With time, I saw several pictures of C&NW locomotives possessing a railroad crossing bell instead of a normal locomotive bell, i would want to know why did they used them instead of, like i mentioned, regular locomotive bells.
Traditionally, EMD bells are located under the frame between the fuel tank and one of the trucks. This locations leaves them susceptible to getting clogged with ice and snow in the winter. As bells are required to work as they are critical for safety, many railroads moved them elsewhere. C&NW (as well as DT&I)'s solution was the nose gong bell. I don't know why they chose the gong exactly, but they did. NKP located traditional bells lower in the short hood on their GP30s. MILW tried electronic bells with speakers on the cab roof. GMD's production of most GPs and SDs in Canada had the bell located over the cab between the number boards.
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