Wilmington and Western's 4-4-0 #98 operated with two bells on the Mississippi Central from the mid 1930's until her removal from the roster at the end of WWII. The second bell was connected to the steam chest and rang continuously when the locomotive was moving. This was the result of a tragic collision with a school bus by different locomotive on the Mississippi Central.

Does anyone know of any other railroad that did such a thing?

Continuously while moving? Ugh.

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You can bet your bottom dollar that there was some Foghorn-Leghorn-style lawyering going on there, perhaps involving a consent degree that the locomotives and trains should continually announce themselves...

I've always thought this was a splendid response by the railroad, heeping those bells ringing in town night and day. A bit like buying a Christmas present for a family with annoying children ,,, something electronic, with plenty of loud beeps and boops that can't be muffled...

E. Scrooge
43 Exchange, London

My recollection of the David Price and Louis Saillard book on the Mississippi Central is that the two bells on the locomotives were the result of a crossing accident case which the railroad lost in court. The decision was in part based on the fact the railroad could not prove the bell was ringing when the engine approached a crossing. The second bell was air operated with the control valve at ground level, turned on by the head brakeman before he flagged crossings as necessary. The bell was not operated continously.

Alex -

That is how I remember the explanation of the second bell. And it was not only the passenger 4-4-0's that had two bells as I recall, but all of the Mississippi Central steamers. I recall seeing photos of 2-8-2's with two bells. I think that one of the railroads Mikes still survives. Does she still have two bells?

Les

The two bell setup was explained to me by David Price, co-author of the Natchez Route book.former MSC. He got his information directly from MSC master mechanic J.O. Green who developed a device that caused the second bell to ring whenever the locomotive was moving. Even when the throttle was closed and the locomotive was drifting.

This was a direct result of a 1936 train - school bus collision at Bassfield, MS that killed 3 small children. Mississippi law was also changed to forbid carrying children in wood bodied school busses because of this accident.

The device was patented and used by the MSC.

I'll mod this thought with the South Shore 800's electric having 2 horns, one at each end, and they both sounded when activated. They usualy had the same horn but one had a differrent horn on one end.

Sacramento Northern freight motor 653 at Orange Empire (and probably its mate, 654 at Rio Vista Jct.) has a locomotive bell, an interurban-style clatter gong, a single-tone air horn and an air whistle. Back when we had New Year's Eve "Ring out the old and whistle in the new" nights, 653 would have all four devices sounding at midnight.