Chime Whistle for RL.

Hello Peeps,

I thought it would be nice to share this with similar minds.

I have acquired what apparently is quite a rare 3 chime whistle.
I don't know if this statement is correct but the following details were past on with the whistle when it came into my possession.

It is a Lonergan 2 1\4 inch diameter 3 chime made for a logging or mine engine back in the early 1900's
Serial 4781

What makes it rare is it's size.
Lonergan made many 3"-6" dia standard whistle sizes for the railroads in the states like the other makers such as Crosby and Lunkenheimer. Many of these are still in circulation along with bigger ship chimes of up to 12" and beyond!!!!

CLICK ON PHOTOS FOR A LARGER IMAGE





i have yet to record it's sound but on testing today it is sweet as a nut no leaks and sounds awesome. Seems to be a minor chord of some type.

At 8" tall i intend to fit it to my RL which having tested the size against the drawings shouldn't look out of scale.
You'll definetly hear me before you see me....

Cheers all,

Nick

I HAVE JUST NOTICED SOMETHING..

The photos come out the wrong way around for some reason.

if you click on the image to enlarge it and then hover the mouse over the image you should see a button appear at the top of teh photo.
click on the Zoom in BUTTON and the photo will be shown in correct format.

cheers

Nick

Hi Nick

Are you planning on putting this on the 4" DCC Road Loco?? It might be a little on the large size - is there room under the canopy? I cannot visualise one and a half the size of a tin of beans on top of the cylinder block as I do not have much to compare it with yet. Only on kit 2, collecting kit 3 next week hopefully. Maybe I could visualise it better with the smokebox.
I am already sourcing a steam siren for mine but a 3 chime whistle would be superb to go with it.

When you do record a sound can you share it with us?? Stand well back I think

Regards

Brian

Having consulted Steve and done my own calculations using the CAD drawings I make the whistle just under the height of the governor when in situe. I don't think it will look out of proportion as tje engine its self is chunky. It wouldn't look right on a single
Cylinder block. Of course saying all this means little
Until you actually see it for real in place. I'm
Confident that it will
Work. The only draw back is they are very hungry on steam. I'll be using
My siren most of the time and only really using tje chime on road runs with a full head of steam
on the boil.



I'll try and get a recording done sometime
Soon.

sonick45 wrote:
I'll be using
My siren most of the time and only really using tje chime on road runs with a full head of steam
on the boil.

Hi Nick,

What type of siren are you using?? and where did you get it.

Ian

[/quote]

Hi Nick,

What type of siren are you using?? and where did you get it.

Ian[/quote]

http://rabarker.co.uk/WhistlesandSirens.aspx

You can also
Buy them from heritage steam supplies

I have the barker one on the agricultural and after more than 18 months with a lot of use it still hasnt bedded in yet. They seem to need a huge amount of time to really loosen up so they bark up a easily. It will often stick without being oiled and needs oil whilst being used too. It is however something I dont get tired of ( much to the disappointment of my wife ) and hope that it will be run in eventually and I intend to transfer it to the new engine.

Kev.

sorry to here you Barker siren isn't running as well as it should.

The batch I have bought from which is the last he made before he sold the business runs like a dream on air.
seems nice and loose and screams like a banshee.

My siren does occasionally need a squirt of steam oil down it's trumpet just to keep the inner bit spinning around. I think when it gets dry it tends to jam so that it doesn't spin & no siren noise. I stripped it down once & found absolutely nothing wrong other than being dry. A drop of oil fixes it every time now. Too much & I just lag the chimney though!

Steve Traill wrote:My siren does occasionally need a squirt of steam oil down it's trumpet just to keep the inner bit spinning around. I think when it gets dry it tends to jam so that it doesn't spin & no siren noise. I stripped it down once & found absolutely nothing wrong other than being dry. A drop of oil fixes it every time now. Too much & I just lag the chimney though!

oh too easy to get some rude comments in after that one it's tempting but i think I'm going to resist

Thanks Nick I'll try Heritage as Barkers are out of stock until at least March next year.

As promised here is a video of my whistle been tested.

Tank was set at 80psi. It's an air hungry whistle so it will be used lightly on the engine or a quick way of silencing the safeties.!!

Sounds a little airy on the video due to the low psi. I had to keep the pressure down or the sound distorts when recorded.
I've tested it up to 150psi and it's deafening.

Play Video

Wow, get that up at 170PSI compounding pressure when your bombing along the road and you will not have anyone saying they didn't see or hear you coming!! I am definately looking for one of these

I think any cyclists in your way will s##t themselves and fall off - sorry Craig

I recommend you start looking asap.

These whistles are rare and rarer still in the size we are looking for.

The USA is the best place to start looking and when you do find one that works you'll probably have to pay handsomely for it...

I was incredibly lucky to find this gem but it did cost me and i'll be making sure it's not half inched when out on the rally field.
It's the kind of thing that is easily nicked in the dead of night.

Best of luck looking.

MD Whistles are a good source in the states.
They found a few dotted around the states last year for me but they were all a little to big.

That whistle will most likely have been made for a lower pressure than 170psi so at that pressure it will overblow and squeel. A restrictor in the feed will throttle the feed and will need to be experimented with to find how much the restriction needs to be.

This did cross my mind but having got it up to 150 i'm confident it should be ok. If it's not when at full steam i'll have to come up with a way of throttling back the steam somehow.

Sleeve the fitting that the whistle is attached with.