On my big tandem axle truck horn installs way back in the day I had loads of fun and I consider myself among the very first blasters if not the first, and I had lots of fun. My favorite blasts were when passing close to golfers and watching the fun. One time I was in the driveway of a building site where I had just forklifted off my lumber load. Directly across the street was a golf course and with perfect timing a snooty, rich old man drove very close to my position in his golf cart and he, another rich old man and one of their wives got out of the cart and setup for their strokes. Of course I waited until the old man started his swing before letting off a blast on my 5/16" M5…His swing was ruined and they all must have jumped ten feet in the air! They had no idea where the train horn sound came from though they were peering around. Well the old man set up again and again I let off a blast on the M5 and again his shot was ruined and again they jumped high in the air. What is funny is that they never even looked at my truck on the construction site, though they looked around the site from where they were standing. Hahahahaha!! I got the old man with two more swing-ruining blasts before they got in their cart and drove off, possibly to the club office, I don’t know. I had been eating lunch, so I drove off. I never knew what the final outcome was.
While driving near Middleburg, VA, where the ultra-rich live, and driving away from a jobsite, well out in the country, I came across a few snobbish rich women in red jackets, white pants with knee-high boots and tall black hats riding their trillion dollar horses. on a pasture next to the road. Perfect opportunity for me!! I blasted the M5 and all three horses popped wheelies and took off running, leaving their riders in the mud. Good stuff!
Often while driving out in the country, I would share a blast of the M5 with herds of cattle near the road and enjoy watching them all stampede away across the pasture.
The worse people blast was one night after we had been recording my horns outside Manassas, VA where I lived, we decided to go to Bobs Big Boy for dinner. As luck would have it there was an empty parking space, right in front of the open door to the restaurant. As luck would have it, John’s shirt sleeve accidentally hooked the Viloco AW206 chime valve as he got out, letting off a 145lb blast on the roof-mounted Leslie S5T directly into the open door!! Needless to say, we got back into the jeep and went somewhere else to eat! I remember watching every patron in the restaurant leap for the ceiling and I can imagine all the food-stained clothes!
My last favorite people-blast was when my oldest sister was riding with me in my jeep. I had the tremendous Leslie S5A, which is much bigger, deeper in pitch and louder than the S5T, mounted on my horn-roof. We were tooling down a deserted road in McLean, VA on our way back to my parents house, and my sister asked if she could blow the horn. Since there was no traffic I said to go for it. However I noticed an elderly couple walking on the sidewalk, but they were at least a good 1/8 mile away. Hahahahaha!! Sis blew the Leslie and I watched the sound travel to the couple, as about a second after the blast, they both leaped into the air. The old man was shaking his fist and yelling at us as we passed by, the horn right atop my jeep being a bit too obvious to them as to where the sound had come from.
I saw a few crossing blast’s issued here on this thread. We used to do so too, one crossing, where the VRE station is now in Woodbridge, VA, RF&P main, we parked the jeep, either with old-cast P12345 or Airchime K5LA mounted and ready to rocket, just behind a large bush right next to the road. We would wait until a person coming towards us and not even slowing down or stopping…Just before the perp hit the tracks we let off a quick 14L on the horn and watched the fun as he locked up the brakes, often or not slamming the brakes, slamming the passengers in the car. We were hidden by the bush, so we were never detected.
I have many other fun stories of blasting back in the daze, but these are my favorites.
just be careful around people and horses.