A few days ago I heard a steam locomotive whistle! this was at night and I was not in the visual range of the tracks. Also there were several people with me who confirmed what I heard. This was on the UP Navasota Sub MP 10 Hufsmith Siding. Any ideas what locomotive this was would be loved. I know that there is not a lot of active steam in the Houston Area. Thanks
Ghost whistles in the night. Beware the Ides of March?
Trains, trains, wonderful trains. The more you get, the more you toot!
Maybe there's a railroadiana collector running around loose in the neighborhood with an old steam whistle and a humongous air compressor?
And if you find him, ask him where he got it, I want one too!
Many preserved steam tractors (traction engines) have whistles which sound very similar to locomotives.
Another (unlikely) possibility, do any Houston-area railways run locomotives equipped with Hancock air whistles?
Where is Ed Blysard when you need him?
Greetings from Alberta
-an Articulate Malcontent
Hancock air whistles were always pretty scarce. Does anybody know who used them besides New Haven and EJ&E?
CSSHEGEWISCH Hancock air whistles were always pretty scarce. Does anybody know who used them besides New Haven and EJ&E?
A couple of shortlines in the Midwest plus the Seaboard Line.
Didn't some of the first electric locomotives, like the New York Central's "S" motors, have an air whistle on them?
Yep. Between the headlight and the small pantograph:
The NYC owned CUT P1a locos had a twin whistle:
I couldn't find a good pic, but if you look closely you can see an inverted horseshoe-shaped object on top ahead of the right pantograph. These locos went on to become NYC class P2 after they were rewired for operation on third rail.
Thanks for that Becky! I suspected as much.
Sad looking at that photo of the S-2. You'd hope something that survived from the time of Teddy Roosevelt to the Space Age would have come to a better end, especially after so many years of distinguished service.
Anyone know if any S-2's are preserved anywhere?
How did that full-size pantograph turn up on top of an S-motor??
CSSHEGEWISCHHow did that full-size pantograph turn up on top of an S-motor??
It's at IRM and that's a South Shore pan to let it operate there.
Cool! It's still alive!
T motor 278 survives also in Albany NY:
Along with....gulp....you may want to avert your eyes! S-1 #100:
They're owned by the Mohawk and Hudson NRHS.
#113 is in St. Louis:
Yikes! I hope no members of the Lionel Collectors Club of America ever run into that S-1, remember the S-1 was the inspiration for one of Lionel's earliest toy locomotives!
The Mohawk and Hudson folks are likely to have a riot on their hands!
I mean really, if nothing else can't they just get out there with a few gallons of Rustoleum to keep it from getting any worse?
Thank You.
I remember reading somewhere some railroads tried the Hancock air whistles during the steam-to-diesel transition era for the reason that the general public would have no trouble recognizing the sound of a whistle of an approaching train, but might not realize what a diesel horn was. They might have thought it was a truck somewhere in the area.
Unfortunately, the Hancock air whistle just couldn't match the volume of a diesel horn, or a real steam whistle, so they didn't catch on.
Many later steam locomotives also had air horns, like the 4449 and (I believe) Milwaukee Road 261
Quite true, and NYC Niagaras had them as well.
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