My mother bought the the whistle pictured below at a Chicago-area garage sale some 50 years ago, along with some other North Shore and Chicago, Aurora & Elgin interurban items. The woman was selling the stuff for her railfan son and said that it was off a North Shore car, but I'd like to verify that. Does anyone recognize a whistle of this sort? It's only 14" Tall with a 3-1/8" Diameter, so it would maybe seem rather small for a steam locomotive. I don't see whistles on interurban cars, but I don't know where to look. I suppose it could be a factory whistle too. It's solid brass. Shortly after we bought it, my Dad connected it to his shop air compressor. The whistle sounded great, but it quickly drained our compressor tank with just a few blasts!
I was hoping that you'd see this Randy, as your knowledge is strong. Thank you! I've long had my doubts about the whistle's alleged legacy.
Looks like something you might also find on the old traction engines. Whatever the origin, well worth owning.
I have read stories with people referring to hearing interurban whistles. Whether the stories mean "whistle" literally or just some kind of warning device, I don't know but, there you have it. Doug
These were sometimes known by the nickname "peanut whistles". They gave out a shrill peeeeeeeeep sound. Also some cabooses were equipped with them for backup moves. That one in photo does not look like what I have seen as used for either of these purposes.
This is the most common interurban/trolley whistle. Its not a shrill sound due to it's length, its about 18 inches long. There is a distinction between a whistle and a horn. The whistle makes its sound by whistling , much like a flute. a horn makes it's sound like any other horn, vibrating a diaphragm not unlike a trumpet. This one still has the insulator on the bottom to protect against 600 trolley volts. I had this last installed on a GE 25 tonner at the P&W RR
This looks like an Longram train whistle. I have a similar one see below. It came off an C&O Allegheny class locomotive. As what I was told by the widow whose late husband worked for the C&O railroad. He was disassembling the locomotives and decided to keep this whistle. The markings should be along the strip just below the flute opening of the whistle. I myself took my whistle on board my ship and hooked it to the lp air and put my hearing protection on. WOW is what I can say! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk