No, but I do know that the AirChime K5LA is grossly overused by the railroads. Just about gone are the days when you could hear Leslie Supertyfon 3 and 5 chime horns fill the air as well as some of the older Nathan M and P series. Just about everything made today is easily forgettable and will not be missed (i.e. the interstates, cheaply made consumer electronics, music, I could go on and on...but I won't) Lets bring back the days when things were built to last (railroad bridges, Edison phonographs, the Volkswagen Beetle, diesel locomotives which don't depend on a shoddy computer to operate) I'm only 27, and I've noticed the disposable attitude our society is embracing even in my brief period of existence.
I am not sure which units carry the Amtrak style horns, but here is a link to a good resource on air horns: Five Chime Consultants Web Page According to this site, UP's SD70's delivered in 2001 had the K5LA. My personal favorites are the units delivered in 2000 with the old SP standard Nathan P3 horns. They really bring back memories. Now for my reply to the social commentary by Ferroequus; The computer is the reason for the disposable nature of society. Items built today are obsolete long before they break down or wear out and we have computers to blame for this. Everything today relies on computers. When the computers work, everything is great. When the computers go down, there is no way humanly possible to manually operate. But try to think positive. My new 2002 Chevy Impala has an engine that doesn't need a regular tune up until 100,000 miles. My 1995 GMC Truck has 170,000 miles, and has never required anything other than minor repairs and regular maintenance. Yes, they both rely on computers to keep them going but I don't see that as a negative. For comparison, any VW Beetle out there that has gone over 100,000 miles has probably been through at least two major engine overhauls and is not exactly what I would call comfortable transportation. That is a truly disposable item. I will admit that during the 70's we went through a period where everything was disposable and nothing was memorable. Today it is more about things being obsolete and out of date, not disposable. I admit that there is a lot of junk stuff out there still today that isn't built to last, but you have to look past that stuff. If you are selective, you will find things out there that are still built to last. We are both way too young to be reminiscing about the good ol' days just yet (I'm 32), because we haven't been around long enough. Just try to look on the bright side. If you don't see a bright side, just keep looking...it is there, you just have to know where to look. [ 20. July 2002, 20:02: Message edited by: Kevin Stevens ]
I also like the older SP style horns. Everytime I here one of the newer ones I think oh its only Amtrak but still get fooled everyonce in awhile. I'm 30 and too have noticed not alot of items are meant to last anymore. The trick is to make em last. I'm cheap so I get all the use outa items that I can squeeze. Heck, my computer still only has a 1.44Mhz Pentium and dial up connection not the new 2Ghz Pentium 4s and DSL. Works just fine. [ 20. July 2002, 20:36: Message edited by: John Barnhill ]
Since I work in the Tech industry, I feel I must defend it. I too am 27, I think they Idea that computers facilitate a disposable society is maybe half right. computers and computer manufacturers have managed to tap the American and World trends and hit all the right buttons. I have an IBM clone from 1986 that can print (albiet not in any pretty type) and do word processing and play some games. It is still fully functional although the floppy disks aren't all working (easy to replace and made to be disposable.) It wouldn't work so well on the Internet, because it doesn't have enough Video Umph to handle it, but that's its only fault. Yet, my current 1.0Ghz Work PC can do so much more for me with Spread sheets and Powerpoint and the Internet it is truely a tool. I have PCs that have been going strong for 5 plus years and I reuse components off older PCs all the time. I think we will see in the future that it was not such a throw away time. When 20 years from now we still see SD9043s and GE Dash 9s in service. We'll understand.
Interesting point that, we shall see. With most (all now?) railroads not buying loco's but getting them on long term (15 year) leases, do we expect to see dash 9's joining the leasing companies fleets in their droves in the same way as the big numbers of C30-7 & SD40-2 of recent years? At the moment it's EMD 50 & 60 series power starting to come off lease, it won't be long before your local shortline can buy (or rent) a C40-8...but the question is, will they want one, or is the simplicity of the older power an asset away from the maintainence capability of the big class 1's... I'm watching with interest...
