Amtrak whistle tones

[cnr6060]

Hi there,

I am a new poster!

Would anyone know if the it is the K5LA whislte's being used on Amtrak California's F-59's?

Secondly, does anyone know if certian railroads desire certain whistles, IE, Amtrak, VIA, etc.

Thanks!

CNR_6060

[Brad Smith]

Welcome, cnr6060

You will probably do better at getting replies if you post this question in the Amtrak forum.

[wigwagfan]

Welcome CNR_6060!

Many railroads do specify a type of horn, but their preferences for such can change over time - so that locomotives that were ordered (or rebuilt) during a certain time frame will have similiar/same air horns, but locomotives ordered/rebuilt later may have a different air horn.

Hopefully one of our participants can give you some more detailed information as to the horns on the California F59s.

[MEC407]

The Nathan K5LA is the standard horn for all road locomotives at Amtrak. Their switcher locomotives may have anything from an ancient M3 to a new K5H; it varies. But the K5LA is what you'll find on 99.9% of their road locos.

With that in mind, you may notice that the K5LAs on the F59s sound a bit different compared to the K5LAs on other types of Amtrak locos. This is because the K5LAs on the F59s are located directly behind the exhaust stack. This causes them to become receptacles for soot and other contaminants, which can have an adverse effect on pitch, volume, and other sound qualities.

[dumpster.penguin]

Implicit in the panelist's question is, "How can I use Amtrak's horn as my ring-tone?" Unfortunately there is a reason, besides the obvious, why this is seldom done. No one wants a cell phone that rings anywhere from half an hour to six hours late.

[wigwagfan]

Implicit in the panelist's question is, "How can I use Amtrak's horn as my ring-tone?"

I'm not sure if it's a K5LA, but scroll to the bottom of this website. You'll need a way to send the file to your phone, however.