If it won’t cost me my first grandchild, can a body get a nice steam whistle, replica or otherwise, that can be hooked up to a compressed air tank for the purpose of annoying one’s neighbours, say around 0800 hrs? I am aware that they must be tuned for what they use for sounding, but if I have to, I’ll build a boiler…[:-,]
Thanks, in advance, for any info, links, references, etc.
Just go to ebay. You’ll find many authentic antique steam whistles for sale, such as this one
It is certainly possible, however the biggest problem you’ll have is getting enough compressed air (volume, not pressure) to make the whistle sound, especially if it is off a railroad locomotive. In your neck of the woods, the VIME (Vancouver Island Model Engineers) guys and gals should be able to help you out.
HUUUUUAAAAAHHHH!
Going to need ALOT of air thru one of those big whistles.
Not to mention the potential for window damage from ground shaking.
I dont know if one cn shove enough air to feed a steam whistle. But Owner Operators can drive full bore Desiel Horns off Locomotives custom mounted on thier rigs with dedicated air tanks designed just to feed those. You can hear them 3 miles away out west when they feel like honking them without danger of breaking stuff or hurting people nearby.
I have such a whistle, I had acquired it through an eBay auction during the summer of 2005. It is made entirely of brass, is about 4 inches tall and not quite an inch in diameter. The individual who I bought it from made the claim that it came from a steam locomotive, on the other hand it may have come from something like a steam caliope. In his precautionary statement, the seller indicated that he had taken this brass whistle to a friend’s house where they connected it to an air compressor, and they just about blew their eardrums out with it. It came with a set of ear plugs.
I would love to be able to mount this whistle on the front end of my mountain bike and be able to power it with a small tank of compressed air. I’d have all kinds of fun with it out on our bike trails. The only problem is that I would probably end up depleting my source of compressed air in quick order.
CANADIANPACIFIC2816
Thanks, everyone. I have learned something, and that is that they take a lot of volume of whatever to sound right and for any length of time.
I suppose if one had the plans, one could make something passable, maybe on a half-scale to reduce the logistics of running it…?
many years ago there were plans in Model Railroader, but i don’t remember the year or issue. the problem with size reductions is that as the size of the whistle gets smaller the frequency or tone goes higher. Size matters.
dd
Or perhaps you could just get a DVD of steam whistle sounds and crank up your sound system.
I carefully measured one of those wooden whistles you see sold all over the place, and built a brass version. Still looking for a good air source and it’s going in the truck… It doesn’t sound bad, but it still takes a lot of air…
I also have one of those aluminum, 5 chime whistles that was manufactured several years ago by Stephen Mintz (I’m not sure of the correct spelling of that last name). This outfit used to advertise in either Trains or Model Railroader…maybe both publications. The whistle is 9" tall, not including the mouth piece. It’s tone is patterned after a Nickle Plate Berskshire and sounds very nice.
CANADIANPACIFIC2816
Try firing up the lawn mower at 0800. Along with the snowblower. And testing the 10 new yacht airhorns to make sure they work. Dont forget all that power sawing you have to do with hose random boards. Probably should hammer some metal to. To go with the wood of course.
Come to think of it, maybe 0500 would be a better idea. To, ya kno, get everything done.[oX)][:-^]
Your neighbor: From 
to 
to 
then he runs over 
then him :
THEN YOU:
Is there any particular reason why you feel this need to annoy your neighbor? And is there any particular reason why you wish to use a steam whistle with which to annoy him?
I have read that a whistle blown with compressed air will sound differently when blown with steam. I think it was in the book The Engine’s Moan: American Steam Whistles by Edward A. Fagen.
It’s a long story. The neighbours across the way purchased a large acreage next to our property and promptly resorted to petitions and other means to get the property re-zoned to residential so that they could sell the 28 acres in lots. This is purely an investment, and they are utterly insensitive to the wishes of the rest of us on the peninsual who wish to retain our rural setting. If they succeed, and so far so good for them, the densification will be appalling. It is already annoying how much more traffic there is on our frontage over the past 15 years. I figure I should get the whistle into local fixture status and sound it liberally and loudly whenever I see a realtor drive onto the property.
I’m kidding. The facts are as I stated above, except that I don’t want to annoy anyone. I am merely inquiring about the ease with which this can be done in case I am ever in the position to be able to use such a whistle. I’m sure the neighbours wouldn’t mind as long as I sounded it at innocuous times. It’s just a steam fan talking.
Thanks, again, to everyone for providing me with some leads.
A precedent has sbeen set. This is from another thread.
I will post this here from Michigan City IN news.
The past 12 months also had several reports of frustrated neighbors having fun with each other.
The Grand Kankakee Hunt Club near Hanna reported to the LaPorte County Sheriff’s Department a neighbor was driving away customers by blasting a train horn during the grand opening of their skeet-shooting range in June.
A week before the incident, neighbors protested the club’s new shooting range because of the potential noise that could co
G’day, Y’all,
If your object is to annoy your neighbors at 0800 hrs., you should google for a live steam club near you, find a menber who could make a steam whistle and have him make it off key. If it is anything like my son’s violin practicing, that shiny piece of brass will have your neighbors either moving quickly or heading to the pawn shop to buy an ex military rifle to shoot you.
[(-D]
I know I’m not in virgin territory, but I am one, if you know what I mean. I am fairly new to things trains, despite my years, and am trying to learn. I hear the E&N Ry RDC’s every day, but they are 15 km away, across a shallow ridge, in the town of Courtenay to the west of me. I actually rode on the RDC last summer, and enjoyed the ride very much. The line is quite historic, having been used since about 1885…not as far back as my American friends, but far enough. I suppose I could settle for an RDC replica, but as much as it sounds great, it ain’t a steam whistle. My goal, of sorts, would be to provide a contrasting sound in response to the RDC’s horns.
Now, if it also happens to annoy the one intractable neighbour, …oh well…
On our Great Northern NW5 we have a Hancock Air Whistle. Sounds EXACTLY like a steam whistle, but is blown with air.
Hancock air whistles are best-known for being mounted on FL9’s and some of EJ&E’s Baldwin centercabs. They were designed to provide the steam whistle sound while using a reasonable amount of air.
That’s a fact,I’ve experienced hearing the same Whistle on both sources. The steam source seemed to provide a deeper tone. Much like comparing air to electric horns.