type of horn on ES44dc's

hey everyone, i was in Framingham yesteday, (Sunday 3/5) and as i was driving to the north yard on RTE 135, the gates came donw and Q116 was coming east lite engine w/ 2 Gevos, 5242 and 5293 (i think) and the horn on the engine was lovely, lol, i was chasing the train down RTE 135 (for those who don't know the area, the B&A and RTE 135 follow each other side by side for quite a distance) the horn on the GEVO is great, i was wondering what type of horn it is, it didn't sound like a K5LA

I think they have a K5LA. Looks like Airchime doesn't make any 5 chime horns other than the K5LA now a days. It could've sounded different to you because of the chime setup, amount pressure pulled on the handle by the engineer or maybe just a bad chime or two in there. Many things to consider. To bad you dont have a recording.

It's definintely a 5-chime, but it doesn't sound like anything else CSX has. It's way better sounding.

i agree, it is the best horn that CSX has on its loco's

Its definetly a K5LA but I believe it sounds diffrent as most if not all the bells are facing backwards.

They're K5LLAs I believe. They have the big chime reversed.


http://atsf.railfan.net/airhorns/k5lla.html

Nice catch, one thing is that it doesn't mention about them being on GE's, just EMD's. Also I was looking at a roof shot of a CSX GEVO and it looks like its set up three bells forward, two bells back.

Then it was probably built before these new rules came into effect and has K5LAR24s or something. OR they've been replaced. Who knows.

Heres a shot of mine that shows the bell arrangement on the CSX ES44DC. 4 Bells reverse and 1 bell forward.

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=115663

They look much closer together than a K5LLA and are stacked odd. hmmm

I would say thats due to the high profile manifold the bells rest on.

The horn used on GE's GEVO units is an Airchime K5HL. It has the same manifold type as the K5H, which is most often seen in Canada but is also used on CSX and SP Dash-8's. The tuning is not the same as the K5LA.

The K5HL and K5LLA (which is used on EMD's new units) are new horn types introduced to comply with recent noise-level regulations that specify a maximum decibal output for train horns. Both have a low-pitched "1L" bell that sounds middle C--lower-pitched than any bells on previous production K-series horns.

Later K5H horns produced by Nathan/Airchime came with a tuning error--the #4 bell sounded B instead of C. The #4 chime is also used on the K5HL on the GEVO's, and the tuning error was carried over.

Check out this great site for more info: http://atsf.railfan.net/airhorns/

You don't get a choice anymore, on how you blow the horn. You push a button, on the console, and a relay sends the signal, to a valve, that opens electrically, with full MR pressure being applied. No more "fanning" the valve, or creating personalized blowing signatures. It's now "all or nothing", and the only way the air doesn't blow all the way, is due to a leaking air line, or a leaking control valve. "Off pitch" horns are due to combinations of front and rear facing horn bells, or a plugged diaghragm, in a single trumpet. Regards

Well, you peeps have the idea of what are on the new units, but your not on the right ones exactly.
K5HL's are on GEVO's (ES44DC/AC) and some GEVO's have different horns than K5LA's or many, many others.
K5LLA's, which are the most ugliest sounding horn in the world, is on the SD70ACe/SD70M-2.

Shane Smiley

Well, you peeps have the idea of what are on the new units, but your not on the right ones exactly.
K5HL's are on GEVO's (ES44DC/AC) and some GEVO's have different horns than K5LA's or many, many others.
K5LLA's, which are the most ugliest sounding horn in the world, is on the SD70ACe/SD70M-2.

...That's just what I mentioned above. Are there any recordings online yet of the K5LLA on the new EMD's? I haven't heard it . It seems to me it would sound something like an out-of-tune Leslie S5T. As far as I'm concerned, none of the newer horns are as nice as a "proper" K5H or K3H.