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WCH electronic bells first showed up on WCH's site in late 1998 as an alternative to mechanical bells.
The design of the bell has not changed at all since 1998, but the tone it produces and the internal electronics have changed a bit over time.
The volume and speed of the tone on all bells is fully adjustable.
The term "Generation 1" comes from the kinds of bells that make one long ring, then ring at normal speed for the rest of the time the bell remains on.
The term "Generation 2" comes from the kinds of bells that ring at one speed without the first long ring.
There are four different kinds of tones that the WCH bell can produce.
The "Type 1" tone is a bit of a scratchy, high pitched warbled tone.
The "Type 1.5" tone sounds simlar to the type 1 tone, but is a bit cleaner in tone, and doesn't sound scratchy.
The "Type 2" tone is the most popular tone in service Today, a bit lower in tone than the types 1 and 1.5..
The "Type 3" tone is even lower toned than all preceding bells, and is quite popular to find. |
WCH electronic bell. No larger Resolution Available. |
The "Type" series is only distinguished by the type of sound it produces, not the shape of the bell.
This bell is very popular to find on Class I railroads such as Union Pacific, and Class III railroads such as the Arizona & California Railroad and Grand Canyon Railway.
Due to the "scratchy" tone this bell produces, this is not a favorite bell amongst many signalfans, although some people do like this bell, for instance, TrainmanKight.
This bell is 18 1/4 inches tall, and 6 1/2 inches in diameter and weighs 10 pounds. It sounds at 80 to 95 decibles at 10 feet away, and rings at a 360° plane. The bell runs at 9 to 15 volts DC or AC, runs on 150 mAh current.
WCH Electronic bell electronics inside. The left one is a Generation 2, while the right is a Generation 1 taken 4/22/2008 from the collection of rrxingrick@aol.com. |
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CLICK THE ICON TO THE LEFT TO HEAR A RAW FEED OF THE TYPE 1 BELL. |
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CLICK THE ICON TO THE LEFT TO HEAR A RAW FEED OF THE TYPE 1.5 BELL. |
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CLICK THE ICON TO THE LEFT TO HEAR A RAW FEED OF THE TYPE 2 BELL. |
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CLICK THE ICON TO THE LEFT TO HEAR A RAW FEED OF THE TYPE 3 BELL. |
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVzwTmBoD_s - WCH type 3 electronic bell video.
http://wch.com/pdf/catalog/bells.pdf - Full line of WCH bells, both mechanical and electronic. 
