Rare Train Horns
Introducing some of the famous but rare train horns that are considered hard to find:
The H5, the five-chimed train horn made through the creative mind of Robert Swanson, is the first train horn of its kind in the world. Eighty-eight of these were built long before it was developed and redesigned into M5. That is when the Hexatone, or the six-chime was built, following the creation of the train horn from Swanson. Hexatone is said to be an unusual kind and has been a rare train horn among collectors.
The first ever three chimed train horn was the Nathan N3. It was introduced by Airchime and Nathan in 1949 as a three chime version of the H5. Only 20 of them were created, and their rarity can only be seen thru private enthusiasts and collections. New ideas for design started the next year which have paved way for the birth of the famous M3 train horn we now know of. Its original tune was, A major triad or keys C#, E and A.
In 1950, a significant improvement of the H-5 was conceived -- the Nathan M5. It is a popular train horn on many railroads. Many of the M5's were found on passenger services locomotives on Southern Pacific and some of them are installed in twos on Western Maryland Railroad cab units.
It boasted the replacement of the copper tubes which provides air to each bell and was changed to more notable inlets and outlets. The first of this train horn kind were produced in 1950. The location of its base and back caps of the bells also changed in design. Although base designs such as the round horn bells near the inlets and outlets and the so-called "scallop base" horns of 1951 are no longer evident, the chord and beautiful timbre of the H-5 train horn still remained and operated.
A major dominant 7th (C7) was its original tuning but it can be substituted with an A major dominant 6th (C6) or D# minor 7th (D#m7). The horn used the M-series # 1,2,3,4 and 5 bells.
Despite its promising tune, no railroads seemed to have purchased any M5's in recent years. M-series train horns were proven to be a little expensive when it comes with the maintenance, either on parts or as a whole unit. And with the minimum maintenance train horns developed by Nathan and Leslie, M5's met their challenges. Since 1980, no M5 train horns can be seen or heard in any commercial railroads or freight railroads as a result, but some can still be heard on tourist and some other short lines.
For the train horn enthusiasts, they are really fascinated with the existence of these train horns and it is interesting to have a look and check them out and be used to entertain tourists or use them in some special occasions.
