Steamtown's Baldwin #26 questions: bell and compressor

Eddie Marra posted:

I was watching some videos taken of Baldwin #26 up at Steamtown, and besides knowing that I need to make a return trip there in nicer weather (my last time up was this past January, first time in years!) I had a couple questions regarding the loco:

1. It seemed like the bell was being rung quite a bit more than I would expect.  It was ringing in almost every shot of the videos I saw.  Not just ferrying round the Lackawanna yard, but when she was on the line, pulling the train.  Is my impression wrong, in that the bell is normally only rung while making yard moves, starting out in forward or reverse, and other special situations?  

They sure do seem to ring the darned bell an AWFULL LOT!

2. The compressor seems louder than her chuffing.  Is it because she was fitted with a larger one at some point, or was it normal for that loco?

The exhaust of the air pump is piped directly to atmosphere, instead of internally to the exhaust nozzle stand, or through a muffler. The Southern Pacific cab forwards were also pretty famous for their VERY LOUD air pump exhausts.

Hot Water posted:

Eddie Marra posted:

I was watching some videos taken of Baldwin #26 up at Steamtown, and besides knowing that I need to make a return trip there in nicer weather (my last time up was this past January, first time in years!) I had a couple questions regarding the loco:

1. It seemed like the bell was being rung quite a bit more than I would expect.  It was ringing in almost every shot of the videos I saw.  Not just ferrying round the Lackawanna yard, but when she was on the line, pulling the train.  Is my impression wrong, in that the bell is normally only rung while making yard moves, starting out in forward or reverse, and other special situations?  

They sure do seem to ring the darned bell an AWFULL LOT!

2. The compressor seems louder than her chuffing.  Is it because she was fitted with a larger one at some point, or was it normal for that loco?

The exhaust of the air pump is piped directly to atmosphere, instead of internally to the exhaust nozzle stand, or through a muffler. The Southern Pacific cab forwards were also pretty famous for their VERY LOUD air pump exhausts.

 

Thank you for the reply!  I thought I was missing something about the bell being rung so much, because the more I watched, the more annoying it got!  It reminded me of something I once read about the residents near the Morris County Central in NJ complaining about the bell ringing so much along the regular line.

And thank you about the info about the air pump.  I'm going to have to look up some clips with sound (if there are any) of the Cab Forwards.  I love watching them on film anyway!