SD70M-2 Horn speculation

[Badhorse79]

Hey does anyone else (who live a few blocks from the tracks) notice the 70M-2 horn sounds a lil like a J class hooter whistle all low and mountainy I just wanna ask because I shut every thing off and listen !? Or am I the only dumb dumb who thinks this

[E.M. Bell]

The newest round of K5's that are on the new EMD's and GE's have a very distinctive sound for sure..not like the "old" K5 sound. I cant say I have not noticed them being nearly as pleasing though, as what you describe, but then again distance might be a factor...

What I cant stand is the way the new fangled electric horn buttons make them sound. Instant on and off "WFO"with no way to quill it at all.

[csx6900]

I'm with E.M. on that one.  Not as good as a J Class, but I guess I can see where you're coming from.

I also hate that the electronic horn buttons don't allow for any "play," as it were.  I can always tell an older EMD or C40-8 from a widecab when I hear them from afar because of the way that the horn is played.  On a GP10 that I ran a few times down at the Florida Railroad Museum, I always tried to get some play on the K5LA that she had.  But the valve was sticky and it was rather hard to do without it sounding like a sick animal.  But I suppose that's what would be called "user error" these days. 

-Evan

[Badhorse79]

I know I love the horns from the early 90's like the Geep 60's and Dash8's im sure others had them, they would send chills down my spine when I would hear them in kings mountain reverberating off the hills ! I guess it was the K5LA like Even said im not sure?

[billworsham]

Those SD70M-2 horns and the horns on the new aces as of late sound to me like an angry bull as if someone shot it in the balls!

[Ptrainman]

The K5LLA horns on the SD70M- 2 and SD70ACe are junk. The old K5LAR24 aether best ones put there.


Paul

[Southern6482]

I might be in the minority but there was nothing better than the P5's coming at ya and that shrill that was oh so "Southern."  I love catching a Trash 9 or later power where one has accidently found its way on there.

[Ptrainman]

I like the P5 also, especially on the lodging Southern units with one on each end.


Paul

[GP30Rider]

I might be in the minority but there was nothing better than the P5's coming at ya and that shrill that was oh so "Southern." 

This  ^^^^^^

[Ptrainman]

Never heard a RS5T. Cant ever catch some N&W power with one on it.


Paul

[E.M. Bell]

RS5T is my all time favorite, and NS does (or recently did) have a few SD40-2's that still had them. I had the distinct joy of hearing one go by the house one night a few months back...Nothing like laying in the bed with the window open, with the only sound being crickets and that horn echoing up and down the Salt River Valley!

[etalcos]

Southern never had an RS5T on their 40-2s unless somebody was messing around with the original equipment.  They were a dual P5 or P3 affair from the factory.  Southern did briefly have the older S5TR on some of the 35 and 45 series engines, but they were mostly gone by the mid '70s.

The horns on the 70 series are hit or miss, just like most Nathan products.  Some of them are almost spot on for the old M5 sound, while others sound like a scalded cat climbing the chalkboard.  Nathan's QC is poor coupled to most railroads don't care as long as it makes a noise so there is little consistency.

The old cast P5 (pre 1977) that most Southern units had was an awesome sound as well.  The few (10 pairs maybe) K5LAs that Southern got new on their dash 7s were really good as well -- unfortunately they got scattered to the wind.  A good RS5T-RRO (SBD System/Family Lines/SCL) truly was one of the all time great horns.  NOTHING says get the F*&^ out of the way like a good RRO.

The N&W Leslies weren't bad, but it was hard to find one that was working right.  Its sad that the Roanoke Chapter folks screwed up their otherwise fine GP-30 by putting a P5 on it.  The P5 is fine, just not on that engine.  It deserves the RS5T-RF that it came with

[nsrlink]

http://youtu.be/IHTrFNLofSE
Would y'all mind watching this & tell me if that's a P5 or a P3?
I know the feller that's runnin' the train in the video & he has some pretty nice horn work.    

[NSDash9]

He was correct. NS 6516 was an SD50.


Chris

[etalcos]

Southern was a large P3 user.  If it was a Southern switcher, most of the early ones were equipped with M3s or M5s (or the occasional single note), and in the later years most were refitted with P3s.  All of the SW-1500s and MP-15s were delivered with P3s and most still have them.  I know that some of the U boats, '38s, '40s and '45s also came from the factory with them.  Granted, they were heavy users of the P5 as well, but there were and still are many P3s around.

The L&N also used the P3 as well.  Both of the U23Bs in Oak Ridge were delivered with them.

I do tend to agree with the horn in question being a P5, and a fairly decent one at that.

[fireball451]

A few ex-Southern SD40-2's that are on T24 through Johnson City occasionally have P3 horns on them.

[Backyard]

A few ex-Southern SD40-2's that are on T24 through Johnson City occasionally have P3 horns on them.

Those are P142's.

[E.M. Bell]

I will go with what Charlie said! If we have anyone on here that knows a thing or Two about horns, its him.

Rlink, that feller does seem to have a knack for quelling in that vid, and thats not such an easy thing to do given the SD50's and SD60's tendencies for the horn to "drift off...lag behind" what ever you want to call it. When the valve closes, it seems like the horn stops blowing ever so slowly. I always figured it was due to the horn being mounted back in the middle, and it takes a second or two for all the air to get used up out of the pipe??

[T. Mahan]

When I was at RJC in Lex, the 2781 (exSOU) had a P5 on one end, and a P3 on the other... Beautiful sounding!