Nathan AirChime K3L (K3LR2), 30126L manifold with 30109 diaphram caps.
I assume these are #1 (D#, 311Hz), 2 (F#, 370Hz) and 3 (A#, 470Hz) for
D# (Eb) minor, which is the Canadian standard. It is also possible it
is a K3LA (K3LAR2), replacing the 3 horn with a 4a (B, 494Hz) horn for
B major, which is the American standard.
Assembling an air supply
Mounted after the build party at Re-Cycles
Carole's photos on parade day
an
appearance on Parliament Hill to support the Smiths Falls to Mattawa
line
Q: How long did the horn last with that air tank you had strapped to the train.
A: Longer than I expected. The bare tank and horn have 1/2" NPT ports. The hardware that came with the tank (guage and fill valve) has a 1/4" port. I bought 1/4" hose, quick-connects, regulator to assemble the airline and at 80-90 psi, I could not get the horn to sound. It just wheezed. I was testing it in my basement with nobody home, aimed into a big stuffed couch with pillows piled on top while wearing earplugs. After removing the quick-connects, it got closer, but still no go. After reflecting on it more, I removed the regulator. It finally sounded, but I didn't know how low it would go. I understand these are normally run at 150 psi on locomotives and can be heard 5 miles away, but should still sound down to 30 psi...
So, when we started the parade with 120 psi in the tank, I was very conservative with my air store until we got to the judging stand, which was right at the end of the parade. After that, we were using it liberally. It kept sounding down to about 25 psi. So, we probably got about 30 blasts of about 1 second each on one 7-gallon tank fill.
I intend to keep this set portable. I'll go back and re-try the quick-connects to see if that still works. If not, I may go to 1/2" fittings all the way.