Re: Question about when the bell is used

The 3985's steel bell was made because of the shortage of Brass during WWII whan she was built. Brass was being used for more important work (like shell casings) for a little conflagration in Europe and Japan.
I'm not to fond of the Steel Bell sound, either but it is original to that series of locomoive.
Yes, the ball is considered a safety device and it it still mandatory that it be rung today.
For anybody that is interested, before the advent of the Standard Code of Operating Rules (this is the original that dates back to the 1890's), many railroads had a series of Bell Signals in addition to Whistle signals.
Rick