18 January 2009
CPR Steam Whistles
Canadian Pacific steam locomotives numbers 2860, and 2816
recieved their second whistles after they were retired from Canadian Pacific.
2860's first whistle is located in the streamlined cowling behind the stack.
It is a CPR standard "mountain type" 5 chime, original to the locomotive. It is air operated ( meaning it's either full on
or full off, no "quilling" or "feathering" the sound ). It uses superheated steam from the valve on the fireman's
side of the engine located by the smokebox above the walkway.
The second whistle was added in the 1970's so crews could "play" with the whistle ( quilling/feathering ). It is manually
operated by rope and mounted 1/3 of the way down the boiler on the engineer's side. It is a stainless steel 6 chime whistle of
freelance design made by Bob Swanson. It is piped directly to the boiler and relys on saturated steam to operate.
2816 did not have an air actuated whistle during it's career with Canadian Pacific. It's original whistle was located back by the
cab and was manually activated.
The current whistle is a 6 chime reproduction of the whistle that was on the engine when it was recovered from Steamtown. It is
extremely loud in the cab, and crews do not like to use it frequently. During testing, it was found that the whistle mounted by the
cab did not meet Transport Canada regulations regarding decibel levels at grade level crossings, so a decision was made to add a
second whistle closer to the front for better sound projection at crossings, thus meeting Transport Canada regulations.
It is a CPR standard 5 chime "mountain type" type whistle removed from Selkirk 5935 in Delson ( Expo Rail ) Quebec.
Thom Cholowski - Calgary, Alberta.
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