I've asked this on the RITS list, but perhaps someone here might have an answer. Most of us today are too young to remember steam on the Rock Island, myself (at age 60) being only old enough to remember being scared by the whistles as a very young child. As the Chinese engines and 261 (a close relative of the CRI&P 5100s) have both recently operated over the old Rock Island line, I'm wondering if any CRI&P whistles have survived in collections that might be temporarily applied to one or more of the engines, so recordings could be placed on the internet and we could actually hear what they sounded like?

The steam whistle collecting fraternity is a hard-core, reclusive, tight-knit one that occasionally seems to have as little to do with the railroad community as, say, tinplate Lionel collectors have to do with fine-scale model-railroad craftsmen--different mentality, different approach, etc.

In addition, remember that railroad steam whistles were typically bought from suppliers such as Nathan, Hancock, Lunkenheimer, Crosby, etc. and were usually NOT exclusive to any particular railroad or locomotive type. One whistle authority in Yarger's neighborhood told me that of 25 long-bell Hancock three-chimes that had to have been applied to UP Big Boys, perhaps 100 more are being passed off as "UP Big Boy" whistles. A similar syndrome applies to the Westinghouse A-200-156 air horn; of 278 on PRR GG1's, approximately 700 are apparently in collectors' hands....... But among the RRs that did build some of their own whistles: PRR, SR, N&W, and SP.

The most likely place for a true CRI&P whistle of a particular type to show up is undoubtedly a steam thresher show/club/reunion in RI territory. I would start with the Midwest Central group in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa and go from there.

In addition, there are two Yahoo groups dedicated to steam whistles. Go to groups.yahoo.com and search "Horn_Whistle" and "Steam-Whistle". These groups do host audio and photo files, and have some very active members.