Engineers don't honk their horns and toot their whistles just for fun. The sounds they make have special meanings and help make everyone safe. Here are five common signals you might hear and what they mean. Two long toots means the train is releasing its brakes and beginning to move. A long-long-short-long signal means a train is approaching a road (or grade level) crossing. One long signal means the train is approaching a station. A number of rapid, short toots means that there is livestock on the tracks. One short signal means the locomotive or train is stopping. Back to Fun with Trains. © 2007, Jerry Jindrich. All rights reserved. Revised 1/24/2016.