train whistle doorbell

[fjerome]

i have to replace my doorbell (courtesy of one of our hurricanes) and would love to find a doorbell that sounds like a steam whistle. have not been successful. does anyone here know of one?

[spankybird]

check this one out

http://store.yahoo.com/schradersrailroad/chimtrainwhi.html

[Anonymous]

I think a standard doorbell works on 12v AC. Why not just take the guts of an old whistle tender (sans relay) and hook it up to the old doorbell leads? You might need to beef-up the circuit a bit if your friends have heavy hands. Sounds like fun to me!

[fjerome]

spankybird.

yeah, i have seen that. it is a manually operated bellows. the sound is good, but the conversion to an electrical system would be hard and this thing would not survive florida's humidity if placed outdoors...even under a roof.

old 2037,

i actually have one of those, but it would not be loud enough

[lionelsoni]

Doorbells use a variety of voltages, up to 24 volts. You may have to change transformers if yours isn't right for the whistle.

[dougdagrump]

Here's an idea. After you solve the voltage issue why not mount a small mantel, like the ones used for decorative purposes, where your current bell is located with just enough track for an old steamer and tender. Wire the tender directly with a disconnect of some sort so you can take it down if you need to in the future, painting, dusting whatever. The steamer can be totally disfuntional it is only there for appearance.
In essence you would have a functional piece of art. [:D]