Subway horn?

Forgive the complete noob question, but I figured I'd go to the experts.

I recently moved to NYC, and riding the subway on a regular basis has gotten me curious about a couple of things. One of those things has to do with a recent ride on the G, and there was a short period of time where the operator blew the horn a few times. Maybe three or four blasts for a couple of seconds each. It was during an outdoor, elevated section west of the Smith/9th Street stop where it turns to the north. It's the only time I've heard the horn while on a subway.

I guess the obvious thing is that someone was walking too close to the tracks, but are there other times an operator might blow the horn?

There was probably flagging for track work going on. There was a track worker taken out a few weeks ago at Fort Hamilton Parkway on the same line. It's unlikely that it was a trespasser causing the horn use though.

Ah - that'd make sense. I do remember there being some construction going on around that area of track, although with NY, who knows? There seems to be construction going on everywhere.

Thanks for the reply!

yea, if there was an unauthorized person on the track, the T/O would have slammed on the breaks and waited for the cops to come get him.

Not if the moron runs off...plus who's going to be trespassing around Smith-9th?

People do.
I was there a few days ago when some idiots jumped down onto the bridge, and then ran into the space where the layup was when a train came.

BiigD, when you're riding if you see two yellow flags or two flashing yellow lights at track level, that indicates entering a work-zone. The operator will slow to a crawl and sound the horn, usually twice if I remember right. Then a green flag or green light indicates the end of the work-zone and resume normal speed.

Since you're a newbie, welcome to the board, and if you have other questions, this is the place to ask. If you haven't already done it, try riding at the front of the train, where depending on the car model, you might be able to see out forward thru the cab door window in daylight on the els.

Head-end View wrote: Since you're a newbie, welcome to the board, and if you have other questions, this is the place to ask. If you haven't already done it, try riding at the front of the train, where depending on the car model, you might be able to see out forward thru the cab door window in daylight on the els.

Thanks for the welcome! Sorry for the late reply, I've been off on vacation. I'll definitely try to ride up front from now on. It's funny - growing up in SoCal, I never spent much time on trains. But now that I'm in NYC, I take the subway, the LIRR, and Amtrak all the time. Being in the transportation business as well, sometimes I get curious how things are done.