# Whistles and bells....when & where?



## hans911 (Jan 9, 2008)

Not being a longtime RR historian and quite honestly a beginner in this subject I am lost.
When does a steam loco blow its whistle or ring the bell. I've seen some charts on whistle blowing signals but nothing on bell ringing. 

Looking to set up some triggers for sounds on my layout but would like them to be somewhat realistic.

Thanks for the new guy help.

PH


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

Both are audible warning devices that mean, "Watch out, I am in motion, can't stop easily, and cannot steer away from harming someone in the way."

But the whistle is also a signaling device; combinations of short and long sounds have meaning to those that know them. Every RR had some similar meaning to various combinations and the F.R.A. codified some of them but not all RR's complied with the code and some added other sequences to fit their particular needs.

Some common signals were:

One short blast when the train is moving means I am going to stop and it is repeated once the train has come to a stop and intends to stay stopped (i.e.: it is okay to start letting passengers off).

Two short blasts meant the train is intending to move forward, (so stop allowing passengers to get on or off), but if on a hill it might roll backward unintentionally when the brakes are released, so don't stand behind the train either!

Three short blasts means the train intends to move backward, and the same caveats apply.

The most known signal is two longs, a short and a long and that means the train is approaching a crossing with a road (or other path). The F.R.A. rules specify that it be timed such that the last long blast lasts until the engine is in the crossing, but allows for the engineer to have miss-timed it and can either repeat the 4 sounds or just repeat a series of long and/or short blasts until the engine is in the crossing. Today the rules are a bit more strict in that the sound cannot be made too soon before the crossing (noise abatement), but some of the rule contradicts itself in that at certain speeds the full 4 blast sequence cannot be accomplished in the space available. There is not a lot of argument over it and it is seen as more of a "guideline" than hard and fast rule.

One other signal is commonly used and that is continuous short blasts meaning the engineer has seen something dangerous and needs help or at least is calling attention to some situation.

The bell is used when the train is in motion and there are, or possibility could be, people on or near the track; such as when moving in within yard limits or at a passenger station, or when traveling through a work zone. It is normally not used when traveling at a high speed. The use of the bell is also codified by the F.R.A.


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## Steve Stockham (Jan 2, 2008)

Also, to add to that excellent summary, the bell is used when the engine is backing up (but _not_ the entire time that the engine is in motion if it is pulling a train while in reverse!)


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

Interesting.

Thanks for the summary.


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## hans911 (Jan 9, 2008)

Thanks Guys! Very interesting.

Who needs Google when we have the resources of the MLS members?!!!









PaulH


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## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

Most of the whistle and bell rules where made by the RR operating rules. FRA does not require the sounding of the whittle through the lenght of the crossing this more a RR rule. The bell is also required on fast trains should that train go by Maintenance crews new the track. It must be rang though the entire limits of a work order or untill the last worker is passed. Also the whitle is to be sounded till a member or the work crew acknowledges the sounding of the whistle. When in yards bell must be rung when ever track crews or other maintenance folks near the track.

Also 4 blast of the whistle means to call in the rear flagman. Later RJD


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

It was recently codified by the FRA in response to problems with cities enacting "Quiet Zone" ordinances without regard to Federal Safety rules.... see "Federal Register - Federal Railroad Administration 49 CFR Parts 222 and 229 Use of Locomotive Horns at Highway-Rail Grade Crossings; Final Rule" dated April 27, 2005.

"_ 
Section 222.21 When Must a
Locomotive Horn Be Used?

_ Paragraph (a) of this section
establishes the duty to sound the
locomotive horn when approaching a
public highway-rail grade crossing. The
locomotive horn shall be sounded when
the lead locomotive or cab car is
approaching a public highway-rail grade
crossing. This paragraph also requires
the sounding of the locomotive horn in
a pattern of two long, one short, and one
long blast, which shall be initiated at
the location specified in paragraph (b) of
this section. The locomotive horn
sounding pattern shall be repeated or
prolonged until the locomotive or train
occupies the crossing. However, the
horn sounding pattern may be varied as
necessary where crossings are spaced
closely together.
"


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

Recalling the flagmen was one of the most confusing situations I have ever read about. Every RR had some different number of blasts for it, and most had just two different signals (such as 4 blasts and 5 blasts) based on whether calling in the flagman from North or East, or the South or West... and other RRs specified that it was the South or East, or the North or West.

And then some RRs always refered to the physical compass direction and for others it was based on what is often called "Railroad North". This was based on the general direction two major depots were to each other, even if there were loops and twists that might cause the train to be traveling in the opposite compass direction at some point on the track. There are places, especially in mountainous areas where the track folds back on itself winding around to get up or down a hill so a train going from, say, Denver to Sacramento might at one point be traveling East even though Sacramento is considered West of Denver. Thus if it stopped and sent out flagmen, to recall the one from the rear of the train, who might actually be WEST of the train, the signall would be, "recall flagman from the North or East"! "Boomers", who bounced from one RR to another that had different signals and "direction" nomenclature, would have difficulty remembering if a signal meant they should return or not. 

I would have thought that it would have been more intuitive if the specification was Front or Rear of the Train the way RJD mentioned, rather than "direction" .


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