Locomotive Air Horns
The advent of quality sound decoders has added a new and exciting dimension to the model railroad world. While prime mover and bell sounds offered have been excellent for some time, the available horn files have been lacking...until now! This one feature alone is the reason that LokSound decoders are my preference as they have, in my opinion, the best horn quality.
Railroading is a very sensual industry with powerful sights, sounds, smells....the wayside observer can even FEEL the earth shake as the beasts conquer the mileage that lays before them. Part of the thrill of this experience is the locomotive horn. There are very few things that can command attention and instill the emotions of excitement, fear, and awe all at one time as the sound of a locomotive horn. Some horns, more or less pleasant in tone, are more successful at commanding attention than others. Some of them stand out, for they truly are the voice of the locomotive!
For me personally, no horn rings more magnificently than the Nathan P5 horn employed by the Southern Railway. This page is intended to serve as a one-stop reference for horn information as it pertains to the locomotives operating on the Meridian Speedway.
There are many online horn recordings. There is even a horn-niche in the railfan community with some having sizeable personal collections. Some even go so far as to install their horns on personal vehicles and post videos of them sounding off on YouTube. A number of these videos are linked on this page for the simple reason that the lack of grade crossing bell and locomotive sounds allows for a more sterile listening environment than the average video of a locomotive whistling for a public grade crossing will provide.
Railroading is a very sensual industry with powerful sights, sounds, smells....the wayside observer can even FEEL the earth shake as the beasts conquer the mileage that lays before them. Part of the thrill of this experience is the locomotive horn. There are very few things that can command attention and instill the emotions of excitement, fear, and awe all at one time as the sound of a locomotive horn. Some horns, more or less pleasant in tone, are more successful at commanding attention than others. Some of them stand out, for they truly are the voice of the locomotive!
For me personally, no horn rings more magnificently than the Nathan P5 horn employed by the Southern Railway. This page is intended to serve as a one-stop reference for horn information as it pertains to the locomotives operating on the Meridian Speedway.
There are many online horn recordings. There is even a horn-niche in the railfan community with some having sizeable personal collections. Some even go so far as to install their horns on personal vehicles and post videos of them sounding off on YouTube. A number of these videos are linked on this page for the simple reason that the lack of grade crossing bell and locomotive sounds allows for a more sterile listening environment than the average video of a locomotive whistling for a public grade crossing will provide.
Nathan P5
Because it is my favorite, the Nathan P5 will stay at the top of the list. There are variations of the P5 with "Old Cast" and "New Cast" bells, as well as variations in bell placement and tone. For a detailed writeup on the Nathan P-Series Horn I recommend you visit The P Series Horn Website.
Growing up I spent much time trackside on the Southern and NS, particularly in Slidell, LA at Woods siding where the tracks were surrounded by tall pine trees. The sound of the blaring, echoing, piercing Nathan P5 hurtling through the woods announcing the passage of three GP50s leading Intermodal Train No. 219, No. 221, or No. 222 was impressive! There are a few great videos on-line that have captured this sound as I remember it:
Growing up I spent much time trackside on the Southern and NS, particularly in Slidell, LA at Woods siding where the tracks were surrounded by tall pine trees. The sound of the blaring, echoing, piercing Nathan P5 hurtling through the woods announcing the passage of three GP50s leading Intermodal Train No. 219, No. 221, or No. 222 was impressive! There are a few great videos on-line that have captured this sound as I remember it:
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These locomotives were equipped with the New Cast P12345 arrangement which denotes all bells facing the same direction. The Southern units also had two complete P5 clusters on each locomotive, with one assembly at each end of the locomotive.
To understand the significance of the different castings, reference the below recording of an Old Cast P5 off a Rock Island locomotive. This horn is in Mr. Ken Fitzgerald's personal collection and the recording can be found at this location on his web site:
Ken Fitzgerald's Original Casting Nathan P5 Page or Click here for the Sound Recording
To understand the significance of the different castings, reference the below recording of an Old Cast P5 off a Rock Island locomotive. This horn is in Mr. Ken Fitzgerald's personal collection and the recording can be found at this location on his web site:
Ken Fitzgerald's Original Casting Nathan P5 Page or Click here for the Sound Recording
Though linked elsewhere on this site, for ease of comparison here is the video of my Athearn Genesis model of NS GP50 7022 with a LokSound decoder installed. This decoder does not have the New Cast P5, but rather the Amtrak P5A variation. Close enough to pass but not perfect: After I had the NS 7022 equipped with this decoder I expressed my disappointment to LokSound. After all with the explosion of high quality models of Southern and NS P5 equipped locomotives on the market, there is no reason not to get the horn right on the decoders. A short time later, I received an e-mail from BradleyDCC with a link to this video demonstrating a new LokSound decoder. Note the P5 demonstration beginning 3:36 into the video: This new P5 file is a must have for my ex-Southern locomotives so I shipped my NS 7022 model back to Arthur Bradley to have the horn file updated. To the left is the updated video of the NS 7022 with the Old Cast Nathan P5 horn. I will keep the above linked video of the unit with the P5A horn on this page for comparison. |
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And for a little fun with the Nathan P5 below are a couple of YouTube videos showcasing individual's horns mounted on vehicles and being blown without the distraction of locomotive prime mover or crossing bell noises:
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