Whistles

This subject popped up in another forum:

How many different whistles did all 4 remaining Reading Company T-1's carry through out thier years of preservation era operations?
So far we have:
The 'stock" Reading Company frieght whistle
A Boston and Maine whistle
A Lackawanna whistle
A Baltimore & Ohio 5 chime
Reading Company 6 chime passenger whistle
The whistle off the BLW #60,000 in the Franklin Institute
A Lehigh Valley whistle
A Union Pacfic "steamboat" whistle
A Southern Pacific frieght whistle
A "G-5" (??) whistle,this one was also carried by the 614,as probably some others were.

Anymore? Does anyone have some more specfic information on any of the above,such as what class engines they were from,etc.?

Sorry, unable to offer more, in fact only have questions.

Not challenging you in any way, but am interested in your sources. Until now, I had only known about the three types they had carried during the Ramble days, being the freight hooter, the Reading passenger whistle (do you have any photos of these??) and the 60,000's whistle (borrowed from the Museum).

So, I'm going to assume the others are all post-Ramble era fittings. I'm especially interested in the steamboat whistle. Are you sure it's from the UP?

Anyway, I'm a whistle freak and am interested in all of this.

By the way, the Cumbes & Toltec has what is purportedly a Reading 6-chime passenger whistle. It's of magnificent tone, I can tell you that much with certainty!! I'd like to see any photos of these whistles you might direct me to as I'd much like to confirm the similarity. At this point I do believe it's Reading whistle from the few Reading in-service shots I've seen, but I didn't know this was the type one of the 2100's received during the Ramble trips. I do have a couple of the records which were produced by several companies during those trips and have heard that whistle, though it's been many years since I've played them and don't have the equipment to do so at this time.

Any information you can give will be greatly appreciated.

John

As to your question about the Reading Company 6 chime passenger whistles,here's a picture of one.


The Reading 6 chime when used on the T-1's was modified because of the difference between the boiler pressure of the G Class engines which was 180 psig and the higher 240 psig of the T Class engines. As far as the other whistles used on the T-1's, they were on used by the Blue Mountain & Reading on various trips I rode, and I only know because I asked someone who I knew that was on the engine crew, was the Lehigh Valley and the B&O 5 chime. The others were posted on the thread in the "other" forum, so they could be accurate or maybe not, but just about no whistle would surprise me given all the operating time and venues the T-1's have had post in the Ramble era. And I too have some of those records, and the best recording has to be the track from the Iron Horse Rambles record taken at Klapperthal Curve just outside Reading ,Pa where the ampitheatre shape of the hills just make the sound of the 6 chime sing.

Yup, that's the same whistle which has variously been carried on C&TS K-36 #484 and #487. It's one of my very favorite whistles, period. In recordings I have (both video and audio) over the years that whistle has offered more character and simple beauty that anything else I can think of.

On the C&TS the whistle had something "wrong" with it, and it was apparent that the flow of steam through the valve area and up past the table plate would change for various reasons and at different lever positions (wear being the most obvious). It would emit the most glorious chords and over-tones, which echoed off the surrounding mountains in nearly ethereal fashion. If you're interested in a recording I'm happy to email you one or more.

Seems to me I recall a recording of (I think) a BM&R trip where the engine had a steamboat whistle. It was totally unexpected, and of course I had trouble putting the two together in my mind. I'm going to guess that was the LV whistle, as their 4-8-4's had early Hancock steamboat whistle similar to those seen on the early UP 4-8-4/4-6-6-4 engines (I believe that's what they were anyway, not the later "Hancock Long-Bell" step top type). For some reason the UP replaced very nearly all those early flat-top Hancocks with the later cast step-top versions.

The recording of the T-1 with the whistle off 60,000 is very interesting. That's quite a high-pitched chime, and very "thin", which if you know anything about organ pipe construction fits exactly with the relatively small diamater of 60,000's whistle. I have always been delighted the Museum allowed the use of that whistle. I'd love to get back and see 60,000 some day. Given my name, you might guess I have a certain affinity for 3-cylinder power.

I need to get my turntable back in good order. A buddy now has a professional CD burner, and it will accept any type of sound input. We have been burning our old LP's and early tapes onto CD, but I have a LOT left and miss hearing those on LP.

I'll talk about whistles all day long!

John

By the way, thanks for that great image! I've saved it. I'll find one of the C&TS whistle and send to ya if you'll give me your address.

John