The Hexatone H6 was developed in 1948 and 1949 by Robert E Swanson. Four of these great horns were produced over that time. The first H6 was cast iron, but was soon scrapped, replaced by the three aluminum horns (all of which survive!). Serial #1 (which replaced the cast iron version - also serial #1) exists, but hasn't been seen since the 80s. #2 is in a British transportation museum, and #3 is still with AirChime in British Columbia. The H6 supposedly sounded C D# F# A C and D#, designed by Swanson by using ancient Chinese musical theory.

The bells on an H6 are arranged in a hexagonal pattern, which accounts for its immense height, with the largest bell in the bottom center. All the bells are welded together, are non-reversible, and have copper tubing running from a central manifold to each bell. Also, the orifices for each bell are different, resulting in a balancing of the low and high tones. The bells on an H6 are adjustable as well; by screwing the diaphragm housing on or off the bell, the length of the bell could be changed, effectively raising or lowering the pitch of that bell. By adjusting the heads on this horn, it was possible to come up with many different musical chords, one of which was the long-bell SP/Nathan 6-chime steam whistle chord.

The H6s were not very practical, as they stood nearly two feet tall, could easily be snagged by items overhanging the railroad tracks, and weighed in at over 50 pounds! The cast-iron H6 never saw any service time, though the other three did. All were used on slow-speed shortlines, and saw very short service lives of less than a year. Serial #1 is known to have been used as a test on the Simpson Timber Railroad in Washington State.

One final note is that the H6s were produced in 1949, before AirChime's inception and before Nathan got into the horn business. Neither AirChime nor Nathan should be associated with the H6; this horn was Robert Swanson's creation.

H5

The H5 was the first horn ever built in any large production number by AirChime, and also holds the distinction of the world's first 5-chime horn. It has five bells, and Swanson's original tuning was C# D# F# A and C#. Basically a five-note version of an H6, the H5 also shares this horn's unique "outdoor plumbing" to each bell and variable orifices. The bells are also welded in place, around the #1 bell, and are non-reversible. As on the H6, the bell lengths on the H5 could be adjusted to change the pitch of each bell, fixed in place with a bronze lock nut. Some common chords produced by H5s were A Major 6th (C# E F# A C#), A Major 7th (C# E G A C#), C# diminished (C# E G A# C#), and more. The back caps on H5s and H6s were also quite unique in that a spanner wrench is not needed to remove them. Instead, these caps had six tabs protruding back along the outer circumference of the cap, which were used to "grip" and rotate the cap.

There were several runs of H5s, and all have a distinguishing factor. The first run of H5s, serial numbers 4-40, have "Hexatone H5" cast into the #1 bell. (Serial numbers 1-3 are taken by the first three Hexatone H6 horns.) Serial numbers 41-50 have "Nathan Airtone H5" cast into their #1 bells. The third run, serials 51-87, have "Nathan H5 Five Chime" cast. The last four H5s were in the serial number range of 108-125, supposedly intermixed with the first production M5s. (Serial numbers 88-107 represent all 20 N3s produced - see below.) The last (88th) H5 has a serial number of 125.

H5s were used on several different roads, though the Western Maryland purchased the most. The WM even had pairs of H5s on some of their power, one facing forward, one facing backwards! A few H5s were known to have service lives up through the 1980s, though since then the only known survivors have been in the hands of collectors.

		h5_030614_1.jpg	the bottom of an H5 showing how the bells are welded together, and how the mouth of the #1 bell is offset from the other four, accommodating a tighter fit of all the bells
		h5_030614_2.jpg	a rear view of the H5 giving a good overall picture of how one is arranged
		h5_030614_3.jpg	this side view of Jim Smith's H5 shows the markings on the #1 bell, including the stamped serial number - #24
		h5_010519_1.wav	Bill Williamson's H5 tuned to A Major 7th, recorded at the 2001 Altoona H&W Fair
		h5_030614_3.wav	Jim Smith's H5 at the Oak Ridge 2003 blow - I believe it is tuned to Swanson's original H5 chord

A5

The A5 air horn is actually a Nathan creation, and has nothing to do with AirChime or Swanson. Nathan was trying to improve on the H5 and came up with this horn. The main difference with the H5 is that the bells are reversible. Because of this, each head has two air inlet blocks. Depending on which direction each bell was facing determined which inlet block would be drilled and tapped to accept the orifice tube. Also, the manifold, bells, and heads resemble their M horn counterparts, but the manifold did not supply air to each bell, as evidenced by the "external plumbing". The A5 was not popular, and the line was ended after about 25 or so were produced. None are known to survive.

m3_kanne_1.jpg

while not an A5, Ken Kanne's early round-base M3 has the blocks cast into the tops of the #1 and #2 heads which would have been drilled and tapped for airlines if used on an A5

N3

The N3 was Swanson's first production 3-chime horn. It does not have external plumbing, like the H6, H5, and A5, but rather is the first horn to use the manifold as both a mount for the horns as well as an air manifold. The horn has a very similar appearance to the M3, and even plays the same chord - C# E and A. There are a few differences, though. First, the bell throats extend through the manifold and contact the heads, very similar to SuperTyfon bells. As for visual differences, the manifold has more gradual slopes surrounding the place the #1 bell attaches, the heads have a small tab on the top of them, and the back caps are the same style as the H5 and H6 back caps. Also, the bells do not have any markings on them, and the hex-head cap screws joining the heads and bells to the manifold can be seen sticking out of the base of each bell. The last difference that I'm aware of is that, like the H6 and H5, the N3 uses a diaphragm assembly that is riveted together, not bolted like the M series.

The N3 was more of a filler model than a long-range production model, which the M series were to be. Only 20 N3s were produced, serial numbers 88-107. Thankfully, two of these horns do survive in private collections.

		altoona2001.jpg	this picture, from Altoona 2001, shows several rarities, including two H5s (one on Bill's tailgate, the other mounted), a 0-bell M5 (on the ground), and an N3 (also on the ground) - the second H5, the 0-bell M5, and the N3 belong to Fred Berry
		n3_020929_1.wav	Brent Lee's N3 recorded at about 1AM during his 2002 Cape Horn Honk, tuned by Fred Berry

J3 Snowplow Whistle

The J3 was a short-lived model that was introduced just months before the K series. This horn was designed to be a low-maintenance alternative to the M3H for use on Canadian snow plows. It blows a D# minor chord, and at a quick glance looks like a K3. The only external differences between the J3 and K series horns are a triangular base (which was also used for early K3s), and "AirChime Snowplow Whistle" cast into the #1 bell. The insides of the J3 are slightly different from the K series. First, there is only one diaphragm disk in each bell (as opposed to the K's two). Also, there is no diffuser ring inside. Apparently, when the K3 was introduced, the J3 was dropped, and so is a rare horn to find. Currently, only one or two complete J3s are known to exist.

last updated 03.07.2004