Western Maryland horn question

Looks like one is forward facing and one backwards...maybe push-pull service?

Nathan M5 horns. one set faces forward, the other set backward.

IIRC, there was a fantrip, and it was recorded, where one of the FA's unleashed both horns simultaneously.  I've heard the sound, but I don't recall the source.  Maybe Youtube has something.

When the FA2's were first-line power for Western Maryland, whistle signals were used quite a bit.  Rear-facing air horns were used for calling for a Flagman to protect the train to the rear, and for recalling a flagman protecting the rear.  In that era, some cabooses and engines were equipped with radios, but they didn't work very well, except in flat country.  And Brakemen did not use portable radios.  A trainman wanting to make a separation in the train had to hear one long whistled by the Engineer before stepping in a turning the angle cock.  Turning the angle cock while the brake pipe was still exhausting would often cause the front portion of the train -- and the engine -- to experience an undesired emergency brake application.  Thus, the Engineer used the whistle to tell the trainman when the exhaust had ceased and it was safe to turn the angle cock.  Trains with helper engines entrained -- and WM did this every day -- used the whistle for communication between the road engine and the helper(s) when ready to start moving.

The WM apparently wanted to be sure that the whistle could be heard from the rear, and I think that a fully rear-facing Nathan M5 would get the job done in any conceivable atmospheric conditions, even if the train was standing next to a rock crusher.  

Tom,

Did both horns sound every time or were there two pull ropes or levers?

WM did a bit of overkill. I would think 1 set of 5 chime with 2 bells facing rearward would be plenty of noise!

RRMAN, I'm sure there were two whistle cords.  That was standard practice on cab units with separate forward and rear-facing air horns.

Chuck, I was thinking the same thing, since reversing 2 of the 5 bells on Nathan M5 horns worked fine for the majority of roads which used that air horn.  But . . . as I posted recently in a thread about Mars Oscillating Headlights, a lot of these decisions were subject to the amount of hospitality shown by suppliers, to railroad Mechanical Department officials, at Mechanical conventions.  Offhand, it appears that Nathan poured the favorite brand of somebody at WM, but that's just conjecture.

feltonhill posted:

IIRC, there was a fantrip, and it was recorded, where one of the FA's unleashed both horns simultaneously.  I've heard the sound, but I don't recall the source.  Maybe Youtube has something.

Rich Melvin's own Hopewell Productions released a video titled "The Capital Limited '79" which includes WM F7s operating in NRHS convention fan trip service with both sets of horns being blown. I believe that might be the footage to which you're referring. The DVD version of that and other  Hopewell programs are offered for sale on the OGR site. 

Bob