Horn and Whistle Forum International

My marine horn history is limited and rusty, but those are "American Strombos" horns which were made by the J. Thomas Rhamstine Co.of Detroit, Michigan. Mr. Rhamstine was a rather talented developer and manufacturer, mostly of electrical devices. The horns were originally advertised and sold mainly ...

The delights of Ebay. Last month, I ran across some forgotten Viloco modulating horn valves that I had completely rebuilt about 20 years ago using seals from the last batch I had ordered directly from Vapor Corporation. I was going to have a buddy of mine sell them on Ebay to fund something else, bu...

Resized952021081495114702958561.jpg The display mentioned in the post above took a while to be finished, but it didn't turn out too badly. The W-C-H "gong" was not donated by moi (note that I am taking a break from speaking in the third party), but the rest were the best examples of their respectiv...

I am looking for a good/very good condition clapper for a Prime BR106 bell ringer (marked "PRIME - MILW"). It does not have to be mint or NOS, but it needs to be unmodified and have relatively little wear to the pivot pin hole or the leg that contacts the plunger. This will be used with an RTO ringe...

Does anyone have the EMD and/or GE part numbers for the Graham-White 571-series solenoid valves used on the air line to the horns? These would be the single-stage valves, not the 2-stage dual assemblies. Trying to do some part number cross-referencing and discovering I am fully 25 years behind the t...

Necropost update: at this point, these bells have been provisionally determined to be from Fairbanks-Morse locomotives.

Does anyone have a Baldwin, F-M or possibly some other minority-builder parts list for diesel locomotives that can confirm the part number "732418" identically stamped or cast into the top of a number of 12" diameter bronze bells? They are definitely not EMD and I do not believe they are Alco bells.

I would like to have gotten this book when the getting was good. I remember hearing rumors about an air horn book similar to Ed Fagen's whistle book, but never heard anything solid. I may be out of the locomotive horn game, but it still might have been an interesting read. My own favorite railroad i...

Do the older ones have a different sound to them or are they just minor differences in the physical looks? After re-reading my earlier reply, I apologize for not making as clear as I should have the fact that many people who make their living on the river will tell you - occasionally quite emphatic...

I've mounted a Graham White 353-100 valve to it and set it on a chunk of hardwood as a base. Nothing wrong with a G-W 353 valve for a small- to mid-size Kahlenberg, that's for sure. For something a bit less railroad and a bit more "brown water"/harbor boat, the all-brass F.C. Kingston pull-style "w...