I had a great time today visiting Clarks Trading Post in Lincoln,New Hampshire today. I rode the cab of Climax #6 of couple of times and was surprised and delighted to hear the whistle (there were two) the engineer called a "Whiperwill Whistle". It was a single bell type of about three inches in diameter and I'm told it has a diaphram inside it that allows the engineer to manipulate the tone. This was really a great thing! Best part was when he showed me he could whistle at the pretty girls swimming in the river, just like a person would whistle. Hard to explane in words but you know what I mean!
Who made these special whistles? How are they designed?

Brian Hebert


Conway Scenic Railroad
btamper@hotmail.com

There were several companies that made variable tone whistles. The most common are smaller organ pipe style ones with a simple plunger in the top (1-1/2" - 2-1/2" in dia. called "Mockingbird"(s). Lunkenheimer made some larger ones that were specially modified hooters with a nifty spring loaded plunger and internal chain and pulley to operate it. The largest one that I have seen was 4" in diameter and 2 feet tall. I have a homebrewed 2-1/2" one that looks a bit rough, but works a treat.

A talented operator could play a tune on these things, or imitate birdcalls, much like with a slide whistle or a trombone, but in the hands of a novice, they can be a bit obnoxious...

Casey Jones was famous for the tunes he played on the whippoorwill whistle. Every person along the old IC line knew when Casey was at the throttle. The whistle got it's nickname from the Whippoorwill, a common bird in the eastern half of the U.S. which sang out its name.

KES

> I had a great time today visiting Clarks
> Trading Post in Lincoln,New Hampshire today.
> I rode the cab of Climax #6 of couple of
> times and was surprised and delighted to
> hear the whistle (there were two) the
> engineer called a "Whiperwill
> Whistle". It was a single bell type of
> about three inches in diameter and I'm told
> it has a diaphram inside it that allows the
> engineer to manipulate the tone. This was
> really a great thing! Best part was when he
> showed me he could whistle at the pretty
> girls swimming in the river, just like a
> person would whistle. Hard to explane in
> words but you know what I mean!
> Who made these special whistles? How are
> they designed?

> Brian Hebert


rrm@texas.net

> Casey Jones was famous for the tunes he
> played on the whippoorwill whistle. Every
> person along the old IC line knew when Casey
> was at the throttle. The whistle got it's
> nickname from the Whippoorwill, a common
> bird in the eastern half of the U.S. which
> sang out its name.

> KES

Sorry, but I think that's a myth. The whistle that was displayed at his home (remember, he wasn't on his regular engine at the time of the accident) was a 5- or 6-chime boiler tube whistle, not a mockingbird.


Kevinmccabe@avenew.com

> Sorry, but I think that's a myth. The
> whistle that was displayed at his home
> (remember, he wasn't on his regular engine
> at the time of the accident) was a 5- or
> 6-chime boiler tube whistle, not a
> mockingbird.
Kevin,
I have to agree with you on this one! I had always been under the impression that "Whipoorwill" was a method of blowing a standard whistle to utilize the tonal changes as pressure increased and decreased. WQhereas the "Mockingbird" was in essence not a whistle, so much as a valvular steam flute used like a siren.
Keith Taylor, In the Northern Maine woods!


keith.h.taylor@att.net

This information comes straight from the Casey Jones museum in Jackson TN. There are several references to Casey and the 382 with a "whippoorwill" whistle. Also, in a video interview with Juanita Norman, who remembered Casey Jones' runs through Vaughn MS, she states that "you could hear Casey and his whippoorwill whistle long before he got there."

Not being a whistle expert myself, I am in no position to argue either way. But regardless of whether whippoorwill is only a methodology or is distinct physical whistle type, Casey Jones probably utilized it.

KES

> Sorry, but I think that's a myth. The
> whistle that was displayed at his home
> (remember, he wasn't on his regular engine
> at the time of the accident) was a 5- or
> 6-chime boiler tube whistle, not a
> mockingbird.


rrm@texas.net

> This information comes straight from the
> Casey Jones museum in Jackson TN. > Not being a whistle expert myself, I am in
> no position to argue either way. But
> regardless of whether whippoorwill is only a
> methodology or is distinct physical whistle
> type, Casey Jones probably utilized it.
Well, I'm no whistle expert either, other than being a retired locomotive engineer. (Conrail, Lehigh Valley) and qualified on steam with a NJ State License good to 1,000 boiler horse power. But I have been to the Casey Jones Museum when it was at it's original location in Jackson, before it became part of a shopping mall. And the whistle they had on display as being built by John L. Jones himself was a crudely made 6 chime standard whistle made from what appeared to me to be old boiler pipe. And to be truthful, I think there are other engineers more worthy of being deified than a chap who ran past a positive stop signal, failed to control his train at a safe speed and managed to center punch the train stopped ahead! Anyone can run fast! The trick is to be fast within the rules and safe. I'd rather get there a little late, rather than on time in a box! I think he'd have been a better engineer if he had paid attention to the rules and spent less time practicing the quilling of a whistle valve!
Keith Taylor


keith.h.taylor@att.net

> Well, I'm no whistle expert either, other
> than being a retired locomotive engineer.
> (Conrail, Lehigh Valley) and qualified on
> steam with a NJ State License good to 1,000
> boiler horse power. But I have been to the
> Casey Jones Museum when it was at it's
> original location in Jackson, before it
> became part of a shopping mall. And the
> whistle they had on display as being built
> by John L. Jones himself was a crudely made
> 6 chime standard whistle made from what
> appeared to me to be old boiler pipe. And to
> be truthful, I think there are other
> engineers more worthy of being deified than
> a chap who ran past a positive stop signal,
> failed to control his train at a safe speed
> and managed to center punch the train
> stopped ahead! Anyone can run fast! The
> trick is to be fast within the rules and
> safe. I'd rather get there a little late,
> rather than on time in a box! I think he'd
> have been a better engineer if he had paid
> attention to the rules and spent less time
> practicing the quilling of a whistle valve!
> Keith Taylor

I agree completely with Keith on the safety issue, but perhaps we need to step back into 1900 and examine the way railroads operated before being too hard on Casey. Casey Jones ran at a time when rules violations, while not sanctioned by the IC, were not discourged either. The main thing was to move freight and passengers on schedule, and if running over the speed limit accomplished this, then so be it.

There has always been a controversy about whether or not Casey was warned by torpedo explosions just prior to the collision at Vaughn. Sim Webb told the story both ways over the years, depending upon his audience. In the tried and true manner established over many years, the accident report blamed the dead man, since he was not available to offer his own defense.

No matter who was at fault, Casey stayed at his post at the expense of his own life, when he could have easily joined fireman Webb and jumped. This unselfish sacrifice by Casey saved the lives of his passengers, and with the help of a popular song, secured his permanent place in American folklore.



carboiler@aol.com

> A talented operator could play a tune on
> these things, or imitate birdcalls, much
> like with a slide whistle or a trombone, but
> in the hands of a novice, they can be a bit
> obnoxious...

I have read a couple of stories of an PRR engineer that was fired for utilizing a "hooter" to produce a "spoken" obscenity whilst running through a town of dislike to that engineer. Proving that the whistle can be "obnoxius" even in the hands of the experienced.

Question: was this "slider" moveable by a second cord from the cab or was it moved by pulling the whistle cord harder after the steam valve was opened? Or was it moved by varying the amount of steam being applied to the whistle (via the valve), (working against a spring or counter balance)?

> Question: was this "slider"
> moveable by a second cord from the cab or
> was it moved by pulling the whistle cord
> harder after the steam valve was opened? Or
> was it moved by varying the amount of steam
> being applied to the whistle (via the
> valve), (working against a spring or counter
> balance)?

The Whistle I saw was operated only by the whistle cord. The engineer (whos name was Leon) wrapped the cord around his hand and pulled untill he could hear the whistle start to sound off, then he pulled and released to make the sound he wanted. The "slide" inside the whistle moved more or less by the amount of steam that was applied. A hard (full)pull on the whistle cord made an high note, while a soft pull gave a low note. A good operator could really make the whistle sing. Lucky for me, he was good at it.

Brian Hebert



Conway Scenic Railroad
btamper@hotmail.com

> 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 the U.S. Army Transportation Corps. steam crew made an exact replica of the Casey Jones whistle to run on S-160 # 611. I believe it is still around, since it was made out of boiler tubing, and isn't that old, to speak of in terms of whistles.

Spencer Shops
drummerdude125@yahoo.com

> The next style of whistle is the
> Mockingbird, which is a whistle manufactured
> by the Crane Co.

> 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.

O.K.! Thanks so much everyone for the information. I believe I know what I have seen at the White Mountain Central R.R. (Clarks Trading Post) in Lincoln NH.

Michael Allen Gave the best clues. The Ebay Item #1152380101 has a few pictures of the whistle AND what looks like a photo of a page from a Lunkenheimer sales catalog. The schematic clearly shows the whistles (there were two) and lists them as "Mocking-Bird" whistles,and there even was a patent for them.

I think what I saw at the WMC R.R. was the Lunkenheimer Mockingbird (not a Whipperwill),and was all brass without the valve. Since the engineer only pulled one cord to operate it.

I'm going to make a trip back there this weekend to double check this. It's only a 45 minute trip for me. Perhaps I can record the whistle on tape and later put it on a sound file. Hopefully then I can post the file so everyone can hear this great Whistle.

Brian Hebert



Conway Scenic Railroad
btamper@hotmail.com

> I believe that the U.S. Army Transportation
> Corps. steam crew made an exact replica of
> the Casey Jones whistle to run on S-160 #
> 611. I believe it is still around, since it
> was made out of boiler tubing, and isn't
> that old, to speak of in terms of whistles.

We used my exact replica of Casey Jones' whistle at TVRM on ex-Army 2-8-0 #610, which I had the privilege of running on the 100th anniversary of Casey's trip to glory.

Outstanding replies... Thanks

I await the aural delight!

I have made one miniature whistle and am quite pleased with it. I think I will try my hand at a larger one, and then maybe fiddle with a "variable length" mechanism.

Charles T. McCullough
CMBY RY