Long story short, my Dad was a train fanatic. He built a crazy camper in the shape of a caboose with a bunch of real train horns and whistles. When he passed I inherited his crazy MG Midget and by brother inherited the caboose truck. Taking care of the caboose truck was a massive undertaking compared to the Midget, so sadly the day came when he needed to part it. Not wanting my Dad's tradition to end, the only suitable home for a set of horns was on the Midget. I got the 3 note Leslie Supertyfon, which is a 50-60's vintage diesel locomotive horn. My bro kept the Nathan 5 note.
The Caboose Truck
3 Note Leslie Supertyfon
The Midget
At first I wanted to mount them on a extra filler tube my dad had plumbed to an extra gas tank (that fueled a flame thrower). But, the arm of the horns and the base of the mount inside of the trunk proved a difficult engineering challenge. I reverted to the simplest design I could think of. A solid wood mount inside the trunk with a latch that locks the trunk lid just above the horns. I also needed to mount a 20 gallon air tank, plumbing (I used 1/4" ID tubing, but it's too small), valves, and filler coupling. I plan on finding another British Racing Green trunk lid and cutting an opening for the horns. With the lid half open I get way too much toxic exhaust fumes in the cabin. It will be terrible with the top down.
Mounted
I did some test blasts at 110psi last Saturday and the cops were cruising my neighborhood in 5 minutes! Today I did a drive by down the street and was impressed with the results. The note of the Supertyfon is supposed to be slightly off-key. It was designed to be a less pleasing note than on-key, which would somehow increase the safety by making people run away from the sound. I think with 3/8" or 1/2" ID air hose I can get the volume necessary to get a less muted sound.
Drive By
The Caboose Truck
3 Note Leslie Supertyfon
The Midget
At first I wanted to mount them on a extra filler tube my dad had plumbed to an extra gas tank (that fueled a flame thrower). But, the arm of the horns and the base of the mount inside of the trunk proved a difficult engineering challenge. I reverted to the simplest design I could think of. A solid wood mount inside the trunk with a latch that locks the trunk lid just above the horns. I also needed to mount a 20 gallon air tank, plumbing (I used 1/4" ID tubing, but it's too small), valves, and filler coupling. I plan on finding another British Racing Green trunk lid and cutting an opening for the horns. With the lid half open I get way too much toxic exhaust fumes in the cabin. It will be terrible with the top down.
Mounted
I did some test blasts at 110psi last Saturday and the cops were cruising my neighborhood in 5 minutes! Today I did a drive by down the street and was impressed with the results. The note of the Supertyfon is supposed to be slightly off-key. It was designed to be a less pleasing note than on-key, which would somehow increase the safety by making people run away from the sound. I think with 3/8" or 1/2" ID air hose I can get the volume necessary to get a less muted sound.
Drive By
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