FA Horn

A thread on another board asked why the Western Maryland Railway FA's had such strange looking horns. I must admit that this caught me flatfooted as I guess I never focused too much attention on the horn, but it sure is different. I have two questions for you -- did all of the FA's come with this horn (or was it unique to the WM) and what was the purpose behind its "strange" design?

Thanks in advance for any additional information on this.

Poppyl

Is this what you're referring to? http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPictur ... id=1586623

Yup. And if you look at them from an overhead position, you'll see that the upper horns are pointed out to the side somewhat.

Poppyl

I think it was a WM thing, at least the NYC and NH FA-1's didn't have them.
C.J.V.

On a semi related note, did any FAs ever get a Hancock air whistle? Mix it up a little

Theres nothing odd at all about a pair of Nathan M5s. WP liked them as well. WM was just odd because they liked a pair of them.

Thanks for the information. My limited research since I posed my questions indicates that FA-1's displayed single horns with the exceptions of the LIRR, SEPTA, and some NH units, although these FA-1's may have been modified. On the FA-2's, several roads, including the WM, L&N, and LV, went with the dual Nathan configuration. One exception may have been the NYC that appears to have continued with the single horn configuration. All in all I'd say that the choice of horn was an option offered to the purchaser.

Poppyl

I asked about this on the TrainHorns Yahoo Group and one gentleman said that the reason they used two sets of M5s, with one facing forward and one facing rearward, was because they were still using horn signals in those days to communicate with the crew at the rear of the train. They'd use the forward-facing horn for grade crossings and whatnot, and use the rearward-facing horn for communicating with the hind end crew.

As for the M5s themselves, I agree with Ðauntless -- there's nothing strange or odd about them; they were pretty common in those days. And worth a small fortune if you can find one today.