A train whistle or air whistle (originally referred to as a steam trumpet) is an audible signaling device on a steam locomotive used to warn that the train is approaching, and to communicate with rail workers.
The older steam whistles were almost always actuated with a pull cord (or sometimes a lever) that permitted proportional (tracker) action, so that some form of "expression" could be put into the sound. Many locomotive operators would have their own style of blowing the whistle, and it was often apparent who was operating the locomotive by the sound. Modern locomotives often make use of a pushbutton switch, which takes away the fine control over the way the whistle is sounded.
Because trains generally have extremely high mass and relatively low braking friction, they are inherently difficult to stop at normal speeds. Some way of warning others of the approach of a train from a distance is necessary. Since train whistles were extremely inexpensive to institute compared to other more effective warning devices, the use of loud and distinct train whistles became the preferred solution for railway operators.
Read more about Train Whistle: History, UK Usage, Noise Complaints From Train Whistles, History of The Doppler Effect, Whistle Code, Train Whistles in Folk Culture
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“The logical English train a scholar as they train an engineer. Oxford is Greek factory, as Wilton mills weave carpet, and Sheffield grinds steel. They know the use of a tutor, as they know the use of a horse; and they draw the greatest amount of benefit from both. The reading men are kept by hard walking, hard riding, and measured eating and drinking, at the top of their condition, and two days before the examination, do not work but lounge, ride, or run, to be fresh on the college doomsday.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Slavery is no scholar, no improver; it does not love the whistle of the railroad; it does not love the newspaper, the mail-bag, a college, a book or a preacher who has the absurd whim of saying what he thinks; it does not increase the white population; it does not improve the soil; everything goes to decay.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)