American train whistles: my general description

[JonMyrlennBailey]

steam locomotive: a steam whistle with a "chuff" flute tone; generally in the low to mid treble range; often three or more notes form a musical chord, usually a dark/eerie diminished or diminished 7th chord; might be vocalized as "WOO, WOO!"

diesel electric locomotive horn: has the loud, ringing, penetrating brassy, bright timbre of a band of non-muted trumpets; should not be a wavering or tremolo tone; might be vocalized as "RAAAH!"; high tenor or alto range; often three or more notes sounding harmoniously in earlier times or, in more modern times, a dissonant chord; clean diminished 7th or minor chords are my favorite for a dark, mysterious, old-fashioned ambiance

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electric locomotive horn: a HONK! sound, low tenor, monotone, single note, no ringing overtone, some might have a dual note

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[Blutorse4792]

Interesting perspective.

Your electric locomotive example is really more representative of early locomotive airhorns in general. Those low, single-chime horns were very commonly found on early diesel-electric locomotives, and could even be found on certain steam locomotives, particularly those which needed to project louder sounds at higher speeds:

Conversely, modern electric locomotives utilize multi-chime airhorns much like those in your diesel-electric example:

To keep in the spirit of your initial post, a once-prevalent sound in North American railroading that has all but disappeared is the single-chime air whistle, found primarily on electric railcars and some smaller industrial locomotives:

 

[JonMyrlennBailey]

I am a Boomer. My notions of American train sounds come from having grown up in coastal northern California. They come from Southern Pacific of old. They come from CalTrain. They come from GP7/9. They come from SW-1500. They come from The Skunks on the California Western Railroad, a Baldwin Mikado #45. They come from Train Town 1/4 scale railroad in Sonoma, CA founded by Stanley L. Frank circa 1958. They come from cowboy movies like Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns. They come from trains in old cartoons. I am charmed by Baldwin steam locomotives made between 1900 and 1925. I am charmed with American Standards. I am charmed with classic GM/EMD carbodies. A harmonious musical chord is more interesting than a single-chime sounding device to mine ears.

 

[Blutorse4792]

To tell you the truth, Jon, I couldn't see your location or signature when browsing on my phone, and for some reason I had you clocked as hailing from the U.K.

I suppose the Zs should have been a clue that I was off-base here...

 

[JonMyrlennBailey]

I have seen and heard trains from Europe and elsewhere, but none warm my heart like classic American trains. English steam locomotives looked so toy like.