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Firelock76Doesn't explain why the NYC put air horns on the Niagaras though. Just to be modern and "cool?"
The Railway Mechanical Engineer articles on the Niagara specifically mention the various savings to be derived from the use of a 'pneuphonic' horn blown by compressed air vs. the use of superheated steam. (Whistle on the C1a was likewise to use superheated steam so I'd expect those would have gotten horns by '47; on the other hand, the A2a Berkshires, last NYC big steam, never got horns -- which was an advantage, because they had some of the finest whistles ever applied to steam power...)
Meanwhile, the plot thickens. While I was looking over Eastern 4-8-4s (and then a wider selection of 4-8-4s) for what has turned out to be the Locomotive Draft Control Device, I noticed some interesting details concerning air horns.
In the 1975 PRM book on "Northerns", p.110, there is a lovely shot of the Timken Four Aces on the DL&W at Hoboken Terminal, with a rather amazing chime horn visible at the top of the boiler (it has at least four bells). I thought perhaps the horn was actually mounted (for a reason I couldn't really explain) on the cat-bridge structure behind the locomotive, but there's a picture of Lackawanna 1501 with a very similar horn, in a very similar place, on p.21.
Meanwhile, judging from what I've seen, all the Lackawanna Q-4-a's had small single air horns, right on center top of the boiler just ahead of the sand dome. How they kept cinders, soot and such out of this bell, small as it was, I'm not sure...
RME oldline1 I own a Nathan P5 "whistle". I have the maintenance sheets and some other data from Nathan that refer to this huge and loud creature as a "whistle". Interesting, because the official Nathan site now doesn't refer to the AirChimes as anything but 'horns'. You might provide the date of the material you have, and perhaps document numbers or even scans, as it would be interesting to identify when their policies changed.
oldline1 I own a Nathan P5 "whistle". I have the maintenance sheets and some other data from Nathan that refer to this huge and loud creature as a "whistle".
Interesting, because the official Nathan site now doesn't refer to the AirChimes as anything but 'horns'.
You might provide the date of the material you have, and perhaps document numbers or even scans, as it would be interesting to identify when their policies changed.
Well, I lack the intelligence to master posting photos and stuff to Kalmbach's site.
I checked my parts pages and maintenance pages for my P5 and they have no dates but everywhere they call it a whistle. I went to the Nathan site and they do call it a horn.
Apparently they refer to the entire assembly as "whistle" and the individual cone shaped things I always heard of as "bells' as the "horn". Go figure?
I don't know when they changed the terminology or why.
Roger Huber
Deer Creek Locomotive Works
Thank You.
I may be mistaken, but I do believe what is shown as GM&O 1200 started life as B&O 50 and it was originially equipped with a horn.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
B&O 50 was used on one of the 'lightweight' equipment sets on the Royal Blue between Washington and New York. B&O President Daniel Willard didn't like the ride quality of this set of equipment and after a short time in operation it was sent to the B&O's Chicago & Alton subsidary along with B&O 50 to operate between St. Louis and Chicago. On the Alton it was given a face lift and ran with the equipment as the Abraham Lincoln. During WW II the B&O sold the Alton to the Mobile & Ohio which at some point thereafter renamed itself to the Gulf, Mobile & Ohio.
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I don't know about you but electric or diesel-electric locmotives equipped with whistles, not horns existed in the past....some of them exist even today. FOr example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzM5InljDxo
tataiaI don't know about you but electric or diesel-electric locmotives equipped with whistles, not horns existed in the past....some of them exist even today. FOr example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzM5InljDxo
Other side of the Pond!
That would be 1947. M&O + GM&N started in 1938 with the ICC and the two predecessor names were gone by 1947 at the same time ALTON was swallowed by GM&O.(5-31-47)
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