I live about 3/4 mile from NS's Harrisburg line. I can hear the horns clearly everytime. If the trains are slugging uphill, I can hear the roar of the locomotives. On a quite day, I can also hear the cars themselves. Coal trains sound very different from intermodal and intermodal from mixed freight.
Nick
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coborn35 wrote:Well, there are significant differences between whistles and airhorns, one of which is that an airhorn is much louder. If it reverberated, you may be able to hear it 100KM (notice KM, not M)
Sometimes on REALLY quiet days, I would hear a slight "ding-ding-ding-ding....." of the crossing gates lowering in the distance at Diamond St. (2 miles away) in Ravenna, OH. ..........................
Sometimes on REALLY quiet days, I would hear a slight "ding-ding-ding-ding....." of the crossing gates lowering in the distance at Diamond St. (2 miles away) in Ravenna, OH.
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amtrakjackson wrote:The closest I get to any rail line from my home is NS's Michigan Line, approximately 12 miles due north, milepost 67.5, at a spot known as Leoni, Michigan. Many evenings (or mornings), I can hear the whistles between Grass Lake (mp 65) and CP East Jackson (mp 72.7), roughly in a 12-15 mile arc from my house. Ian
The closest I get to any rail line from my home is NS's Michigan Line, approximately 12 miles due north, milepost 67.5, at a spot known as Leoni, Michigan. Many evenings (or mornings), I can hear the whistles between Grass Lake (mp 65) and CP East Jackson (mp 72.7), roughly in a 12-15 mile arc from my house.
Ian
Oh wow. I just answered this question on another thread where it wasn't asked!
I live five miles from the NS line between Harrisburg and Reading. On quiet evenings, it's not the horn or whistles. The engine rumble can almost be felt.
"However, as I did a research on google map, and looked at what you have described being '2miles away' in Ravenna, OH, the whole town(Ravenna) only span about 1 mile in diameter.... I wonder how you measure it to be 2miles...maybe you live really off the town? The Diamond St, is located in the south part of the town and there are only 2 crossing gates there."
Scooby-
I lived two miles south of the tracks. Well, maybe 1 3/4 miles away - but no less. I still lived in Ravenna, OH. And you are forgetting, there are also crossings for NS too. One on Lake St. in Ravenna - which was 1 1/2 miles away from my house. That is all that I know. Sorry to confuse you.
EDIT: Yes - I did live a few miles south of the town, but not out of the whole corporation limits. If I would have lived less than half a mile south of where I lived, I would have lived in a smaller town called "Rootstown." But Ravenna is actually a somewhat big town. It is Portage County's "county seat."
Rich
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I'm a block away from the Schuylkil River East Side Branch, now CSX. I can hear the whistle for the grade crossing to the north, and other sounds from shunting and switching activity. This despite an intervening 6-story building.
This is far from an annoyance, though. Wish I could see what was going on, too.
scooby wrote:another question: is the horn different from locomotive to locomotive? I've noticed that freight locomotive has much louder one than the passanger one. Is it due to design?thanx
There are different types of locomotives, like the EMD SD40-2, GE C40-8W, EMD SD70MAC, etc. (Those are just examples). They all have a different type of horn on them. Like some old Conrails have the K5LA. But I don't know too much about the types of horns, I am not the person to ask.
But I will give you a brief summary of locomotives in general and their use. Most current Amtrak trains use a GE model, known as the "P42DC." It has the slanted front, and the sleek body. No catwalk or walkway, etc.
On CSX up here, manifest trains usually use EMD SD40-2's, which have a 3,000 horespower motor. Now it depends mostly on this units heritage, of what type of horn it has. If it is a former Conrail, it will have a different horn than a former L&N.
For CSX Intermodal trains, they mostly use "high-horsepower" GE models, which have huge motors, putting out 4,000 - 6,000 horsepower. The GE "Dash 8" series (i.e. C40-8, B40-8, C40-8W), the "Dash 9" series (i.e. C40-9, C40-9W, C44-9W), and the "AC6000CW" are mostly used for intermodal business.
The "Dash 8" and "Dash 9" series both put out 4,000 horsepower, with the exception of the "C44-9W" which puts out 4,400 horsepower. The "AC6000CW", is a monster. It puts out an impressive 6,000 horsepower. And CSX is starting to use newer "GEVO (General Electric Evolution)" locomotives for intermodal business. For example:
CSX ordered 199 GE ES44DC's. They put out 4,400 horsepower. The "ES" stands for "Evolution Series", while the "DC" simply states that it is a "Direct Current" model. Unlike the AC6000CW or AC4400CW, which use an AC motor - Alternating Current motor.
EMD locomotives are a whole different slice of cheese though. The "SD (Special Duty)" series, range from the SD7 to the SD90MAC-HII. The SD7 was the first "Special Duty" unit out. I am still learning about these oldie locomotives, so I don't have much to tell about the SD7.
The SD90MAC-HII has 6,000 horsepower (just like the AC6000CW), only it has an upgradeable 4,300 horsepower motor, and not one, already rated at 6,000 horsepower, when purchased. (Which is how AC6000CW's are). Now, I have done enough falpping my yap here.
If you want to know more info, just email me. And I will try to give you a better summary. Sorry, I know this one is quite confusing. And yes, if you already knew about this, go right ahead, and make a humiliation out of me, LOL.
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