Software-Controlled Train Horns?

[MP57313]

Some time in the mid-90s, before the Alameda Corridor was built, the city of Torrance held a meeting with the public regarding train traffic. There were representatives from the BNSF, the UTU, and the MTA (Los Angeles County's transit system).

At the time there were more than a dozen long double-stack trains using the BNSF Harbor Subdivision every day. The major complaint of the residents was the blaring of horns. The line passes through several residential neighborhoods.

The RR reps mentioned the federal law requiring horns at crossings. Also, the UTU rep mentioned that some of the locomotives coming on-line at the time had the horns programmed by software. The software made all horn blasts uniform in duration and decibels. (The UTU rep said it violates federal law for the engineer to give a couple of quiet "toots" if he is passing through a neighborhood at, say 5 am. The horn needs to be full & loud each time).

I do recall occasionally hearing trains where the horn blasts seem to be "perfectly measured". In most cases, this does not seem to be the case any more.

Did software-controlled horns ever catch on?

[Anonymous]

We have several engineers around here who do the "beep . . . beep . . . beep . . . beep . . . beep . . . beep" It will drive you C R A Z Y. The thing about it is they do like 10,000 beeps instead of the normal long, long short, long. [:(] [V] [:(]

[mvlandsw]

I don't think that they are software controlled. The newer units eliminate all the air piping from the control stand by using electrical signals sent to the computer which controls the air brakes. The horn control is an electric push button which operates the horn air valve located outside the cab. Unlike the whistle cord or horn valve on the control stand this valve is either full on or off. The engineer has no control of the volume. You can get a short, lower volume toot by tapping the button quickly instead of holding it down. Some CSX GE's have a foot pedal on the floor somewhat like the old automobile headlight dimmer switches. Tapping this will cause the horn to blow the standard grade crossing warning repeatedly until the pedal is tapped again to shut it off. I heard that when the first unit with this feature arrived in Cumberland, Md. someone unknowingly hit the pedal and had to shut the engine down to stop the horn from blasting away. This operation is probably sotware controlled.