Chessie Steam Special

Does this pic of 2124 help?

I know it doesn't help you with 2101 but I did find this tidbit in the Reading Ramble Oct 23, 1960 handout. Third paragraph regarding the whistles on 2124 and 2100:

Chris,

What's in front of the stack is the Worthington feed water heater.

Stuart

Chris - As you likely know, the 2101 had several incarnations, including as one of the locos pulling the Freedom train in 1976 (along with the 'more famous' SP4449).  I looked quickly on Railpictures.com under both the 2101 moniker, with one link to the American Freedom train.  Here's a link to one of the few pictures I could find there that shows a top (ish) view of 2101/AFT1: https://www.railpictures.net/photo/174399/

Apparently it is currently parked outside (unfortunately) at the B&O rail museum in Baltimore.  Mitch Goldman, one of the best photographers on the railpics website, has a picture from a few years ago, along with a short historical writeup of the loco, here:  https://www.railpictures.net/photo/568904/

You might consider (again, if you haven't already) call the museum and see if they have any photos in their archive and/or someone who could answer some of your questions about the whistle, the turbogenerators, etc.  Maybe with a suitable donation to the museum you could sweet-talk someone there to take some pictures for you (assuming its still in one - if highly weathered - piece).

                          Chris, this picture clearly shows two steam generators.

                                Image by William F. Howes Jr. Reading, PA 1978

geysergazer posted:

I know it doesn't help you with 2101 but I did find this tidbit in the Reading Ramble Oct 23, 1960 handout. Third paragraph regarding the whistles on 2124 and 2100:

       

 

Thanks Lew, I was only 6 months old when the Iron Horse Ramble happened. I'm sure the sound of the whistles echoing through the valleys would have been awesome to listen too.

Stuart posted:

Chris,

What's in front of the stack is the Worthington feed water heater.

Stuart

 

richs09 posted:

Chris - As you likely know, the 2101 had several incarnations, including as one of the locos pulling the Freedom train in 1976 (along with the 'more famous' SP4449).  I looked quickly on Railpictures.com under both the 2101 moniker, with one link to the American Freedom train.  Here's a link to one of the few pictures I could find there that shows a top (ish) view of 2101/AFT1: https://www.railpictures.net/photo/174399/

Apparently it is currently parked outside (unfortunately) at the B&O rail museum in Baltimore.  Mitch Goldman, one of the best photographers on the railpics website, has a picture from a few years ago, along with a short historical writeup of the loco, here:  https://www.railpictures.net/photo/568904/

You might consider (again, if you haven't already) call the museum and see if they have any photos in their archive and/or someone who could answer some of your questions about the whistle, the turbogenerators, etc.  Maybe with a suitable donation to the museum you could sweet-talk someone there to take some pictures for you (assuming its still in one - if highly weathered - piece).

PAUL ROMANO posted:

                          Chris, this picture clearly shows two steam generators.

                                Image by William F. Howes Jr. Reading, PA 1978

Thanks for info Gentlemen. This definitely helps the cause. So,  2 steam generators, one Worthington feed water heater, and one whistle that's still up in the air. I'll have the one top picture posted tomorrow morning. I guess a call or email to the museum will be in order. 

You can also see that the engine was painted B&O Royal Blue and not black.

I just found this photo on the net. Save it and then you can zoom in on the whistle. That thing is massive compared to others I seen. No wonder it was custom made. This also has a good picture of the feed water heater plumbing too.

Well I found my picture I was wanting to post up. It was on this computer the whole time.

If someone can point out make and model of the generators and whistle that would be great. Like I said above, my research has told me that whistle is a Nathan, but what kind?

I also sent an email off to the B&O Museum, but I haven't received a reply as of yet.

Thanks for the help!

Chris

Jayhawk500 posted:

Well I found my picture I was wanting to post up. It was on this computer the whole time.

If someone can point out make and model of the generators and whistle that would be great.

The generators are most likely Pyle-National, while the whistle was custom made specifically for Ross Rowland, i.e. there is nothing like it in the steam world.

Like I said above, my research has told me that whistle is a Nathan, but what kind?

See above.

I also sent an email off to the B&O Museum, but I haven't received a reply as of yet.

Don't be surprised if you never get an answer.

 

Thanks for the help!

Chris

Thanks Hot Water. I'm not holding my breath with the museum, but why have an email if you never use it? I know too busy.

I'll just look for a whistle that will be a good fit. I believe I have already found the generators. They do look to be different though.

Jayhawk500 posted:

Well I found my picture I was wanting to post up. It was on this computer the whole time.

If someone can point out make and model of the generators and whistle that would be great. Like I said above, my research has told me that whistle is a Nathan, but what kind?

I also sent an email off to the B&O Museum, but I haven't received a reply as of yet.

Thanks for the help!

Chris

The whistle was a custom stainless steel 6 chime created by Bob Swanson, the founder of Airchime. Two were made. The first one, used on the Chessie Steam Special, was commissioned by the late Hays Watkins, CEO of Chessie System at the time. The whistle was his personal property, and was part of his estate upon his death and is now in the hands of a private collector.

The second whistle was used on Canadian Pacific Royal Hudson 2860. 

That appears to be a stainless steel whistle in the photo above. I'd say that's the Swanson 6-chime.

Here is a YouTube video of the Swanson 6-Chime on a tourist line locomotive.

How do you guys know this stuff? I cant Google this stuff and it pop up. Cause Google don't know anything.

Jayhawk500 posted:

How do you guys know this stuff? I cant Google this stuff and it pop up. Cause Google don't know anything.

62 years of inquisitive investigation and reading and a fairly good memory. 

Some of it is online:

CPR Steam Whistles

I was mistaken about Hays Watkins being the owner of the whistle. I went and found my notes on the subject.

It was actually Chessie VP-Casualty Prevention William F. Howes who commissioned the whistle from Bob Swanson. He said he wanted it to replicate the sound of the Nathan K5LA air horn. AFAIK he's still alive and still has the whistle. My notes say he originally paid for it with his own personal money and therefore it was always his property from the beginning.

I believe the steam whistle sounded approximately the same notes as the 5-chime air horn but had a 6th chime which replicated the note of the 1st chime but one octave higher. That's from memory so I can't swear to that.

Thanks for the info Nick.

Chris

That whistle *may* have been used in Lionel's first run of the Union Pacific 4-12-2.

Chuck Sartor posted:

That whistle *may* have been used in Lionel's first run of the Union Pacific 4-12-2.

Thanks for the input Chuck. I looked up the engine and only one was listed on Lionels website. I have the whistle attached below.

I believe I found something close to the whistle. This is from Lionel off of their PRR Lionmaster T-1. I think it'll work just fine with a slight modification to the block behind the whistle. This is where the valve lever is supposed to be. So adding a lever shouldn't be too big of a problem. I found the whistle cord as well. I would also have to repaint the whistle itself, as this is supposed to be stainless steel and not gold/brass.

I also think, I'm going to go with a Pyle MO-6 for the front generator and a Pyle National or K-2 Turbo for the rear generator. Both of these will be from Precision Scale.

That picture is a good representation of a Nathan whistle. However I was referring to the actual sound of the 4-12-2. It sure sounds like a Nathan whistle. Maybe someone could post a video of the first run of the engine to demo the sound.  

Chuck Sartor posted:

That picture is a good representation of a Nathan whistle. However I was referring to the actual sound of the 4-12-2. It sure sounds like a Nathan whistle. Maybe someone could post a video of the first run of the engine to demo the sound.  

As information, the "standard" UP freight whistle was a Star Brass model, which MTH has a live recording of. Thus, the whistle sound in the MTH 9000 class 4-12-2 is the CORRECT UP Star Brass model. Having never heard the sound of the Lionel 4-12-2 I would not speculate on whether it is a correct representation of the "standard" UP freight whistle.

The whistle Lionel used on the first run of 4-12-2's is not correct, They recorded a Nathan whistle, and I was wondering if it was the same KL5A sound that Nick Chillians was referring to. Wondering if Lionel recorded Mr. Howes whistle.