So my big dumb van has onboard air already, meaning its a slippery slope to a train horn.
But damn, a Nathan Airchime is $2k on sale.
I am very surprised that there isn't really a comparable knockoff. There are plenty of air horn kits, but not a lot of legit locomotive horns or clones out there.
Anyone got any leads? Sources? Suggestions?
Have you tried e-bay?
It seems there is a lot of questionable quality train horns there.
Yeah, the used Nathans are still a rack. Way too much for my blood.
$2,000 are the cheap ones, unfortunately
John Welsh said:This seems like it would've been something JC Whitney would have had in the catalog.
Right? I remember their "Ocean Liner Horn." "You'll make waves in traffic."
At work we have a spare VA class submarine horn. We are machinists, so of course we made a fitting to put compressed air to it. Once in a while we put the 95psi to it in our shop on the 2nd of 6 floors. Tears every time. It's REALLY loud.
The usual Auto Zone air horn isn't enough?
A cheap train horn? In this economy?
mtn said:A cheap train horn? In this economy?
So you're driving a van ... on the street ... and you want a train horn? Why? For what purpose? There are a couple "very nice individuals, I guess" in our town driving coal-rollers with train horns. And they like to blare their horns randomly all hours of the day and night to display some form of personality trait. Scares the E36 M3 out of everybody within a one mile radius. I fail to understand the purpose. Is it like the "loud pipes save lives" bullE36 M3? Please tell what motivates.
So as you might know now, this is a major peeve of mine.
RX Reven' said:mtn said:A cheap train horn? In this economy?
=
There are wierd railroad laws out there, and they will exploit them prosecuting you.
Appleseed said:RX Reven' said:mtn said:A cheap train horn? In this economy?
=
There are weird railroad laws out there, and they will exploit them prosecuting you.
I remember there was a guy taking horns and bells and number plates off of some power that Reading & Northern had stored. He tried to use the excuse of "I'm a railfan and I wasn't vandalizing or stealing, I was preserving history". It didn't work.
insofar as who needs one... I mean, I didnt go full train horn on it, but I did get a rather loud self contained air horn for my Bugeye because maybe if the small car SOUNDS big when I fire it off they will actually pay attention and not kill me.
Gary said:So you're driving a van ... on the street ... and you want a train horn? Why? For what purpose? There are a couple "very nice individuals, I guess" in our town driving coal-rollers with train horns. And they like to blare their horns randomly all hours of the day and night to display some form of personality trait. Scares the E36 M3 out of everybody within a one mile radius. I fail to understand the purpose. Is it like the "loud pipes save lives" bullE36 M3? Please tell what motivates.
So as you might know now, this is a major peeve of mine.
It sounds like you completely understand the purpose and motivation. Allow me to share with you this sweet meme I made referencing a truck I was looking to purchase and how I was going to justify it to my wife.
There was three of the ultimate bro-dozer pavement princess trucks at a cars and coffee event I went to. I noticed my one tire was a little low, and I could hear the air compressor running they had on board for the 5-trumpetted train horn they had mounted under the bed. Figured it couldn't hurt to ask if I could get some air. "Sorry, man, it's hardlined to the train horn only."
Y'know, if that lifted 4x4 ever went off roadin', it'd be nice to be able to air your 35 series 26 inch tires down for a tiny bit more traction, and reinflate them when you get off the trail. Wonder what the best tool for that might be?
preach said:At work we have a spare VA class submarine horn. We are machinists, so of course we made a fitting to put compressed air to it. Once in a while we put the 95psi to it in our shop on the 2nd of 6 floors. Tears every time. It's REALLY loud.
TIL that submarines have horns. Move over, whale!
In reply to Keith Tanner :
I imagine the 688 class subs had an air horn up in the con tower, but if so, it would be one of the few systems I never worked on. Not sure.
I couldn't see having these triggered from the steering wheel but having them on backup duty might be nice.
On the last Subaru I had a simple, 1 trumpet air horn behind the bumper that ran straight off a little compressor with no tank (they're all over amazon). What was nice is a quick little tap of the horn got a soft, quick honk out of it, perfect for saying "I see you over there" or "I think you fell asleep and now the light is green so please go", held any longer and it very quickly rose to "WAKE UP MOTHERberkeleyER THE LIGHT IS GREEN" which seemed perfect for a horn.
Hornblasters makes cheaper plastic copies that still sound close.
914Driver said:The usual Auto Zone air horn isn't enough?
I bought the brand name version of this one out of clearance from their website for my GMT 400. Loud enough when I needed it, I wasn't intending to terrorize anyone.
We shouldn't judge. Some drivers sleep more soundly than others.
You'll need to log in to post.
