CSX has installed a digital crossing bell at Summit Ave. in beautiful downtown Gaithersburg, MD. I recall hearing them on BNSF crossings when I was in Flagstaff in 2003. The Gaithersburg "bell" sounds nice enough. And I can hear it in my office some 200 ft away and four floors up. Although it seems louder, the pitch and tone are pleasant enough. Are these devices on the increase? Does this mean that we need to start collecting old-style crossing bells? One more thing to preserve.....Wesley

I've seen/heard them around. I'm sort of surprised digitals bells haven't been applied to engines yet- but I bet the time is coming.J

Yes.Crossing protection equipment has continued to evolve and is now pretty high tech. Electronic crossing bells are part of the change, although the biggest changes are inside the relay cabinet. I'm not even sure you can buy a new mechanical crossing bell anymore. LED's are replacing the old style lenses and of course signs, light posts, cross arms, etc., have all gone to newer designs. Incidentally, although standards may vary by railroad, I crossing bells were generally only specified at locations where pedestrians as well as vehicles crossed the tracks. I had to argue with our signal contractor awhile back when I wanted a bell included at a rural installation.Alan Maples

Actually electronic bells have been applied to diesels. Newer GEs have them. The speaker is placed right where the bell would be. I know some people don't like the sound (mainly because it's change from the norm), but I however find them to sound okay. Norfolk Southern has this feature on a good number of it's Dash-9s. If you follow this link http://www.dieselairhorns.com/media/25W ... gCreek.wmv it's a direct link to a video from Ed Kaspriske's excellent website about train horns. It shows an NS Dash-9 with the electronic bell.