My wife and I are currently watching a series of DVD on railway trips around the world, 1990's era trips, but we've noticed this same feature in the old "Westerns". Please can someone advise WHY a train in US and Canada sounds the bell when in a built-up area and, particularly, on the approach to or exit from a station? We guess there is some statute about it, but what's the background? Does this happen anywhere else? Regards, Pete
Well, I don't know about on mainline railroads, but on the museum line I've started volunteering, the bell serves as a warning that the train is moving whenever it's near people or vehicles (such as in the station area). It's also used as an advance warning that the train is about to start moving, if it has been standing. And it doesn't scare the horses nearly as much as the horn.
Its a safety rule! On my copy of G.C.O.R. Rule 5.8 5.8.1 Ringing Engine Bell Ring the engine bell under any of the following conditions . Before moving,except when making momentary stop and start switching mvmnts. . As a warning signal anytime it is necessary. . When approaching men or equipment on or near the track . When whistle signal (7) is required(that is the long,long,short loooooong signal) . Approaching public crossings at grade with the engine in front and sounding the whistle is prohibited, start the signal at the crossing sign. If no sign,or if movement begins between sign and crossing,start signal soon enough before crossing to provide warning. Continue ringing bell until the crossing is occupied. On the BNSF the following timetable instruction for the Chicago Subdivision of the Chicago Division applies as well (this covers the "Aurora Racetrack") 5.8.1 - The engine bell must be rung when approaching and passing through all station platforms,pedestrian and street crossing on all tracks.
It's possible, especially if they wanted to make sure it sounded right - or if they were redoing old video that didn't have an audio track. But use of the bell is mandatory in the US. It's a safety warning, and probably predates the whistle in that role. So whether or not the video producers added one, there would have been a bell in use on the train pictured. I was half (only half!) kidding about the bell scaring the horses less, but it really does work better than the horn/whistle in situations like around stations... for continuous indication that the train is moving or about to do so. The horn does a great job of getting your attention, but at short range it's deafeningly loud, so you wouldn't want to use it continuously, like you can the bell.
Thank you for your thoughts, folks. We had an idea it must be a safety issue. They don't do it quite the same way here, as you might expect!!! A train will sound its whistle or horn when it is about to move off. If it's a fast approach to a station (as in not stopping) the folk on the station will hear a long blast as the train approaches, equally for entering and leaving a tunnel. We don't normally have the bell . . . (Okay, I know of two UK locos with bell, the KING class KING GEORGE V, which spent some time in the US many, many years ago) and 59.001, which was built by EMD and has a bell at one end.) Regards, Pete
if Wikipedia is to be believed, the difference in bell usage is largely due to the extensive fencing used in the UK to keep folks off the tracks. In the US, there is much less fencing and therefore a higher likelihood of an accident. I didn't mean to imply (if I did) that the horn is not used at stations... the general procedure would be to sound the horn to get everyone's attention to the motion and then have the bell ringing in order to maintain the "alert"... For example, when approaching a road grade crossing, the train will sound the LONG/LONG/SHORT/LONG horn prior to reaching the crossing, and have the bell ringing until the locomotive is through the crossing. Or at the station, the locomotive will sound the LONG/LONG to announce "proceeding forward" (or SHORT/SHORT/SHORT for reverse), then ring the bell as the train begins to move... In both cases, the combined effect is something like "HEY! PAY ATTENTION! I'm moving... still moving... still moving..." In the case of the museum I volunteer at, several of the grade crossings are private farm roads that are rarely traveled, and particularly in the spring the fields are full of young, skittish racing colts. In those cases, as a courtesy to the farmers (who, in return, are very generous with their time, funds, and use of their property for special events), we dispense with the horn and ring only the bell unless we see an approaching car. All public crossings get the horn, horses or no horses. If you can't tell, my ears are still ringing from being right at a road crossing ten feet from the loco when he sounded the horn yesterday... and then listening to that same horn over and over while I edited up my latest YouTube video...
