Huron and Eastern #100

[CGW101c]

Does anybody know if the Huron and Eastern GP9 #100 still exists? I am trying to find out what horn was on the CNW 1720 and in the Youtube video of the 100 the horn is very close if not exactly like the 1720. I think it may have been a horn manufactured by Prime. It is my absolute favorite horn. Just one of those things you think of on cold winter evenings. Much like a forgotten song that you hear 40 years later and then you have to find out the title. Now it is a quest.

 

[Bill Anderson]

I sent a link to this video to a buddy of mine who collects diesel horns. If he can ID the horn, I'll post it up here. That Pere Marquette inspired paint scheme on the Geeps is nice.

 

[CGW101c]

Thanks Bill. I also have some recordings of the loco with that horn on it from the early 1970's. If he needs some more evidence.

 

[MaFarnz]

Hi Tom! Matt F here, I'm the friend that Bill had talked about.

The video above shows #100 with a Prime 920. This was a copy of the Leslie S3L, and the sound of a 920 is almost identical to an S3L. My guess is that CNW #1720 most likely had an S3L. Prime didn't start making locomotive horns until1972, where as Leslie had been making horns since the 1930's, with the S3L dating back to 1952/1953. Being a GP9 then it was most likely fitted with the S3L long before Prime was in the horn business. CNW preferred the Leslie S3L as well, using it on most of its units. The best way to know for sure would recordings or pictures of the unit in question. I did a quick google search but couldn't find any pictures of CNW 1720.

 

[Bill Anderson]

Thanks, Matt and welcome aboard. Do you have a Leslie S3L in your collection and have you made a Youtube video of it in action?
Living in Pullman now? Go Cougs!

 

[CGW101c]

Hi Matt. I have an S3 supertyphon #44, #31, #25, but it is from the UP and it is not the same pitch as the 1720. But then it is a "Super" also. Here are some pics of the 1720 and the horn looks like an S3 and I don't have any where I can see the large bell to see if it has a flat spot, but if Prime didn't start till 1972 then it probably is a Leslie because I first saw the loco in 1968 or so and it had that horn which it kept even when it was rebuilt to 4301 in 76. OH WOW BOB!! Downloading is much easier, thanks. What's the max file size?

 

[CGW101c]

Let me see if I can get a couple of MP3's of the horn. I love when the one jumps an octave. Nope. MP3's aren't allowed. I'll look at the Forum instructions

 

[CGW101c]

Matt, PM someplace I can send the MP3's so you can hear the horn.

 

[Bill Anderson]

Maximum photo size is 1MB. Guess how I found out. As long as a photo is 1MB or less, the forum software will automatically downsize it .
The new forum makes it MUCH easier to load photos, which is my primary "focus" of railfanning.

Matt has a lot of railroad videos on You Tube, some of which are of of his horns in action.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=mafarnz

Here is one of an S3L.

 

[MaFarnz]

Tom,
From what I see in the photos the horn on 1720 is definitely a Leslie S3L. It is an older version as well, I can see some specific parts in a couple of the photos that help narrow down a date range. As Leslie's get worn they start to make all sorts of strange noises, where as mine I rebuild to factory spec so one downside is that they don't have the in service for years sound to them... but at least they work reliably! Over the years various parts on the Leslie horns changed, and that has lead to a slight variation in the sound of the horns. So an S3L from say 1957 will sound diffrent but simmilar to one from 1974.
From what I see in the photos I believe it to be a very old late 1950's era S3L, would sound something like this: (The horn in your pictures appears to be identical to this one, as far as parts go.)

 

[CGW101c]

Very Close.