Train Horn Kit Suggestions (Nathan K5LA + EMD Steel Bell)

Main Train Horns
1

Hello all,

As you can probably tell, I’m new to the forum, however I’ve been keeping up to date with Hornblasters for a few years now.

I’m interested in installing a setup on my 2001 Ford Escape which would include a Nathan K5LA and an EMD steel bell (it works) which my friend plans to give to me. I’ve done all the measurements, and there is room for both the bell and the horn under the car.

I’m kind of on a budget, and am unsure if I should get a real K5LA or if I should go PVC for the time being. I’m quite picky when it comes to sound, and am particularly interested in having the K5LA tuned much to the standards that Chessie used.

I’ve never heard a PVC horn in public, so I don’t know what they are capable of. I understand they can be nearly as loud as a real horn. That’s great, but I know my vuvuzela horn can compete with the decibel rating of a train horn, however the sound will not travel nearly as far. That, along with the tuning capabilities as explained in the above paragraph is what I’m concerned about with a PVC horn, however again I’ve never heard one in real life, only on youtube.

I’ve heard a modern day pneumatic bell would need around an average of 130 psi to operate effectively, and I plan to use the same air tank with the horn and bell. Of course, if the 130 psi requirement is the case, then I definitely cannot use a PVC horn and bell at the same time. I know very little about pneumatic bells, and am curious if they are hard on air? With a 5 gallon tank, K5LA and EMD bell, I’m afraid the tank would drain almost before I make any noise.

What are your suggestions? I’ve never owned a horn kit before, so this is a new experience for me. I’d imagine the pneumatic bell addition is probably a bit odd. I’m really only interested in K3 or K5 horns due to my stubbornness with sound, so I would never be satisfied with Shockers, even though they would be a good beginner’s kit.

I’m a bit leery of air tanks, and don’t really want to settle with it in the back of the car. However, I would think it would be much less safe underneath the car due to large rocks that could fling up and hit it. It appears there is room for a Viair 400C compressor under the hood right at the back, which is a huge relief since they sound awfully annoying to me.

Thanks in advance for advice.

2

Welcome to the forum.
I can’t help you with the horns except to say all air horns use a lot of CFM and will drain a tank rather quickly.

You can run the bell and horns at the same time with pressure regulators, each set to the desired pressure. To operate the bell regularly your compressor would need to start at 145 PSI or higher, which is hard on any compressor, so I also recommend a check / unloader valve between the compressor and tank.

Mounting any compressor in the engine compartment without shielding it from the heat and providing lots of fresh air ventilation will reduce its duty cycle.

When your budget permits, you want to use your set up more often, and you get tired of replacing those little air compressors, consider an Oasis air compressor but I’m biased…hahaha

3

Thanks for the reply. I was secretly looking to see if anyone knew of the existence of a device that could output a different psi than what is in the tank. As for the PVC thing, I guess I should decide on my own. I don’t have a lot of money, so I’ll probably have to if it means a K5LA.

4

:confused:That’s what a regulator does.

5

I understand that now. However, beforehand I didn’t even know a regulator existed, which is what I was pointing out.

6

The PVC horns are about as loud as the knockoff horns you find online. They sound amazing if you tune them correctly (something the vast majority of people who build them try and miserably fail at doing) but they’re not very durable, especially when it comes to mounting them on the bottom of a car.