# Whistle Codes



## /6 matt (Jul 7, 2015)

I was talking to my girlfriend last night and she asked me if I could find and send her something explaining the horn signals from the trains that go by her dorm. I thought that would be easy but I can't seem to find anything in my googling. I found lists but nothing in picture format.

Does anybody have a graphic or picture with a list of the horn signals that I can send to her?


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Some,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Train_whistle#Whistle_code


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## cv_acr (Oct 28, 2011)

Most are kinda obsolete now though, as communication is done by radio rather than whistle signals.

Only the "long-long-short-long" grade crossing signal is really likely to be heard, other than simple warning signals for people on the tracks.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

cv_acr said:


> Most are kinda obsolete now though, as communication is done by radio rather than whistle signals.
> 
> Only the "long-long-short-long" grade crossing signal is really likely to be heard, other than simple warning signals for people on the tracks.



I thought they all used horns now?:smokin:


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

/6 matt said:


> I was talking to my girlfriend last night and she asked me if I could find and send her something explaining the horn signals from the trains that go by her dorm. I thought that would be easy but I can't seem to find anything in my googling. I found lists but nothing in picture format.
> 
> Does anybody have a graphic or picture with a* list of the horn signals* that I can send to her?


Hmm, you kind of wrote this up wrong?
The title says Whistle Codes.
Then you ask for a list of the horn signals.
Which is it, whistles or horns?


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## Patrick1544 (Apr 27, 2013)

Signal listing from Train Magazine

http://trn.trains.com/railroads/abcs-of-railroading/2006/05/whistle-signals


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## santafe158 (Jul 14, 2010)

Few of the signal meanings have changed with the introduction of diesels with horns. Although different railroads sometimes have different meanings for certain signals.


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## cv_acr (Oct 28, 2011)

big ed said:


> Hmm, you kind of wrote this up wrong?
> The title says Whistle Codes.
> Then you ask for a list of the horn signals.
> Which is it, whistles or horns?


Seriously dude?

Just go...


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## cv_acr (Oct 28, 2011)

santafe158 said:


> Few of the signal meanings have changed with the introduction of diesels with horns. Although different railroads sometimes have different meanings for certain signals.


No the meanings would not have changed whether using a steam whistle or air horn, but most of the signals are simply no longer used. (Half of the list refers to particular operating situations that don't exist anymore, and anyways the radio has replaced this sort of communication.)


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## /6 matt (Jul 7, 2015)

big ed said:


> Hmm, you kind of wrote this up wrong?
> The title says Whistle Codes.
> Then you ask for a list of the horn signals.
> Which is it, whistles or horns?


Wow I forgot I asked about this lol.

Ed you are correct my post was confusing. I was originally referring to whistles. you got me, this thread was about whistliing cat calls. I wanted to make sure I knew what it was about before I whistled at my lady.:lol_hitting:

But seriously thanks for the info guys.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

cv_acr said:


> Seriously dude?
> 
> Just go...



Go where?


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

/6 matt said:


> Wow I forgot I asked about this lol.
> 
> Ed you are correct my post was confusing. I was originally referring to whistles. you got me, this thread was about whistliing cat calls. I wanted to make sure I knew what it was about before I whistled at my lady.:lol_hitting:
> 
> But seriously thanks for the info guys.


I never knew that the whistles and horns were the same. I read up now and know.
I don't know everything and never claimed to. I thought when horns took over whistles they used different blasts. Live and learn.
Now I have to learn them right so when I run the trains I blow the whistles and horns the correct way.
I did try to link you a little help.hwell::dunno:
Some more charts/lists, mostly all look about the same. 
http://www.thortrains.net/horntalk.htm

http://everything2.com/title/whistle+code

If they are wrong I am sure cv_acr, will chime in.....he knows just about everything.


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## cv_acr (Oct 28, 2011)

big ed said:


> I never knew that the whistles and horns were the same.


Considering that air horns on a diesel were a direct replacement for, as performed the same function as the whistle on a steam engine, you might see how I would think you were just being overly semantic.

I never thought anyone would have assumed that they would have been used in radically different ways. They're entirely equivalent.


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## Hot Water (Oct 24, 2015)

cv_acr said:


> Considering that air horns on a diesel were a direct replacement for, as performed the same function as the whistle on a steam engine, you might see how I would think you were just being overly semantic.
> 
> I never thought anyone would have assumed that they would have been used in radically different ways. They're entirely equivalent.


Well to be clear, and provide additional information; there were quit a number of railroads that had air horns mounted on the steam locomotives. The most notable, was the Southern Pacific, which had air horns on their 4-8-2s, 4-8-4s, and most cab forwards. The air horn was primarily for use at grade crossing and other wayside warnings, especially in the fog prone Central Vally and coast routes of California. The SP cab crews generally only used the steam whistle for signaling crew members, and was rarely ever used in passenger service.

Thus, the "whistle signals" really have not changed much for well over 100 years.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

cv_acr said:


> Considering that air horns on a diesel were a direct replacement for, as performed the same function as the whistle on a steam engine, you might see how I would think you were just being overly semantic.
> 
> I never thought anyone would have assumed that they would have been used in radically different ways. They're entirely equivalent.



Nope I thought that the horn had different blasts then the whistles. I guess I have not seen any discussions pertaining to this. And I never read up on it.

I have been looking at the codes and to tell you the truth when the trains roll through my area at night (one after another, it gets busy at night here) not one blows the same amount of toots as they roll through the 2 crossings a couple of miles behind me. One is a hornless crossing that was quiet for a year, now they are back to blowing the horn there. :dunno:

Some give a quick, quiet toot toot, others lay on the horn, with different numbers of times they blow it. Not two long and a short (whatever it is supposed to be) most are all different.

Radically you say?
I can recognize one of the engineers blasts, he must have killed someone trying to beat him at a crossing. His blasts are long and loud! He lays on it and does not stop. That is the only thing I can think of is that he must have nailed a few cars in his career. I call him the train from hell, most of the time he rolls through around 2 in the morning. And the hornless crossing they made had it's share of deaths with the idiots trying to beat the train. Maybe he blows that way because he ran over a car there?

The passenger trains? Here I don't think they blow their horns at all?
I will check that out further.

Radically, maybe it is just a Jersey thing then? :smokin:


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## /6 matt (Jul 7, 2015)

big ed said:


> I never knew that the whistles and horns were the same. I read up now and know.
> I don't know everything and never claimed to. I thought when horns took over whistles they used different blasts. Live and learn.
> Now I have to learn them right so when I run the trains I blow the whistles and horns the correct way.
> I did try to link you a little help.hwell::dunno:
> ...


I apologize, I hope you didnt think I was mocking you earlier in my last post. I thought you were pulling our chains so I was playing along.hwell:


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

/6 matt said:


> I apologize, I hope you didnt think I was mocking you earlier in my last post. I thought you were pulling our chains so I was playing along.hwell:


No problem, I could see where you two thought that.

I read somewhere years ago where different engineers used whistles personalized with their own blasts. 

Here I found one saying that, 
The older steam whistles were almost always actuated with a pull cord (or sometimes a lever) that permitted proportional (tracker) action, so that some form of "expression" could be put into the sound. Many locomotive operators would have their own style of blowing the whistle, and it was often apparent who was operating the locomotive by the sound. Modern locomotives often make use of a pushbutton switch, which takes away the fine control over the way the whistle is sounded.

That is from wiki,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Train_whistle

And as you see where they talk about a "modern" whistle and the push button,_ I guess it is proper to call a trains horn a whistle then? *
Which would seem strange to me as they are 2 completely different distinctive sounds. One is a whistle and one is a horn sound, different to me.
Kind of hard to make an air horn sound like a whistle blast?*_ 

As "modern" trains have horns but they refer to it as a whistle?
One and the same I guess? 
I guess I can refer to the air horn on my truck as an air whistle? I will see how that goes over the CB with other truckers. I will ask them to blow their whistle so I can hear the sound and see what they say in return. 
I kind of know what most will say.

Like I said I never got into the "codes" and what I first linked to you said whistle codes. I did not really read the link too, I guess I should have. 
I did not think to look for horn codes till after CV ACR responded telling me to "Just go", and he refuses to tell me what he meant by "just go". One can not know everything like he does.
And I couldn't find anything for horn codes when I searched, after know it all replied. I guess because they are one and the same.hwell:

I always thought that with the takeover of whistles to horns the blasts were different. Now I know better. Live and learn.

But like I said if you come to my area and listen to the trains roll through the 2 crossings late at night into the early morning, it is not a standard series of blasts you hear. Long Long Long short (whatever it is supposed to be) most are different depending on the engineer.

And then we have the engineer from Hell, it seems just to be one long blast for miles! Even where there are no crossings!

So................is the few links what you wanted (I guess you found those?) or were you looking for something else? You said "I found lists but nothing in picture format."
Codes in a picture format? 
How would one put the whistles codes into a picture format?
( I am not kidding asking this)

Cat whistle I can do, but not in a picture format?:smokin:


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## /6 matt (Jul 7, 2015)

You know the freight train traffic around here picks up significantly at night too, I'm near a NS line how about you Ed? I don't really hear horns much in my area as there are very little crossings here. The terrain is so hilly the mainline is virtually never close to ground level and is always a fill or a cut so they just build bridges instead of grade crossings.

While I can't really comment on the terminology between whistles and horns. I can say that the links you gave me were indeed helpful, I may just send that to her. I was kind of hoping for something like this







Only you know, explaining what the horn/whistle signals/codes mean rather that explaining how to tell what kind of differential you might be looking at. See how its got all the information but its a picture?

Either way I think I can work with what y'all gave me.:smilie_daumenpos:


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Kind of hard to find something like that for whistles.

How something lke this?
(click the arrow on the right, turn your volume up)

http://www.salamisound.com/steam-locomotive-whistle-sounds


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## cv_acr (Oct 28, 2011)

big ed said:


> he refuses to tell me what he meant by "just go"


Look, I'm sorry. I honestly thought you were simply being facetious with that first horn signal vs. while signal question and contributing nothing of value.

Since the air horn directly replaced the steam whistle for the same purpose I simply never imagined that was actually a real question. I'm sorry.

As a result this entire conversation has gone off the rails and the real answers that were given are now buried somewhere underneath it.

All the old whistle rules applied equally in the same way to horns.


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## Lehigh74 (Sep 25, 2015)

/6 matt said:


> I was talking to my girlfriend last night and she asked me if I could find and send her something explaining the horn signals from the trains that go by her dorm. I thought that would be easy but I can't seem to find anything in my googling. I found lists but nothing in picture format.
> 
> Does anybody have a graphic or picture with a list of the horn signals that I can send to her?


What she is probably hearing is 2 longs, a short and a long. That is the universal signal when approaching a crossing. It’s supposed to be timed so the final long sounds while in the crossing. If you have DCS and an MTH engine from the last 8 or so years it’s the SXS soft key. Two shorts (DCS SFS soft key) are sounded when starting forward or in the vicinity of a MOW crew. Three shorts (DCS SRS soft key) are sounded when starting backwards


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