sbert
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Train Horns - noise info - help please!!!

Thu Jul 14, 2016 7:02 pm

Hi! wondering if anyone out there can help me out with a question regarding train horns? Someone had suggested to me that train horns provide "unidirectional noise" rather than "omni directional". As far as I can see - only ultrasound creates unidirectional noise. Trying to establish safe distance guidelines (to protect hearing) from a train horn used in a unique application - horn is stationary - not moving (as it would be on a moving train). Trying to confirm that standard noise calculations apply with train horns. Thxs.

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3t22
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Re: Train Horns - noise info - help please!!!

Thu Jul 14, 2016 9:00 pm

straight from the Federal Railroad Administration:
The maximum volume level for the train horn is 110 decibels which is a new requirement. The minimum sound level remains 96 decibels.
https://www.fra.dot.gov/Page/P0889

Like sirens, they're rated @ 100ft

If memory serves me right, the AirChime K5LA, the most common horn in north america is rated 115db @ 100 ft.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUNnC-9XMnI

at 10 ft they can reach 120+db. Good ruse of thumb, if you're doing a static test of a locomotive horn (stationary test), wear muff style hearing protection, even if you stand behind the horn. I've had my ears "cleaned out" by my Nathan M3 inside a pick up cab with all the windows open, with the horn mounted on the roof, just before a run by. If you're sitting at a crossing and worried about the horn of a passing locomotive, you'll be fine without any hearing protection for the brief time it takes for it to pass by.
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SilverThunder710YT
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Re: Train Horns - noise info - help please!!!

Thu Dec 30, 2021 12:22 am

Most horns are about 105 db at a hundred feet, but it depends on the horn and where I hear it. I've heard some air horns topping 115 up close, and I've heard some at about 95 at the same range, and it depends on the engine too.
Siren geek from South Texas. Although I've loved sirens for years, I've only recently begun digging into the rich history of civil defense. I also proudly own at least thirty weather band radios.

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