Train horns

[Chicken lights]

Surprise

 

[francist]

Nice! Die cast K-1?, die cast K-2?, and what’s the little guy?

 

[Chicken lights]

Nice! Die cast K-1?, die cast K-2?, and what’s the little guy?

They are a K2 and a K4

 

[francist]

Got it, thanks. Forgot the other one was from earlier.

 

[Chicken lights]

Got it, thanks. Forgot the other one was from earlier.

Any suggestions on a mounting bracket? Cut a 4” circle out of 1” aluminum then drill and tap the centre for 1/2” NPT?

 

[francist]

That would probably work. You thinking bolt the whistle to aluminum disk and then bring the air in from the side of the disk, hence the 1” thickness? Otherwise, I’ve used 1/2” aluminum for just a mounting bracket with a clearance hole through the centre for the fitting. Mine were stationary mounts though, not on a vehicle where there will be some vibration.

I’m not sure what the underside of the foot on your red one looks like — many of mine are the older sand-cast whistles which had a threaded foot. I do have one newer die cast Nathan (albeit with a broken foot) that has the newer method using an O-ring groove.

Here’s a few shots of the various stanchions on mine, from a single mount on the K-1L, twin mount on the K-12, and then the newer, broken Nathan. FYI - if these break anywhere it will be the two “ears” on the mounting foot where the bolt holes go through, especially if they’re mounted on the side of a cab, say, or overtightened. With the exception of the K-1L which was Navy, all of mine were on logging equipment which of course comes with its own set of perils.

 

[DavidR8]

Wait...why do you have train horns Frank?

 

[Chicken lights]

@francist
That’s what’s on the red one. I just picked 1” arbitrarily, the threads on that one are quite deep. Someone smarter than me can probably tell me how deep 1/2” NPT threads need to be to properly tighten.

 

[francist]

Wait...why do you have train horns Frank?

What do you mean, don’t you have any??

Seriously, long story and as if often true with long stories ‘... it all started with one small one...’ and went sideways from there. In these parts they’re often called whistles after the actual steam whistles that were on the donkey engines in the bush, and even though technically they’re horns the whistle term still holds.

Why do I have them? There’s a logging connection in the extended family, coastal loggers like boats, boats need whistles, and I’ve been known to be good at restoring things. That’s how it started, and then we just thought they were really cool and were positioned to collect a few. I also lucked into an Airchime whistle control console (also ex-RCN) from back in the day when Capital Iron still sold real salvage. Others came from the bush.

They’re a neat part of our coastal history, and I still like having them around. Just need to figure how to mount one on a sewing machine now....

 

[francist]

That’s what’s on the red one. I just picked 1” arbitrarily, the threads on that one are quite deep

Oh, you should be golden then. They usually pipe straight into that female thread with a whatever-length nipple and that flange gets bolted straight to cab roof or wherever with a rubber gasket between. You could make an adapter plate or (transition plate might be a better term) depending on what you’re mounting or if you don’t want to run pipe straight through.

I threaded quick connect fittings into the bases of mine so I could decouple them from a single air source but that was just for convenience.

 

[Chicken lights]

Oh, you should be golden then. They usually pipe straight into that female thread with a whatever-length nipple and that flange gets bolted straight to cab roof or wherever with a rubber gasket between. You could make an adapter plate or (transition plate might be a better term) depending on what you’re mounting or if you don’t want to run pipe straight through.

I threaded quick connect fittings into the bases of mine so I could decouple them from a single air source but that was just for convenience.

I suck at drawings but I was thinking to make a 90 degree plate to bolt all three to, and mount them on one of the frame crossmembers. I’ve ordered in a couple brass T’s to build a manifold, but still looking at options

 

[Chicken lights]

What do you mean, don’t you have any??

Seriously, long story and as if often true with long stories ‘... it all started with one small one...’ and went sideways from there. In these parts they’re often called whistles after the actual steam whistles that were on the donkey engines in the bush, and even though technically they’re horns the whistle term still holds.

Why do I have them? There’s a logging connection in the extended family, coastal loggers like boats, boats need whistles, and I’ve been known to be good at restoring things. That’s how it started, and then we just thought they were really cool and were positioned to collect a few. I also lucked into an Airchime whistle control console (also ex-RCN) from back in the day when Capital Iron still sold real salvage. Others came from the bush.

They’re a neat part of our coastal history, and I still like having them around. Just need to figure how to mount one on a sewing machine now....

I thought some of the history behind them was cool, that’s why I posted a couple links at the start of this

 

[Swharfin']

Ha! I'm curious did you air up the lil' red riding horn and find it lacking ?
A chord is much better than a single note.
With your border pick- ups for forum members you could add "Blockade Runner " to "Forum Bootlegger"

 

[Chicken lights]

Ha! I'm curious did you air up the lil' red riding horn and find it lacking ?
A chord is much better than a single note.
With your border pick- ups for forum members you could add "Blockade Runner " to "Forum Bootlegger"

Nope! A friend aired up the lil’ red horn and our ears rang for a good hour afterwards. I knew enough to be 50 feet away and still it was loud.

Ha! I like blockade runner

 

[francist]

I was thinking to make a 90 degree plate to bolt all three to, and mount them on one of the frame crossmember

That sounds reasonable. Something like this, if I’m understanding correctly...

I’m sure you can come up with something that will work, I’ve seen how you think. My main concern if I were doing it would be to somehow plan for the vibration over long periods of time. The larger horns are pretty heavy and almost all the weight is sticking out the front, wonder if there’d be a way to clamp a safety strap or something onto the front lip of the bells? Or maybe support them from underneath with a longer platform too, that might do it.

 

[historicalarms]

Nope! A friend aired up the lil’ red horn and our ears rang for a good hour afterwards. I knew enough to be 50 feet away and still it was loud.

Ha! I like blockade runner

While reading the last couple days postings in this thread i was thinking when I got to the end i would suggest to you, Dave, that you mount that unit as far back from the cab as you can...I guess you know that already....and point it back.
If you have them all plumbed and mounted as a unit you can still get a sense of each ones tone by just plugging two at a time with a rag in the muzzle. it really is amazing how each one will have a completely different blast tone but it takes all three in unison to really create the locomotive warning. I agree that they are "air hogs"...those needles on your air tanks are going to move quicker with a horn blast that they will in a panic breaking episode ( according to Stan, my buddy of the RR crossing story)

 

[Chicken lights]

While reading the last couple days postings in this thread i was thinking when I got to the end i would suggest to you, Dave, that you mount that unit as far back from the cab as you can...I guess you know that already....and point it back.
If you have them all plumbed and mounted as a unit you can still get a sense of each ones tone by just plugging two at a time with a rag in the muzzle. it really is amazing how each one will have a completely different blast tone but it takes all three in unison to really create the locomotive warning. I agree that they are "air hogs"...those needles on your air tanks are going to move quicker with a horn blast that they will in a panic breaking episode ( according to Stan, my buddy of the RR crossing story)

That’s exactly how they were mounted on the other truck, and I planned something similar

 

[Chicken lights]

@historicalarms
I’ll let him share details

 

[Tom O]

Now just hook them up to the garage door and wait for the lowlifes to come! ........ Maybe a sign
“ TP available at house”

 

[historicalarms]

Now just hook them up to the garage door and wait for the lowlifes to come! ........ Maybe a sign
“ TP available at house”

Thats exactly why they are mounted where they are.
I apologize for the pigeon shit but the shop door got damaged and jammed open for a while and a few birds decided to roost above the horns...until they became "supper" one evening...I discovered all the hoopla about "pigeon pie" is a fallacy big time ...I fixed the door!
There is a trip line from the small shop door to a 1/2" ball valve that dumps 1/2" volume air tru the blue line seen attached. If that door is opened by an unwanted intruder, i can guarantee that he will vacate the premises in haste.
Air line is fed by 70 gallons of air storage, lasts about 10 seconds at full volume and diminishes down to a squeal at 15 seconds...might not seem to be that long but I can guarantee that the guy aint coming back anytime soon. When I finished the install, of course i had to give er a rip to see if my intended usage would be "sound"...when I popped that dump valve for the first time I couldn't close it fast enough to suit me at all...that first blast lasted all of one second and inside that shop, that was enough for me for a lifetime.