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 Post subject: Re: Whipoorwill vs. Mockingbird Whistles
PostPosted: Mon Sep 24, 2018 8:07 pm 

Joined: Mon Aug 27, 2018 7:24 pm
Posts: 4
Michael Allen wrote:
> The Whistle I saw was operated only by the
> whistle cord.

I think folks are talking about several different whistles here. A Whipoorwill whistle is a chime whistle that by varying the steam pressure will sound the various chambers to differing degrees. This is accomplished by "quilling" or "playing" the whistle chord. Some of the notes may be "overblown" and double in frequency. Many of these whistles were home built, multiple tube designs, like Casey Jones' whistle. Others were standard three chime and step top whistles that happen to respond well to the valve pull, others were tuned by inserting wooden blocks, or otherwise altering the whistle. I have heard perfectly standard whistles played in a whipperwill style by the engineers at Cass. I heard a single chime, Southern railway whistle that belonged to one of the Cass engineers that sounded like an N&W hooter, then would leap up to a high scream if he jerked the valve hard, causing it to overblow. There were no plungers in these whistles.

The next style of whistle is the Mockingbird, which is a whistle manufactured by the Crane Co. It has a plunger that runs up and down in the whistle bell. The plunger rod has a pully on it that is attached to the steam valve. The whistle is blown by pulling down on the rod, which opens the steam valve, while the pitch is then altered by continuing to move the rod up and down. If you want to see a photo of one of these, there is one for sale on ebay, item #1442412855. These were not used on locomotive. They were a steamboat whistle.

The third type is the fire alarm whistle made by Lunkenheimer, which looks like a standard Lunkenheimer locomotive whistle, but has a plunger inside that is moved by pulling a second chain. These could be used on a locomotive, but it isn't likely that they were. They are sometimes referred to as mockingbirds, but incorrectly. If you want to see a picture of one, there was one sold on ebay about a month ago. It was item #1152380101. The photo was still up as of July 4th.

Hope this clears things up a bit.

a231pacific@aol.com




I believe that lunkenheimer actually did make a mockingbird. See photo attached from the 1895 catalogue


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