Ring that bell

[NKP guy]

This week our local historical society is accepting the donation of an Erie RR locomotive bell, supposedly from an Erie Mohawk ( sounds like an Indian tribe!).  Some questions come to mind for the experts here:

1.  Who made (makes? do new ones still have a bell?) locomotive bells?  Is there a bell foundry somewhere that made/makes bells for the railroad industry?  Did Alco or Lima or Baldwin or Rogers cast their own bells or buy them from a vendor?

2.  Is bronze the usual material?   A la "Antiques Roadshow," is there a reason not to clean the bell & polish it?  Or should it be kept with its acquired patina?

3.  The bell is coming to us without its hanger or clapper.  Should we look on Ebay for these items, or would we be better off to have a local craftsman make new ones?  If we got these items from Ebay I imagine we could be in for a it-doesn't-fit type of headache.

4.  What were/are some general rules for ringing the bell on a locomotive?  When is it required?

 

I've always liked all kinds of bells, my favorite being the unique ringing made by those on San Francisco's cable cars, to my mind the single most distinctive bell sound on earth.

So.  Any information and/or advice?  We think the schoolkids on their tours are going to love ringing this locomotive bell until their ears, or ours, bleed. 

 

[ACY Tom]

You might want to do a bit more research into the provenance of this bell.  Erie never owned a Mohawk.  That name was used by New York Central for their 4-8-2's, which were known at Mountains on other roads.  Erie never owned a Mountain either.  It might help to ask the donor for a locomotive number, photo, or some supporting paperwork.

Copper alloys were the most commonly used materials for locomotive bells.  The formulas varied.  Just about any foundry was able to cast a bell, and replacenments (due to cracking, etc.) were often cast in the railroad's own shops.  In the days when locomotives were assigned to particular engine crews, the assigned engineer and fireman were often known to add precious metal to the molten bell metal, often in the form of silver or gold coins, when a new bell was cast for their engine.  This was said to improve the tone.  Over time, damaged bells were recast when necessary, using old bell metal mixed with new.  As a result, surviving bells may contain a complex mix of metals.

Traditionally, bells were polished as a point of pride.  A tarnished bell implied lack thereof.  For some reason, the interior of many bells was painted red.

Hope this helps.

Tom

P.S.  I used to own a melodic bell that now graces N&W 2-8-8-2 2050 at the Illinois Railway Museum.  We used to ring it at New Years Eve parties.  I'm glad it's in a better place now.

 

[mudchicken]

The steam locomotive builders had their own foundries, made their own brass bells. Outfits like Prime make diesel locomotive bells with mechanical ringers. (I've worked derailments where the brass bells have melted or deformed.)

At CRRM in Golden, we took to wrapping the clapper of DRGW 683 in duct tape to keep from driving us nuts and to let us think in the library. Thinking of doing the same with the older DL&G locomotive now that it is now the new offender.

If you are really into bells, check out the Verdin Bell Foundry in Cincinnati.(especially the museum and restoration side on the east side of town (California and also in Reading/Mill Creek Valley)) http://www.verdin.com/about/bell-event-centre.php

[tree68]

Polishing:  Depends on where the bell will be and the security thereof.

A nice, shiny brass bell hanging outside, unattended, may attract the eye of a variety of thieves, ranging from druggies who are looking for a source of money for their next fix (any scrap dealer who takes in such an item ought to be hung) to overzealous "fans" who would love to see such a prize in their "trophy room."

I suppose it also depends, too, on the need for historical accuracy.  

[NKP guy]

Thanks for these informative and interesting replies.

ACY, you are so right about checking the bell's provenance.  I'm glad to say that I got it wrong in my posting; you're correct, it's not a Mohawk bell.  As I looked again at the photos I see that the bell is stamped    ERIE   and that the numbers 3206  and 3213 are stamped, too, akimbo from each other.  I'm told these numbers correspond to Erie RR Mikados; I made a mistake in not carefully checking this.  A workman in the Kent Yard removed the bell from an Erie Mikado there, pressumably as she sat in a scrap line about 1951.  The bell has now passed into the hands of a granddaughter, who in turn is donating it to us.  

I had no idea at all that railroads made their own bells.  Even having a foundry, bell making is an art, no?  This indicates again the high level of craftsmanship present in railroad shops across the country that men could be found who could cast bells, as well as solve all the problems presented daily by operating a fleet of steam engines.  I also enjoyed reading how engineers & firemen long ago would contribute their own gold or silver to the casting to improve the bell's tone.  When I look at photos of these, in this case, Atlantic & Great Western engineers of the pre-1900 era, I can clearly see all the nickel plating that was applied to parts of the exterior (handrailings, etc) as well as inside the cabs.  What enormous pride these men must had had to do this!  

I'll take the advice to make sure we can muffle the vibrant sound with duct tape if we need to.  I'm sure our secretary at the historical society will thank you for your advice, Mudchicken.

Someone did propose putting the bell outside.  This idea lasted about 3 seconds before all the problems tree68 listed presented themselves.  The bell will be placed in the historical society's rather nice Train Room, where our town's Erie heritage in honored in many ways.  Consequently, I'll take ACY's admonition that bells were to be polished as well as rung.

 

 

 

 

[wanswheel]

Article from Railway and Locomotive Engineering, July 1908

Speed Alters Tone of Bell

The tone of a locomotive bell, which necessarily gives out a certain definite sound, is, to those who hear it as the train passes, a different note to that which reaches the occupants of the coaches, and the speed of the moving train is responsible for this curious discrepancy in the sound. It may even run down several descending semitones on the musical scale. It would indeed be a wonderfully interesting sight, could we but see the waves of sound as they traverse the atmosphere around us, as they surge among, over and around the islands in that ocean of air in which we live. The sound waves beat upon the various objects which lie in their way, and are broken, reflected or turned aside like breakers on a rock-bound coast.

When a bell is struck by the hammer, caught on the swiftly up-swung rim, the whole sound-bow of the bell vibrates briskly and gives out a clear, strong tone. The shiver of the sonorous metal is communicated to the air as a series of pulsations which cause the elastic atmosphere around the bell to become alternately dense and rare, and each rhythmic ebb and flow is what we call a wave of sound.

These rhythmic vibrations given off from a swinging bell are so rapid that each sound wave moves but a short distance when it is followed by another and another. If a bell has the shape and size necessary to produce 256 separate pulsations of the air in one second, the sound it gives out is the musical note corresponding to middle C of the piano. It must be remembered that the whole of the 256 vibrations in the second are all produced by a single stroke of the hammer on the rim or sound-bow of the bell. In tranquil air, these 256 sound waves pass outward in all directions at a speed of about 1,120 feet a second. For this musical note, called middle C, the waves of sound are therefore each about 4 1-3 feet long.  In one second of time, the drum of the ear is thus made to vibrate 256 times in unison with these sonorous waves, when we hear this definite and well-known musical tone.

A bell tuned to the middle C, when struck once, pours upon the air a series of sound waves each 4 1-3 feet long as many as 256 of them to the second.  Such a bell rung steadily on a locomotive moving at high speed does all this, but the swift pace of the engine modifies the sound waves before they reach the ear of a man standing beside the track. An engine going a mile a minute rushes over the rails at the rate of 88 feet each second. The first vibration flung from the bell traverses 4 1-3 feet in the air, while the bell vibrating with the second wave is carried forward something over four inches. The wave lengths are therefore shortened ahead of the engine and consequently there are more of them launched into the space in front. A sharper tone thus reaches the ears of those who stand beside the track and hear.

The sound waves flying off behind bell are lengthened, for although the first of the back-thrown waves traverses its 1,120 feet in the second, the last of them has come from the bell now 88 feet further down the road. The re-spacing of the wave crests which beat upon the ear of the listener has caused them to be something over four inches longer than they otherwise would be, and a lower or flatter tone is heard. The same alteration in the tone value of the note takes place when the locomotive whistle is blown and the effect is more marked when the sound is a musical chord such as many chime whistles give. The alteration in tone is not so noticeable when the listener is some distance away and in a direction approximately at right angles to the track.

The greatest distortion of the sound would probably be noticed if the listener was on a fast train, moving in the opposite direction on a parallel track, for here the motion of both trains banks up, or one might almost say, bunches the sound waves in front of the trains, and stretches them out or drags them apart after the trains have passed each other. In this way the bell sounding its fundamental note, rings true to the men on the engine, nevertheless at the same time, yields sharp C to the man beside the track ahead, and becomes C flat to him long before the flutter of the marker flags shows that the train has passed.

[Wizlish]

wanswheel

Article from Railway and Locomotive Engineering, July 1908 Speed Alters Tone of Bell

Six paragraphs to discuss, without crediting its discoverer, and getting some of the physics wrong, what we know in two words: "Doppler Effect."

But it is splendid prose for its day!

[tree68]

NKP guy

Someone did propose putting the bell outside.  This idea lasted about 3 seconds before all the problems tree68 listed presented themselves.

Depending on the weight of the bell and the ability of someone to move it safely between inside and out, it could serve as a sign that you're open.  And, if it's outside while you're open, the kids can get a kick out of ringing it without terrorizing the folks inside.  Your neighbors might resist...

The solution might be as simple as a standalone podium with the bell on it, along with some method of securing it while it is outside (eye, chain, lock).  Then a hand truck could be used to move it around.

[Firelock76]

For all about bells and such check out this website...

www.railroadiana.org

Very informative and fun!

And be careful moving that bell, those things are HEAVY!  I was in a rail museum in Florida several years ago and their souvenir shop was selling a steam locomotive bell.  One of the visitors bought it and it took four of us to get it in the back of his SUV!  And even then we were straining!

[wanswheel]

[BaltACD]

wanswheel

Crowed cab - Engineer, Fireman, Woodpasser & Bell Boy

[NKP guy]

What great information!  How can I be as old as I am and not have known there was once a job on the NYC Railroad for a bell boy?  Indeed, those cabs must have been crowded, although I expect there wasn't much sitting down time.  Imagine being promoted to woodpasser!

Funny, maybe it's just my age, but when I read of a bell boy I right away think of the most famous one, Johnny Roventini ( "Call for Phillip More-ace!  Call for Phillip More-ace!"), or at least a guy lugging my suitcase upstairs at a swanky hotel.

I learn a lot here.

 

 

[wanswheel]

Thanks NKP for prompting me to learn the contents of the only known published letter by a former 1850s railroad bellboy. I think New York Central probably figured it was cheaper to hire a kid than risk letting the bell go expensively unrung.

[SALfan]

My understanding is that the composition of the alloy used in the bell determines whether the bell's tone is "sweet" or "sour", making bell metallurgy something of an art.  Read it decades ago and may be remembering it wrong, but I believe Paul Revere cast church bells at one time.  As I remember it, his first bell had a very "sour" tone, and the church for which it was cast could not use it until it was recast (with a different alloy composition) or replaced.  

Corrections welcome from anyone with actual knowledge of how bell metallurgy affects tone, or the Paul Revere story.

[schlimm]

http://cs.trains.com/ctr/f/3/t/214023.aspx

Some additional info.

[ACY Tom]

It took some digging, but I finally found the reference in a Freeman Hubbard article in the Sept., 1949 issue of Railroad Magazine, entitled "Romance of Locomotive Bells".

Hubbard says typical bell metal was an alloy of copper and tin.  He says James Lauder, Superintendent of the Old Colony Railroad, was casting bells for his locomotives, but was frustrated with persistent cracking of his bells.  He went to Taunton, Massachusetts to consult with William Mason.  Mason advised him to put a single silver dollar in the base of the mold, resulting in a reduction in the percentage of tin and a resistance to cracking, with an improved tone.  He reports at least one DL&W loco had a bell that had 28 silver dollars added to its bell metal.  This was before 1900, when a dollar was a dollar!  Think of the expense in terms of today's prices!

The article is over 20 pages long, and is loaded with interesting and obscure information.

Tom

(edited)

[BaltACD]

Currently watching Mike Rowe's "Dirty Jobs" on Animal Planet - he is at a bell factory going throgh the steps of making a mold, pouring the metal and finishing the bell.