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  • All about the Arcade & Attica Railroad
All about the Arcade & Attica Railroad

Moderator: Benjamin Maggi

 #631349  by BSOR Patarak
 
Here is a view of the "can" type from #6

Image

The right view is 18 with the "can" style taken in 1962. On the left is 14's dome with it's original whistle on top along with what I think is a different "can" type whistle. Though it is really tough to see the details, the mouths where the steam comes out look different to me. 14's has a longer stem on top. This leads me to believe they are different whistles, and thus probably loaned to the engines for short times. In both cases there aren't as many pictures with these particular types in place.

ImageImage
 #632711  by Mountcastle
 
Now, do these 'can' type whistles have chimes, making a melodic sound like the whistle currently in use on No. 18? Or would it produce less of a melodic sound, something more akin to, say, the high-pitched shrill of British and European steam locomotives?

Just trying to get a sense of what the A&A might have 'sounded' like in the pre-excursion era.
 #755377  by jpp452
 
What you are referring to as the "can" type whistles were also normally a chime whistle, with the chambers of different lengths within the enclosure. It looks from the photos that the old whistles had three or four chambers.

Single tone hooters such as used on freight locomotives of the PRR, N&W and other eastern roads (N&W 1218 used one; listen to recordings of her) tended to have a more direct opening because they did not need divisions between the chambers.

See below:
plain whistles.jpg
plain whistles.jpg (35.52 KiB) Viewed 10883 times
can type chime.jpg
can type chime.jpg (31.29 KiB) Viewed 10883 times
 #853813  by khojnacki
 
I fired 14 for Manley during the 75-77 seasons. If you were around then, especially in 1976, you heard a LOT of different whistles. 14 carried the five chime whistle as the regular one and the CN whistle mounted on the engineer's side. The CN was the quieter of the two. There is a 2" elbow pipe on the fireman's side of the steam dome which was used to add water to the cold boiler when not in steam. During my years, I often put another whistle on that side, which Manley let me blow for the ProSil and Genesee Rd crossings. Those added whistles included a 3chime Lunkenheimer with a backwoodsie sound, a single chime that sounds like D&RG 268 and a 3 chime NYC whistle owned by a friend. I do have recordings of those whistles that I may someday upload.

Here is part of my reminiscence of working on the A&A that also my make it uploaded someday:

For the1976 Bicentennial on July 4th, we had a heck of a time. I believe it was at 2pm EDT that all over the country, people were supposed to ring church and other bells for two minutes to commemorate the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Well, we only had one bell on 14 but Manley and I made up for it. Not only did Manley blow the regular and CN whistles, but I had my 3-chime Lunkenheimer on the auxiliary pipe. With earplugs in place while standing at the depot before the 2pm run, for two minutes, we rang the bell and blew those three whistles for all they were worth. I think there were a lot of deaf people in Arcade after that episode. Wish someone had recorded that.
 #854015  by Benjamin Maggi
 
That is a great memory. Without trying to sidetrack the thread, since you brought it up- can you give me an approximation on how long #14 stayed in the Red/White/Blue scheme that was originally given her in recognition of the bicentennial?
 #860401  by khojnacki
 
The R/W/B scheme lasted into the next year. I'd have to check my photos to see if it made it all year, don't remember 30+ years ago to that detail. For a while, we had these HUGE flags, probably 2x3. We had to tie them to the handrails as they kept blocking our view ahead. Eventually went to smaller ones.
 #1275031  by thestrasburg90
 
Interestingly enough, I came across this YouTube video featuring Arcade #18 in 1992 wearing what sounds to me like a five or six-chime. Would anyone like to elaborate on this? The whistle I have always heard was the current CNR one but this video proves she wore another one at some point...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bP_ek6VcnTs" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;