Hi Everybody,

Is having a bell on a steam engine an era thing, a function thing (switching versus passenger), or what?

Was watching the br 81 go around while listening to the loksound decoder go "ding, ding, ding," and I noticed there was no bell on the locomotive!

Ok, I don't know much about German prototypes, but I though all steam loks had a bell. But only two of my loks (br 86 and br 38) have bells. BR 80, 81, 89, and 52 have no bells.

Thanks for any insights!

It seems that a bell is the norm for US locos but is rare for European locos.

Absolutly posssible, even very likely, Trainbuff !
Funny to know also is that these bells were air operated, not by steam .

Usually they were fitted from the builders onwards, but the local directiories may have decided to have the bell added at the next general overhaul (AW- Ausbesserungswerk). A BR03 eg could be seen with a bell. The heavier machines (axial load = 20 tons) usually not, since the local lines were not adapted to the higher axial load.

Funny also is that bells were not carried by diesels or electric loks, to my knowledge.

The indication to use the bell was given to the driver by a L shield (black L on a white rectangular board), for 'Lauten'. The label P stands for whistling (Pfeiffen).

Cheers,

Bob

The bell thing is definalty a USA thing, all locos are required to have them by federal law. They have to be rang at grade/road crossings, inside station limits and are sometimes required whenever a locomotive is moving inside a large shunting yard. Each railroad in the USA has its own rules on bell use that cover the required by law use and railroad specific use. Cheers Mike