Whistle Meanings

Most people get a thrill hearing the whistle of a steam locomotive. The whistles serve as an important communication function during operation of a railroad. Each whistle contains a series of short and/or long notes that represent a kind of language that the railroaders understand. The whistle patterns are almost like Morse code's patterns of dots and dashes.

On the Cumbres & Toltec railroad, most of the Mikado locomotives have the same whistle housings, made at the same factory. But, even though the whistles are basically identical, each locomotive has its own spirit and each engineer plays the whistle with their own style. When an engineer was asked why they play multiple note rhythms the answer came back "because we can." Compare the difference between the whistles of Engine 484 (36KB) and Engine 488  (47KB) playing the same basic pattern.

The mechanical parts of the locomotive whistle consist of a whistle housing and the valve that controls the flow of air (or in this case, steam) through the whistle. When the engineer pulls a rope in the cab of the locomotive, the rope pulls the valve on the whistle which then allows steam to rush across the whistle's throat. As steam moves across the whistle throat and out of the whistle, the sound waves are generated.

 

WHISTLE MEANINGS

• S -  Applying brakes and stopping.

• SS -  Answer to signal.

• SSS -  Backing up or stop at the next station.

• L -   Single Long note with rhythm.

• LL -   Release brakes.

• LS -   Danger! Warning! Blown before crossing a trestle or entering a yard.

• LLSL -  Approaching a highway crossing.

S=Short, L=Long

 

See Also:

Complete List of Whistles