Inexpensive train horn fun!

[Charlie B]

I didn't see it was a link, and it says I need quick time to play it, and I don't have that installed. I gave up on some of these programs because you have to install an update every 37 seconds.
I'm sure it sounds great.
Charlie

[Ralph]

I'll have to see if there is another way I can play it. The video shows my hand pulling the chord for the classic grade crossing horn. I think it sounds pretty good. I noticed a clicking sound when the wooden pegs struck the keys though, so I glued foam pads to the pegs to stop that.

[Charlie B]

Ralph, don't worry about it on my part, I think I have quick time on my wifes lap top.
Charlie

[Sumpter250]

That, sounds good !!!

Hmmmm, I wonder how many blasts I could get on a steam whistle, from the accumulator tank on my air compressor, before I had to re-pressurize. hock:

[Ralph]

I think that's worth a try Pete!

[Mike Kieran]

Ralph,

I nearly fell out of the chair watching the video. Brilliant!!! Talk about a full railroading experience. I'm waiting for your evilly genius mind to put a camera in an engine and a screen in front of your control. Sorry if you didn't have the idea in your head already.

You shouldn't have any problem with the wood afterwards. Wood filler at worst.

Genius!!! Sheer genius!!!

[Ralph]

Great minds think alike Mike! I'm actually revisiting an idea I had a few years ago. I built this F unit cab mock-up (pictured below) with control stand, engine brake, bell, and horn. If you look closely you can see a photo of a real F unit cab that I used for inspiration. The original horn cord passed through some piping and was powered by a continuous loop cassette tape of a train horn I recorded from Microsoft Train Simulator. Pulling the cord connected a copper plate circuit that activated the tape player. It was OK but not great. The brake was connected to a can of compressed air that hissed when the lever was moved. The bell switch was connected to another walkman and speaker that played a continuous loop recording of the bell from Train Simulator. I have a minicam that can fit in a dummy locomotive. I'd watch the view on the clunky TV that took up a few cubic feet. It was fun to build but quickly became a pain because of its size. I'd have to move components to access parts of the layout. I eventually dismantled it.





The whole idea came from my admiration of Chip Syme's use of a real control stand to power his famous Penn Central layout: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://sd2cx1.webring.org/l/rd?ring=modelrailroadlay;id=23;url=http%3A%2F%2Fmoosevalley%2Eorg%2Fengrchip%2F">http://sd2cx1.webring.org/l/rd?ring=mod ... ngrchip%2F</a><!-- m -->

I still like using the control stand that actually has a power pack inside of it. I'm flirting with the idea of buyng a small flat screen to get the loco eye view again but it's not a priority.

[Ralph]

Here is how things look right now with the control stand. horn cord dangling from the ceiling, and a gray cabinet under the layout. There is lots of room for me to move around and I can reach the layout with no problem.
   

I'm thinking of putting the brake and bell mechanism (on the floor) inside that rectangular space in the cabinet just for fun. The instrument panel could sit on top of it. I suppose I could place a flat screen TV on something so it showed above the instrument panel. It would block my view of a scene on the layout, but perhaps it could be a tempoary thing easily removed and hidden behind the panel when not in use...hmmmmm.    

This is total train geek territory.

[Mike Kieran]

If you think like me, I feel sorry for you.

My wife already told me not to think about it. I don't think that we need that love seat and end table. HMMMMMMMMMMMMM.