This came from a scrapper just outside of Scranton. It appears to be a small three chime whistle, it's brass and there are no markings. Judging by the hardware it is old. What would this have been used on? I am thinking it is too small for a steam engine, but maybe not? Caboose? Trolley? It could have come from Dickson or Vulcan Loco Works as both are nearby. Is this something I can rebuild on my own? The valve assembly is not stuck but it needs to be gone over, can I get parts for these things? I'd like to hook it up to a shop compressor and see what it'll do.

Thanks

Not locomotive....too small. Possibly an air whistle from an interurban, or if not that from a steam roller or steam tractor. The iron hardware makes me lean towards an air whistle.

dave

Interurban... time to check my Laurel Line book.

Just because it's small doesn't mean it's not steam. It could definitely be off a small steam tractor, or even a tiny switcher (but not likely). My temptation is to say a small Crosby, but I'd have to pull up my guide books to tell me.

There are collectors that like aged patina, but as a rule steam whistles increase in value when restored and polished up, unlike old coins or antique furniture. If you pursue restoration, proceed carefully--use protection to prevent gouging the brass surfaces with wrench marks. You should be able to disassemble and restore the internal valve, for example.

Definitive guide: "The Engine's Moan" by Ed Fagen. Part lore, part collector's guide, part history, part shop manual. Still available new and used on Amazon and through other sources.

Your whistle was made by Schaeffer & Budenberg Mfg. Co. of Brooklyn, NY. The flat surface on the sides of the broken fulcrum where the valve stem is at is a dead giveaway.

They stopped making whistles in the 1940's.

TVRM, thank you. I can't find much about Schaeffer & Budenberg but I did find a later whistle that looked very similar. The square head fasteners should be a good indicator as to year. S&B whistles seem to have been popular on boats but I'm not near the water. I wonder what the heck it came off of.

Small whistles like this were also used on steam fire engines.

Shined up, it would look awesome on a grand scale live steamer!

Considering from where it was found, I'd say it came off of a small (probably 0-4-0) steam "lokie" used at a local colliery. Could someone look up the photos of the Wanamie operation to see what those lokies had for whistles?

It's doubtful it's from a trolley or interurban as those whistles rarely had the valve so close to the whistle itself. An interurban whistle typically was mounted through the platform roof with the valve inside where the motorman was located.

Thanks!

Whisles like this often were used in factories to signal shift changes.

Ask and you shall receive:

http://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large/wanamie-pennsylvania-coal-mine-locomotive-lokey-1969-arthur-miller.jpg

The one in the black and white image of the locomotive is a single chime whistle and it's still larger than the one in question.

Lokie at the Loree Colliery outside of Wilkes-Barre, what do you think?

I did some more digging and the whistle came from the DL&W Bellevue breaker site. I have it half apart, and it definitely shows some wear! I don't think I can save all of the square head hardware which is a shame, but the valve actually seems to be in good shape; just needs a new spring to replace the fatigued original. From tool marks on the brass this whistle has been apart at least once before.

Fortunately you can still get square head nuts & machine screws.
I found this website http://www.blacksmithbolt.com/gpage1.html after a quick Google search for square head machine screws.