in Schenectady, New York in July 1944 for the Milwaukee Road.
The GE Genesis is a series of passenger diesel locomotives built by GE Transportation for Amtrak, Metro-North, and Via Rail between 1992 and 2001. A total of 321 units were produced.
The Pennsylvania Railroad GG1 is a class of streamlined electric locomotives built for the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), in the northeastern United States. The class was known for its striking art deco shell, its ability to pull trains at up to 100 mph, and its long operating career of almost 50 years.
The Boilermaker Special is the official mascot of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. It resembles a Victorian-era railroad locomotive and is built on a truck chassis. It is operated and maintained by the student members of the Purdue Reamer Club. It is often incorrectly assumed that Purdue Pete is the official mascot of the university.
The EMD F40PH is a four-axle 3,000–3,200 hp (2.2–2.4 MW) B-B diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division in several variants from 1975 to 1992. Intended for use on Amtrak's short-haul passenger routes, it became the backbone of Amtrak's diesel fleet after the failure of the EMD SDP40F. The F40PH also found widespread use on commuter railroads in the United States and with VIA Rail in Canada. Additional F40PH variants were manufactured by Morrison-Knudsen and MotivePower between 1988 and 1998, mostly rebuilt from older locomotives.
A train whistle or air whistle is an audible signaling device on a steam or gas locomotive, used to warn that the train is approaching, and to communicate with rail workers. Modern diesel and electric locomotives primarily use a powerful air horn instead of a whistle as an audible warning device. However, the word whistle continues to be used by railroaders in referring to such signaling practices as "whistling off".
The Evolution Series is a line of diesel locomotives built by GE Transportation Systems, initially designed to meet the U.S. EPA's Tier 2 locomotive emissions standards that took effect in 2005. The line is the direct successor to the GE Dash 9 Series. The first pre-production units were built in 2003. Evolution Series locomotives are equipped with either AC or DC traction motors, depending on the customer's preference. All are powered by the GE GEVO engine.
An air horn is a pneumatic device designed to create an extremely loud noise for signaling purposes. It usually consists of a source which produces compressed air, which passes into a horn through a reed or diaphragm. The stream of air causes the reed or diaphragm to vibrate, creating sound waves, then the horn amplifies the sound making it louder. Air horns are widely employed as vehicle horns, installed on large buses, semi-trailer trucks, fire trucks, trains, and some ambulances as a warning device, and on ships as a signaling device.
A steam whistle is a device used to produce sound in the form of a whistle using live steam, which creates, projects, and amplifies its sound by acting as a vibrating system.
On January 4, 1987, two trains collided on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor main line near Chase, Maryland, United States, at Gunpow Interlocking. Amtrak train 94, the Colonial, traveling north from Washington, D.C., to Boston, crashed at over 100 miles per hour (160 km/h) into a set of Conrail locomotives running light which had fouled the mainline. Fourteen passengers on the Amtrak train died, as well as the Amtrak engineer and lounge car attendant.
Southern Pacific 4449, also known as the Daylight, is the only surviving example of Southern Pacific Railroad's "GS-4" class of 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotives and one of only two GS-class locomotives surviving, the other being "GS-6" 4460 at the National Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, Missouri. GS is an abbreviation of "General Service" or "Golden State," a nickname for California.
In music, intonation is the pitch accuracy of a musician or musical instrument. Intonation may be flat, sharp, or both, successively or simultaneously.
Robert Swanson (1905–1994) was a Canadian researcher and developer, and is credited with the invention of the first five and six-chime air horns for use on locomotives. Swanson had worked as the chief engineer of a company called Victoria Lumber Manufacturing in the 1920s, when he developed a hobby for making steam whistles for locomotives. Eventually, Swanson designed and built a large steam whistle for the mill where he worked. He also built the Heritage Horns that were on the old BC Hydro building that play the first four chords of "O Canada" at noon every day. The horns are now on the roof of the Pan Pacific hotel at Canada Place.
A control car, cab car, control trailer, or driving trailer is a non-powered rail vehicle from which a train can be operated. As dedicated vehicles or regular passenger cars, they have one or two driver compartments with all the controls and gauges required to remotely operate the locomotive, including exterior locomotive equipment such as horns, bells, ploughs, and lights. They also have communications and safety systems such as GSM-R or European Train Control System (ETCS). Control cars enable push-pull operation when located on the end of a train opposite its locomotive by allowing the train to reverse direction at a terminus without moving the locomotive or turning the train around.
A train horn is an air horn used as an audible warning device on diesel and electric-powered trains. Its primary purpose is to alert persons and animals to an oncoming train, especially when approaching a level crossing. They are often extremely loud, allowing them to be heard from great distances. They are also used for acknowledging signals given by railroad employees, such as during switching operations. For steam locomotives, the equivalent device is a train whistle.
The North Eastern Railway (NER) Class K classified as Class Y8 by the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) is a class of 0-4-0T steam locomotives designed for shunting. It was designed by Thomas W. Worsdell and five of these tiny engines were built in 1890. These were numbered 559-63.
The Hancock air whistle was a railroad whistle intended for use on North American diesel locomotives in place of the standard air horn. It was manufactured by the Hancock Valve Division of Manning, Maxwell and Moore.
A vehicle horn is a sound-making device installed on motor vehicles, trains, boats, and other types of vehicles. The sound it makes usually resembles a “honk” or a “beep”. The driver uses the horn to warn people of danger. The horn is activated to warn others of the vehicle's presence or approach, or to call attention to some hazard. Motor vehicles, ships and trains are required by law in some countries to have horns. Trams, trollies, streetcars, and even bicycles are also legally required to have an audible warning device in many areas.