Museum of the American Railroad Train Whistles

[MegaJake619]

beautiful hooter

[trainlover479]

ok dude find out what was the first whistle, i know ur a steamBOAT guy, u have to know the different chimes and all that

[tdesantis88]

1:44 is my favorite

[EagleDoubleZero]

Id love to have the Big Boy whistle as a ringtone.

[steamboat75043]

@EagleDoubleZero well, you could try downloading the video and cutting out the sound bit!

[riverexplorer]

Love to hear that steam calliope sitting under the whistles!

[steamboat75043]

@riverexplorer I have posted one performance under "Alexander Clark" on youtube for your enjoyment - its elsewhere on my channel. You can also get a CD or DVD of the instrument from the museum of the american railroad.

[Dither199]

thanks that was a joy listening to those old whistles!!

[Mcoov]

That 7-spot whistle is the one we all know and love.

[LongIslandGuy18]

so much better than the high-pitched european engines

[richardfireone]

Loved it,,awesome

[6V92TA]

Im not sure if the K5LA on that Genesis has two stages. The engineer just isnt pushing on the button all the way when he starts blowing.

I love the Big Boy whistle!! Those are my all time favorite steamers! No other steam locomotive can top the big boy!

[steamboat75043]

@6V92TA There is an electronic horn activated for intown use, and the air horn used when on the road.

[mattdean1003]

@steamboat75043 You must mean an electronic horn on the crossings. Locomotives don't currently have anything except for electronic bells and air horns. 

[mattdean1003]

@steamboat75043 You must mean an electronic horn on the crossings. Locomotives don't currently have anything except for electronic bells and air horns.

[steamboat75043]

The big boy does have a big deep sound - hard to quail too - unlike the 7 spot whistle. But that could be because the Big Boy whistle would more likely be getting 250 psi or so in service and here we only have 120 psi.

[harrodsburgNSfan]

@steamboat75043 So if you had it at a Big Boy's normal pressure (which would raise the pitch of the whistle a little), the whistle would sound very close to 3985's whistle right? And also the fact that super heated steam through a whistle would probably cause a little bit different sound than normal steam

[HankAmericanEngine]

Big Boy's whistle supports its massive size and strength!

[LNERMallard]

Finally, we get to hear a whistle that came RIGHT off a Big Boy on STEAM. That's a beautiful sound. It sounds unique from the UP 844 and the UP 3985.

[whistle700]

Nice to meet you. I am a whistle700.

Thanks for a great video.

Each whistle is very attractive.

[steamboat75043]

@whistle700 Thank you for your kind words. We are still in fair park for the state fair and I spent all afternoon getting the aging boiler up after inpsection, and did make the 4:55 sounding.  So the whistles should be going fri-mon during the next 3 weeks at the texas state fair. I have a new hi def camera so I migth try to reshoot this in hi def.

[truckereleven]

Wonderful. The only thing missing is the sound of the last part of the signal flying by you and the doppler effect. I really miss those old trains and my boyhood days of playing in the trainyard.

[trainmanauxl1]

well i finaly joined the museum a few weeks ago and its been awesome. BTW thanksn for posting this. Its just awesome

[steamboat75043]

@trainmanauxl1 Come see us during the state fair - I just got the boiler going today for the rest of the fair - I should be blowing the whistles fri-mon during the state fair. We have a very specific schedule tho because people on the chevy stage are not that keen on having the 129 db whistles go off while they are on stage. (music haters!)

[timtrainz]

@steamboat75043 really ben really i am the train master there irwin started the boiler not you cuzz i watch him do it but your puttin in over time 4 that

[steamboat75043]

@timtrainz steamboat75043 is irwin

[deloreanman14]

Finally...a real Big Boy whistle running on steam pressure, just as God intended. Thank you for posting this!

[Zakattack4501]

@deloreanman14 Those whistles just don't sound quite right when they are sounded with compressed air. You should feel the vibrations that it gives off when you sound it, it's a feeling like no other.

[steamboat75043]

@Zakattack4501 btw, over the top of the box car you can see the top of the cleburne yard whistle which was scavanged from an old freighter. It weighs about a ton and really honks, and I used it to blow down the boiler! However, the valve broke a few years ago and so it hasn't sounded since. Sounded just like a huge steamship. Many visitors from the area remember the whistle going off at 8 am to start the day 12 noon for lunch, and 5 pm for going home time. :)

[sandybanjo]

Simply delightful, and full of railroad history that is so without attention!

[astrotrain53]

How many chimes is that Big Boy whistle?

[steamboat75043]

I think its a 4 chime, but the pitch is so low, it is hard to tell.

[railfan101]

I think its a 3-chime. Most UP whistles like this are. BTW awesome whistle collection!

[steamboat75043]

you are probably right, I have seen a few of the unmounted whistles at the museum and they have 4 chambers. Hard to see the ones up on the drill pipe!

[CassFan5150]

@steamboat75043 Its a Hancock 3 Chime Made by Hancock... Just used on a Big Boy...

[97warpath]

so they did remove the big boys whistle. But y dont they let u go into the cab?(Second post =))

[steamboat75043]

you can go up on to the platform and look into the cab, but because of the possiblities of vandalism and people trying to remove parts we have to keep it locked up. You can go up into the cab of its neighbor, the Frisco Meteor 4501.

[scrottydog]

thats pretty cool