@@billcampbell9886 A lower pitch would require a longer horn, or one with a larger internal diameter. Search my videos for Leslie A-200 and Wabco E2. That's about as low as a locomotive horn goes, to get any lower you need to go to ship horns.
@@thatbirbfriend2180 The tanks are DOT certified air tanks, meant for vehicle use. Compressed air isn't an explosive agent, it doesn't go boom from a sudden shock. 120 PSI isn't high enough to cause an explosion should a tank get crushed. As soon as a tank is impacted if the pressure rises the safety valve will pop, and if any tank damage is enough to open up a hole that relives the pressure.
Reminds of the Seaboard Coast Line horns.Used to hear them allot.Being I live about a mile and a half from the tracks.I meet a truck driver who had a train horn under his truck.
This guy reminds me of another gent that has a WW2 Chrysler air raid siren powered by a Hemi V-8 engine; 138 decibels at 100 feet away-making it the loudest warning device ever built.
Minor point of appreciation; part of the magic of train horns is that Doppler shift they make as the train roars past, the distinctive chord sounding continuously. They're meant to be used on moving vehicles, and that's how we hear them. Your recording them mounted on a moving car captures that missing element perfectly. As you drove past, it wasn't hard to imagine a bygone first-generation locomotive from a forgotten railroad blasting past as it leans into a curve. Thanks!
It's quite awesome!! I grew up here in Globe, Az. The train goes through every night and it's very comforting. We lived closer to the track until a couple months ago and moved a little further away, but we can still hear it. But now I am in the process of trying to do the same type of thing on my vehicles because I love that sound! Thank you for this video, very cool!👍
These videos have made me aware of the different styles that engineers have blowing the horn. I get enough freight trains daily passing near my house that I can recognize a few.
mafarnz I'd like to purchase a used Nathan or used Leslie. Do you have any suggestions as to where I might find used ones that may need minor work? I can't afford new ones as I want to stay married for now.
200mphz06 Ebay, horn collector websites are good places. The average range for a good condition used Nathan or Leslie 3 chime is $450 + - 100. Avoid the powder coated ones, they are overpriced for what they are.
mafarnz Wow. That price I can handle. Thanks. What are your thoughts on getting a compressor and/or tank from Harbor Freight? I know they're not top of the line but I think they'll work.
*RARE COMMENT:* That's actually really cool, loads of people here don't understand that you don't need reasoning in a hobby, It's just something that you find fun and interesting.Good on you :D
I love it!!!! I grew up near train tracks with trains going to and from the local harbor area. Every time they cross the streets they they are required to blow their horns as a warning. It was great. Most people hated them, but I loved 'em.
This is how air horns should be used. On empty stretches of road, where they can sound like a real train horn, long, with beautiful Doppler effect. Not cruising around fast food row and letting off short blasts that mostly piss people off. Well done.
Very cool. my father, grandfather, and great grandfather have all worked on the railroad their entire lives, and if they were here with us to see this they would appreciate the fact that you are preserving these very cool devices and sounds. One thing i just gotta say though, pretty darn sure those ball valves are stainless steel, not chrome plated.
Thanks, glad you like it! I've had several people tell me that about the valves, and what I have always said is that the store that sold them to me advertised them as chrome plated, so if they aren't I want my money back.
ok, most people would not understand why you did this. I DO! it's cool. LOUD and FUN! I have a '59 Chev Panel Truck, custom street rod. (you can see pics at my google page.) a friend of mine who works for the railroad got me a cast alum. set of air horns right off the top of a locomotive, I installed a 40 gal. tank underneath the truck, and was able to also mount the huge horns under the truck on the frame. you could not see them, I added a 100 lb. compressor and the fun began! the sound was incredible! so, let me just say...I GET IT!! BLAST AWAY!!...Tommy in Minnesota
This is easily the best video on TH-cam. I couldn't help but laugh when you drove past the camera. This is so impractical and useless, but amazing at the same time!
Now I know why you asked certain people to not comment. Good job on the horn setup. They are illegal in certain instances but private hobby use off of public street is not a problem.
+Conor Mc Carthy Well then they came to the wrong video. I have tons of other videos that are just the horn but the point of this particular video is to show how my air setup works. It's not my fault that people are lazy and don't want to take the effort to find the video they actually want to watch.
I don't whats other people's deal with a Train horn collecting hobby, I recently began it with my first horn being a Micro-Precision K3LAR4 (Still need an air system when I get the money).
When we go to the desert or anywhere with trains we always do the "do your horn" signal with our arms. The sound is amazing and I thank you for not pranking. I wish I had something like this for the truck I'm buying next year. I will keep my eye out for deals.
I like your set up, I'm on board...just a few tips from a fellow pneumatic junkie...worm clamps, NO. Garden hose connectors, NO. Buy the correct tool and make your own crimped connections. Lower the fail safe schrader valve to 130. Should the compressor valve fail you'll be up higher than horns can allow. Get an electric release valve and ditch the handle valve set up. Last...at least strap that compressor down if not already.. you wouldn't want it in your back or your noggin in a head on... peace, and be safe.
Thanks for the tips! A few things. The hose barbs are a type that don't require hose clamps, I double checked that with the manufacturer before I did it. The horn(s) can withstand up to 150 PSI without damage, they normally run at 140 on a locomotive. I choose a manual valve instead of a solenoid because the manual valve allows better control of the horn and more playing around with the sound, and because solenoid valves can over time actually cause damage to Leslie horns. Lastly the compressor has the seatbelt going around it, so it is held in place. Cheers mate, and thanks!
People are just so selfish, judgmental and stupid and have a horrible attention span. They don’t take into consideration the dedication and hard work need to preserve history while also being able to not only have fun with it and be able to be safe with it. Nowadays there’s barely any fine line with stupidity and having fun. People usually go with stupidity.
THIS IS SOOOOOOOOOOO cool MAFAMZ!!! GREAT job! Looks complicated .... BUT, I bet I could squeeze these horns into my mini cooper Clubman 2013! LOL!!! My grandpappy was a train engineer and he let me ride a freight train and honk the train horn in Jersey, in Woodbine! NICELY done! Love it!!!
As a train lover myself, (especially the steam locomotive type), I think your train horns are Awesome. The only thing I have in my 09 Crown Victoria are four horns I installed from my old 79 Cadillac with the pitch of A, C, D and F. That's my train horns and it also reminds me of my old Caddy back in the day. Thanks so much for sharing. :-)
Dude so cool would have thought a train was coming even sounded like a train when you went past the camera how fast does it recover air pressure do you have the compressor hooked to 12 volt or are you using a inverter to run the compressor great vid happy holidays y'all ✌️
The horns are off a train, so yeah they do sound like one! The compressor runs off household 120V AC. I fill up my tanks when I'm at home and don't refill them when driving. I don't run a horn on the car 24/7 so this works great for em.
+Tony Valdez If I wanted to use more than one horn at a time, I would need to modify my roof rack. I do have a collection of over 20 train horns, but I only do one at a time.
Not trying to impersonate a locomotive, I just collect horns and need a way to make recordings of them. I do have a few bells but they are too heavy for the roof of a car.
I had a buddy who did something similar with an air horn from a semi truck in his van. If you get all of your fittings to be leak free you can just recharge the tank when you're at home and the air will last quite a while. Seems like an awful lot of space to lose in your back seat putting that compressor in there, especially considering that you need to stop to get to an electrical outlet anyway. I know a lot of offroaders will convert old A/C pumps into air compressors. You could do something like that too. Another option would be to set up one of those cheap 12V compressors to recharge the tank incrementally while you're just driving around. Run it for say 5 minutes on, cycle off for 20 minutes to cool, back on for 5 minutes, and so on. I remember one time we were sitting at a railroad crossing and he blew that horn at the engineer as he went by. The engineer blew his horn and that freaking thing shook the ground I swear. It was super loud. It's a good thing you're wearing ear protection.
+Bill Bradsky The reason for the compressor in the back seat is the 12 gallons of air that it holds. The compressor + the 20 gallon tank gives me 32 gallons of air, and that's barely enough for my large horns. I still need an AC, so re-purposing that for a compressor is out. I didn't want to modify the car's electrical system, so a 12 V pump is out. Those little cheap 12 V pumps couldn't handle the volume of air that one of my horns needs anyways. Trust me, I looked at all those options and more when I was first figuring out my horn set up. Ultimately I went with what I show in this video because #1 it works very well and #2 everything except the rack and valve is easily removed. I only have a train horn on the car maybe once or twice a month anyways, the rest of the time its just a normal car with no train horn. Having to go to an outlet isn't a big deal either, since the only reason for putting the horn on the car is to get a recording of it while it is in motion. So I have enough air to make my recording and then I'm done.
mafarnz Seems like you've got this well thought out. Very cool that you go to the lengths you do to capture the doppler effect necessary to make these sound authentic. I gotta be honest, I was looking at you sideways when I first stumbled across the video, but I get it now. Since I'm more of a car guy, it sort of reminds me of the guys who go to painful lengths to restore classics to exactly the way they were when they left the factory. Or like the guys who take old machine tools and make them function like new instead of going out and buying a new Bridgeport clone from Asia. There's something cathartic about that to me. It's almost more of a preservation of a piece of history than it is an enthusiasm for the object itself.
+Bill Bradsky Exactly, that's how I look at it, I'm preserving a small piece of history. I have over 20 horns, most of which are older than myself, and most of them make sounds that you don't really hear outside of a railroad museum. The car set up is simply a way for me to use the horns, since I don't have the money to buy my own railroad.
I have had train horns in a car on the roof like you. I have been pulled over with them hooked up and fully workable. They can’t give you a ticket just as long as you don’t blow the horn’s excessively.
Sounds great but you could have installed the compressor in the boot (or trunk as you Yanks call it!) and the horns possibly under the chassis if possible or the bonnet (hood!). I don't think it will impress anyone as much if they get to see all that hardware before you let it rip. Maybe, that's just my opinion but nice setup and equipment anyway. I'd be interested to see the output on a DB meter if you get the opportunity, it is hard to tell the volume by a video. Great upload, thanks for sharing!
At full pressure this horn is capable of 125DB, not sure what its putting out on my setup however. I didn't see the need to install an on-board compressor since I don't usually have the horns on the car, and I don't put the horns under the car because #1 they don't fit and #2 I spent a lot of time and effort restoring them and making them work again, and all the road grime and salt will just ruin them all over again.
mafarnz Oh I didn't realize they were vintage. You must have done a good job of restoring them then. They look much nicer than my shitty red plastic ones anyway!
Read the video description before posting a comment! Thanks and have a great day.
I like your setup but how would I get a deeper / lower tone? Would I need a specific horn, a larger or longer bell, or something else? Thanks.
@@billcampbell9886 A lower pitch would require a longer horn, or one with a larger internal diameter. Search my videos for Leslie A-200 and Wabco E2. That's about as low as a locomotive horn goes, to get any lower you need to go to ship horns.
What if you get in a car crash?
Those tanks might need a roll cage
@@thatbirbfriend2180 The tanks are DOT certified air tanks, meant for vehicle use. Compressed air isn't an explosive agent, it doesn't go boom from a sudden shock. 120 PSI isn't high enough to cause an explosion should a tank get crushed. As soon as a tank is impacted if the pressure rises the safety valve will pop, and if any tank damage is enough to open up a hole that relives the pressure.
Reminds of the Seaboard Coast Line horns.Used to hear them allot.Being I live about a mile and a half from the tracks.I meet a truck driver who had a train horn under his truck.
5:15 Nothing beats that drive by to illustrate the Doppler effect!!! Awesome!!
This guy reminds me of another gent that has a WW2 Chrysler air raid siren powered by a Hemi V-8 engine; 138 decibels at 100 feet away-making it the loudest warning device ever built.
Everyone is gangsta until they hear a train horn in the neighborhood
I like how I finally found a train horn video that isn't about pranks
I have a LOT more horn videos where this came from!
Minor point of appreciation; part of the magic of train horns is that Doppler shift they make as the train roars past, the distinctive chord sounding continuously. They're meant to be used on moving vehicles, and that's how we hear them. Your recording them mounted on a moving car captures that missing element perfectly. As you drove past, it wasn't hard to imagine a bygone first-generation locomotive from a forgotten railroad blasting past as it leans into a curve.
Thanks!
That is EXACTLY why I did the car air setup!
Nice example of the Doppler Effect.
+HUBBABUBBA DOOPYDOOP: Dammit, You took my comment. lol.
Chas S *_"Great minds think alike"_*
It's quite awesome!! I grew up here in Globe, Az. The train goes through every night and it's very comforting. We lived closer to the track until a couple months ago and moved a little further away, but we can still hear it. But now I am in the process of trying to do the same type of thing on my vehicles because I love that sound!
Thank you for this video, very cool!👍
im glad u dont giveheartattacks to people with that ,,,, thanks for being a decent human
Doppler Effect in action
i thought the same thing!
I laughed like a child when I finally heard the horn. The good news is I'm only 51 so I'll grow up, eventually.
I'm in my 30's and still don't feel "grown up" yet lol.
You really don't want to do that.
Yep I thought grow up nar not them either
I dont know why, i just really like the sound of train horns.
+UB-420 MeMeLoRd you came to the right place then, check out my other videos.
When I heard the horn, I genuinely started to wait for that approaching "...chuka-chuka-chuka-chuka..." knowing it wouldn't come :o
This guy's just straight-up roasting his haters
These videos have made me aware of the different styles that engineers have blowing the horn. I get enough freight trains daily passing near my house that I can recognize a few.
I loved the doppler effect as you went by!
Coolest thing I have seen all week. What I used to do before having internet access is something I can't remember or fathom.
Legends say, the driver who's at the intersection waiting for the train to come is still there. ☻
Collecting and restoring old train horns?
Sounds pretty fucking cool.
Thanks, I think its pretty cool myself. Check out my other videos, I have over 20 different train horns that I have rebuilt are restored.
I'll be sure to check them out.
mafarnz I'd like to purchase a used Nathan or used Leslie. Do you have any suggestions as to where I might find used ones that may need minor work? I can't afford new ones as I want to stay married for now.
200mphz06
Ebay, horn collector websites are good places. The average range for a good condition used Nathan or Leslie 3 chime is $450 + - 100. Avoid the powder coated ones, they are overpriced for what they are.
mafarnz Wow. That price I can handle. Thanks. What are your thoughts on getting a compressor and/or tank from Harbor Freight? I know they're not top of the line but I think they'll work.
*RARE COMMENT:* That's actually really cool, loads of people here don't understand that you don't need reasoning in a hobby, It's just something that you find fun and interesting.Good on you :D
Rare comment indeed! Thanks, glad somebody understands.
5:13 I've never seen such a beautiful example of the doppler effect
uploaded 6 years ago and youre still replying to comments, 10/10 my dude
I'm glad this popped up in my suggested videos this is a very interesting setup. I love the sound as it passes the camera.
The sound is epic. The best I've heard on a vehicle
I love it!!!! I grew up near train tracks with trains going to and from the local harbor area. Every time they cross the streets they they are required to blow their horns as a warning. It was great. Most people hated them, but I loved 'em.
Love the Doppler Effect as you drove towards and passed. Nice horn.
This is how air horns should be used. On empty stretches of road, where they can sound like a real train horn, long, with beautiful Doppler effect. Not cruising around fast food row and letting off short blasts that mostly piss people off. Well done.
"what's that? We don't live anywhere near the railroad tracks..."
Come back to see the vid every couple years, for some reason i love the squeal of the horns when you cut the air...
That's awesome you can't tell the difference between that and a diesel locomotive
Hardly ever comment but felt compelled on this occasion. Brilliant. Thanks for posting
each horn set has a specific psi that makes it the loudest possible. more isnt always louder
Beautiful sound
I used to live near train tracks and that sound brings back memories
This reminds me of the movie,"THE CAR",it had horns like that under the hood.(sound was dubbed in for the movie most likely)
why is everyone ripping on this dude for having a fucking hobby. jeez
They have no life and nothing better to do.....
Those horns are sexy! Where are all the good men with train horn’s attached to the roof of their cars these days? I guess chivalry is dead.
Or good women...
Cool hobby! I've got to admit, I love train horns. My favorite is the Nathan P3, at a mid pitch.
Very useful when you have to travel with your family and pets.
That's why I designed the system to be removable. In gave everything but the rack comes out in less than 5 minutes.
Put that kit on a firetruck so people can't claim they didn't hear it coming! Damn that's loud!
Man that dope right there, I need some for my semi
I got to give it up to you man! People like you who goes all in, it's impresive!
Your neighbors must really love you!! Even if they are two miles away!!
... "Marion- When did they build a railroad over at the Henderson's farm??"
Very cool. my father, grandfather, and great grandfather have all worked on the railroad their entire lives, and if they were here with us to see this they would appreciate the fact that you are preserving these very cool devices and sounds. One thing i just gotta say though, pretty darn sure those ball valves are stainless steel, not chrome plated.
Thanks, glad you like it! I've had several people tell me that about the valves, and what I have always said is that the store that sold them to me advertised them as chrome plated, so if they aren't I want my money back.
Some guys just have too much time on their hands.
I love watching what they do with it!
Thanks for the chuckle.
Sounds legit when they're all going in proper unison
ok, most people would not understand why you did this. I DO! it's cool. LOUD and FUN! I have a '59 Chev Panel Truck, custom street rod. (you can see pics at my google page.) a friend of mine who works for the railroad got me a cast alum. set of air horns right off the top of a locomotive, I installed a 40 gal. tank underneath the truck, and was able to also mount the huge horns under the truck on the frame. you could not see them, I added a 100 lb. compressor and the fun began! the sound was incredible! so, let me just say...I GET IT!! BLAST AWAY!!...Tommy in Minnesota
how did he get that garden hose connector, connected first try?
I love this video so much! I appreciate your enthusiasm, and how legit you are about not using it as a nuisance.
This is easily the best video on TH-cam. I couldn't help but laugh when you drove past the camera. This is so impractical and useless, but amazing at the same time!
Most hobbies are impractical and useless.
The drive by was perfection! :)
I could tell this was a couple of years old because every sentence didn't begin with "So..." Thanks for that! Big ups!
Now I know why you asked certain people to not comment. Good job on the horn setup. They are illegal in certain instances but private hobby use off of public street is not a problem.
Amazing sound, loved the doppler effect too!
half the people watching don't care about the setup they just want to hear the horn
+Conor Mc Carthy Well then they came to the wrong video. I have tons of other videos that are just the horn but the point of this particular video is to show how my air setup works. It's not my fault that people are lazy and don't want to take the effort to find the video they actually want to watch.
I don't whats other people's deal with a Train horn collecting hobby, I recently began it with my first horn being a Micro-Precision K3LAR4 (Still need an air system when I get the money).
I laughed out loud as you drove past the camera! That sound and that car combined is awesome! 😂😂
Oh wow I had no Idea that people actually restored old train air horns. I have seen old steam whistles saved. Very cool
I pissed myself laughing when you drove past the camera blowing the horns XD.
Sounds like an ATSF or CP, or Southern Pacific from like the 70s or 60s, this is my top horn of past train horns
That is a nice clean setup. Dont waste your trainhorn rigging energy on trolls. When you fight them they only win. ignore them so thet die
That's mad, I love it but it's mad! Hats off to your attention to detail and your eccentricity!
awesome awesome awesome sound! That is a job to be proud of!
im reading these comments and im impressed at how well you stay ontop of comments even after 6 years
Nice demo of the Doppler effect.
That was awesome when you drove the vehicle down the road, sounding the horn! Happy railroading!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sounds so Nice
Greetings from Germany
When we go to the desert or anywhere with trains we always do the "do your horn" signal with our arms. The sound is amazing and I thank you for not pranking. I wish I had something like this for the truck I'm buying next year. I will keep my eye out for deals.
That's sounds beautiful, love that sound in the distance in the morning, keep it loud man !
The drive by is the best. Definitely a nerd, but to each their own.
Him: *slaps tank*
This bad boy can hold so many gallons!
Love those Waco e2 horns and a S3L and an RS5T it's too bad normal cars can't have those as standard equipment
I like your set up, I'm on board...just a few tips from a fellow pneumatic junkie...worm clamps, NO. Garden hose connectors, NO. Buy the correct tool and make your own crimped connections. Lower the fail safe schrader valve to 130. Should the compressor valve fail you'll be up higher than horns can allow. Get an electric release valve and ditch the handle valve set up. Last...at least strap that compressor down if not already.. you wouldn't want it in your back or your noggin in a head on... peace, and be safe.
Thanks for the tips! A few things. The hose barbs are a type that don't require hose clamps, I double checked that with the manufacturer before I did it. The horn(s) can withstand up to 150 PSI without damage, they normally run at 140 on a locomotive. I choose a manual valve instead of a solenoid because the manual valve allows better control of the horn and more playing around with the sound, and because solenoid valves can over time actually cause damage to Leslie horns. Lastly the compressor has the seatbelt going around it, so it is held in place. Cheers mate, and thanks!
For many years csxt and the seaboard coast line and L&N and Seaboard System all used Rs5t horns mainly on ge u bosts U30c and EMD Sd 40-2 etc
Indeed! Biased off the layers and colors of paint that I found on this horn, I think it may have been a former L&N S5T.
Absolutely AWESOME, and I feel sorry for all the folks who don't get it!!
People are just so selfish, judgmental and stupid and have a horrible attention span. They don’t take into consideration the dedication and hard work need to preserve history while also being able to not only have fun with it and be able to be safe with it.
Nowadays there’s barely any fine line with stupidity and having fun. People usually go with stupidity.
THIS IS SOOOOOOOOOOO cool MAFAMZ!!! GREAT job! Looks complicated .... BUT, I bet I could squeeze these horns into my mini cooper Clubman 2013! LOL!!! My grandpappy was a train engineer and he let me ride a freight train and honk the train horn in Jersey, in Woodbine! NICELY done! Love it!!!
Wow, you're as crazy as me. I WANT ONE!
I like that u don't use in traffic like a jerk. If you wrong expecting it someone might run into traffic in a panic
Epic Doppler effect
As a train lover myself, (especially the steam locomotive type), I think your train horns are Awesome. The only thing I have in my 09 Crown Victoria are four horns I installed from my old 79 Cadillac with the pitch of A, C, D and F. That's my train horns and it also reminds me of my old Caddy back in the day. Thanks so much for sharing. :-)
Love that Doppler effect. And it's totally free!
OMG...!!! You have engineered an absolute masterpiece...!!! WELL DONE...!!!
I want this horn setup on my bicycle .just love thoes american loco horns .
The horn is almost as wide as my car, good luck fitting that on a bicycle.
damn i wanted it on my push bike
es fantástico lo que hiciste !!! te envidio y ojalá un día se lo pueda poner a mi cherokee !
Dude so cool would have thought a train was coming even sounded like a train when you went past the camera how fast does it recover air pressure do you have the compressor hooked to 12 volt or are you using a inverter to run the compressor great vid happy holidays y'all ✌️
The horns are off a train, so yeah they do sound like one! The compressor runs off household 120V AC. I fill up my tanks when I'm at home and don't refill them when driving. I don't run a horn on the car 24/7 so this works great for em.
Dude, that is awesome. Glad to see people that still have an interest in stuff like this.
just read the description, props to you mate! great video
Wow, Love it , sound just like the Rail road Train,I live two block away from those tracks
What are you doing at Windows XP background
ExtremAdn beautiful comment
Very nice setup. I'm looking for a Leslie #25 bell to complete my RS3L horn. Gotta love the old 1970's era horn
Awesome work!!Can you use more air horns like 3-4?
+Tony Valdez If I wanted to use more than one horn at a time, I would need to modify my roof rack. I do have a collection of over 20 train horns, but I only do one at a time.
Don't know how i got here... but this is pretty sick.
If you want to impersonate a locomotive, don't forget the bells - otherwise you might get pulled over
Not trying to impersonate a locomotive, I just collect horns and need a way to make recordings of them. I do have a few bells but they are too heavy for the roof of a car.
Bells are not required in other countries just the USA, we don’t have them where I live so his setup is accurate for the rest of the world
Reminds me of growing up in Wilson NC. The Old SCL trains used this horn.
+Kevin Leach Biased on the layers of paint that I found while restoring it, I think there is a good chance this one is a former SCL horn.
+mafarnz it is. This was mounted on the trains that sported the SCL logo.
the video was ok but your replies to every comment was awesome 👍👍
I had a buddy who did something similar with an air horn from a semi truck in his van. If you get all of your fittings to be leak free you can just recharge the tank when you're at home and the air will last quite a while. Seems like an awful lot of space to lose in your back seat putting that compressor in there, especially considering that you need to stop to get to an electrical outlet anyway.
I know a lot of offroaders will convert old A/C pumps into air compressors. You could do something like that too.
Another option would be to set up one of those cheap 12V compressors to recharge the tank incrementally while you're just driving around. Run it for say 5 minutes on, cycle off for 20 minutes to cool, back on for 5 minutes, and so on.
I remember one time we were sitting at a railroad crossing and he blew that horn at the engineer as he went by. The engineer blew his horn and that freaking thing shook the ground I swear. It was super loud. It's a good thing you're wearing ear protection.
+Bill Bradsky The reason for the compressor in the back seat is the 12 gallons of air that it holds. The compressor + the 20 gallon tank gives me 32 gallons of air, and that's barely enough for my large horns. I still need an AC, so re-purposing that for a compressor is out. I didn't want to modify the car's electrical system, so a 12 V pump is out. Those little cheap 12 V pumps couldn't handle the volume of air that one of my horns needs anyways. Trust me, I looked at all those options and more when I was first figuring out my horn set up. Ultimately I went with what I show in this video because #1 it works very well and #2 everything except the rack and valve is easily removed. I only have a train horn on the car maybe once or twice a month anyways, the rest of the time its just a normal car with no train horn. Having to go to an outlet isn't a big deal either, since the only reason for putting the horn on the car is to get a recording of it while it is in motion. So I have enough air to make my recording and then I'm done.
mafarnz
Seems like you've got this well thought out. Very cool that you go to the lengths you do to capture the doppler effect necessary to make these sound authentic. I gotta be honest, I was looking at you sideways when I first stumbled across the video, but I get it now. Since I'm more of a car guy, it sort of reminds me of the guys who go to painful lengths to restore classics to exactly the way they were when they left the factory. Or like the guys who take old machine tools and make them function like new instead of going out and buying a new Bridgeport clone from Asia. There's something cathartic about that to me. It's almost more of a preservation of a piece of history than it is an enthusiasm for the object itself.
+Bill Bradsky Exactly, that's how I look at it, I'm preserving a small piece of history. I have over 20 horns, most of which are older than myself, and most of them make sounds that you don't really hear outside of a railroad museum. The car set up is simply a way for me to use the horns, since I don't have the money to buy my own railroad.
Dude you are the king of train horns.
RIGHT 😆😆😆
Outside of a train!
I have had train horns in a car on the roof like you. I have been pulled over with them hooked up and fully workable. They can’t give you a ticket just as long as you don’t blow the horn’s excessively.
Is it the same in every state though ?
Sounds great but you could have installed the compressor in the boot (or trunk as you Yanks call it!) and the horns possibly under the chassis if possible or the bonnet (hood!). I don't think it will impress anyone as much if they get to see all that hardware before you let it rip. Maybe, that's just my opinion but nice setup and equipment anyway. I'd be interested to see the output on a DB meter if you get the opportunity, it is hard to tell the volume by a video. Great upload, thanks for sharing!
At full pressure this horn is capable of 125DB, not sure what its putting out on my setup however. I didn't see the need to install an on-board compressor since I don't usually have the horns on the car, and I don't put the horns under the car because #1 they don't fit and #2 I spent a lot of time and effort restoring them and making them work again, and all the road grime and salt will just ruin them all over again.
mafarnz
Oh I didn't realize they were vintage. You must have done a good job of restoring them then. They look much nicer than my shitty red plastic ones anyway!
sparkyuiop
This video was made very early in the restoration, check out my video titled "S5T Reborn" to see and hear the finished project.
Fantastic. Glad to see someone that doesn't to this to scare people and give enthusiasts a bad name.A+
That horn sounds GREAT!