Proposal talk:Level crossing train horn usage
Optional
The proposal currently justifies optional because a train horn isn't strictly prohibited at the crossing. Do we need to make that distinction? Are there any crossings where train horns are strictly prohibited under any circumstance? I went with optional in Talk:Tag:railway=level_crossing#Quiet zones because Kovposch expressed a desire to align quiet zones with no honking restrictions on roads. headlight=* also came up as another key to align with; it has an allowed value, but I think optional better captures the intent of this derestriction. – Minh Nguyễn 💬 23:34, 30 January 2022 (UTC)
- Note that wayside horns and quite zones in the USA are still considered optional or as needed by most operating procedures. Example: to have it posted does not abolish the use of a locomotive horn. --Natfoot footnat (talk) 01:49, 18 May 2022 (UTC)
FYI
In Germany Pfeiftafeln indicate that the horn must be blown. --Nw520 (talk) 18:45, 20 March 2023 (UTC)
crossing:whistle=*
Why not use crossing:whistle=* instead? I see it as the better alternative to keep tagging in line with railway:signal:whistle=* (as described in railway=signal) which as of today has been used 5 139 times. --VileGecko (talk) 14:54, 26 March 2023 (UTC)
- Sorry for the very belated reply, but the main reason I initially discounted "whistle" was because it's considered an obsolete term in modern North American practice, whistles themselves being steam-era contraptions. If others here think that matching the existing schema for tagging railway signs is more important, though, I can edit the proposal to use crossing:whistle=* instead, but leave it otherwise unchanged by and large. --UrbanUnPlanner (talk) 23:59, 2 May 2023 (UTC)
- While these days the device producing the sound is indeed called a horn it seems that most languages refer to the sound itself as a whistle. The signs for producing the sound are also called "whistle boards" and in a number of countries depict the first letter of the word "whistle" in local language (W, P, С to name a few). The same applies to ships whereas a similar device is used. --VileGecko (talk) 22:23, 3 May 2023 (UTC)