Hello!

I was wondering if my Husband & I could get a little information on a 1891 CRANE STEAM WHISTLE that we found? He cleaned it up and it is beautiful! It is marked CRANE and has the date Apr. 28, 1891 & also marked 150. It is approx. 8 3/4" long & 2 1/2" wide. WE ARE LOOKING FOR A HANDLE FOR IT...APPROX. 3 1/2" long? What was this Whistle used on? I would appreciate some information on it? Thank You So Much. Wendy

It is, as thousands who post such items on eBay get told annually, NOT a steam whistle.

I'm not even sure precisely what this specific thing's supposed to be but I think it's what's called a "safety relief valve." Typically the confusion on eBay arises between real steam whistles and steam safety valves, usually because both items often have the stereotype lever for "blowing the whistle" (or in the case of a safety valve, simply releasing steam).

The unfortunate issue is that about half the time or more, people attempting to correct a seller's error get "told off" in no uncertain terms, accused of ignorance ("My granfather told me this was the whissel of HIS steam locomotive on the Santa Fe Pacific RR! Are you saying he was a LIER?????") or simply trying to "steal a bargain" for themselves.

I would like to THANK YOU for your reply. We thought it was a Whistle and not sure now what the heck it is? But thanks for the information and I wasn't going to try to sell it on eBay. We love it and it is on our wall next to our back door in the garage. Looks Good whatever it is?

It would be better if someone hadn't taken a jaw-tooth wrench/pliers to the bottom, but that's too common among such appliances, sadly.

At least one similar valve is/was available on E-bay at https://www.ebay.com/itm/163801784965. That listing calls the device "Vintage Crane Pressure Relief Valve". The pictures in that listing look similar to the pictures you provided. It is my belief that the valve you have is a similar valve.



There are several alternate terms for a "safety relief valve", including "safety valve", "steam pressure safety valve", "pressure relief valve", and "pop valve". Searches using these alternate terms may help you locate further information.

What is the purpose of such a valve? This general type of valve is designed to "relieve pressure" from a pressure vessel (such as a boiler or air reservoir) when the pressure exceeds some "set pressure", and stop relieving pressure when the pressure falls below that set pressure by some amount. This type of valive is applied to the pressure vessel to help keep the pressure vessel within its maximum pressure rating.

For the valve you have, I believe that the pressure is released to the surroundings via holes in the valve. A picture from the top (smothly-rounded end) of the valve looking down would likely reveal the holes in the "top" of the largest diameter part of the body. The band and screw would provide a "pivot point" for the lever that could be used to manually open the valive to relieve pressure from the vessel. For your valve, at least part of that lever is missing.

The smooth rounded cap on the "top" appears to be a cover which protects a threaded mechanism which is used to "set the relief pressure".

The stamping on the threaded end leads me to guess that the valve was set at one time to relieve pressure should it exceed 150 pounds per square inch. Given the "cleanness" of that stamping versus the pipe wrench jaw marks on the surrounding metal, I would guess that stamping was done after much of its service life.

- Bob

Presumably a product of the Crane Co of Chicago as similar items were produced at their factory here in Ipswich, UK, until the place was closed down about 20 years ago.
Fascinating fact of the day is that their factory was established here due to the links between Ipswich, MA, and Ipswich, UK, following Richard T Cranes purchase of the Castle Hill Estate in the Massachusetts one.....

This patent is probably the one your valve was built under. The date matches and Crane is mentioned.

It says it was set for 150 psi. Oddly, the stamp showing the set pressure was done after someone took the pipe wrench to it.

https://patents.google.com/patent/US451210A/en

Thanks for all the information on it. Going to get my husband and let him read about it. What type of machine would this valve been on?