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Train horns have been with us as long as have the locomotive itself. Train horns are used by the engineer to scare animals away from the tracks, as well as letting motorists know that a train is approaching the crossing. Another function of the horns is to let passengers know that the train is about to depart. Train horns are also used by track workers when performing track maintenance and while handling track switching.

Air horns were originally used in locomotives; similar to those used on trucks. However, as trains moved to internal combustion engines over steam or coal power, these horns were not loud enough to be heard over the new diesel engines. Truck horns were retooled by engineers at rail companies, with oscillation being used to push air through a power chamber and vibrate against a nozzle to create the sound we all know. The placement of the diaphragm lets more or less air to be pushed through, making for a horn which is louder or softer. Trains built before 1990 still employed the manual pull cord horns (the technique is called feathering). The pull cord allows the engineer to have some control over the volume of the horn. Since this time, trains began using pushbuttons and pedals to control the horn instead.

In the past few years, train horns have become a sort of fad with many vehicle customizers for their own personal trucks and vans. Train horns are not manufactured for private use because people know that when they hear one there is usually a train coming, and if a train horn is used in normal traffic it tends to cause accidents, and in many places, it is against the law to operate a train horn. Train horns themselves have even come under scrutiny as some communities have developed quiet zones, and the engineers were instructed only to sound the horns in case of an emergency. Because of these laws, many automobile and pedestrian accidents have happened. With the speed of a train, and the amount of weight behind the engine a train hitting and automobile is like a truck running over an aluminum can, the can will be flattened.

Each country has its own meaning of the train horn signals. The standard meaning of the train horn signal vary from current state railway networks, while the train horn signals in the United States will vary from different railway companies.

In the United States, the pattern for train horn signals at a crossing is two long, one short and one long, which will be repeated until the train has crossed the railway crossing. Florida had put a ban on locomotive horn use because of quiet zones that had been established, and after a few years had to lift the ban due to the enormous rate of accidents that had accrued during the ban.

Even though a lot of people find the sound of a train horn to be an imposition, they have an important safety function and can save lives. Because of this, it is likely that quiet zones will become less and less common as more people understand the important function performed by train horns.