Big Jim posted:Nick,
Is there a better recording of a Niagara's steam whistle out there anywhere? Mr. Proffit"s are the only ones that I have heard.
Here is a video of Rizzoli Locomotive Works reproduction of a New York Central 6-chime on Virginia and Truckee 18.
It is made of cast iron, as was the original. It was very similar in design to the Nathan 6-chime but has different length chambers, which changed the tones.
One point to mention is that the New York Central used the Viloco Whistle Actuator which was sometimes called a "push-button whistle". A small thumb lever in the cab controlled an air operated device that opened the whistle valve. This rendered the steam whistle an on-off device and did not allow for any whistle "artistry" by the engineer.
This is the New York Central's shop pattern for the whistle:
In case you can't enlarge this to be able to read the legend, the application data in the lower right corner shows
this whistle being used on classes S2a, S1a, S1b , L4a, L4b , K5a, K5b (Except Engines 4915 and 4917),
J3a, J2a, J2b, J2c, J1a, J1b, J1c, J1c (MC), J1d, J1e
4915 and 4917 were K5b Pacifics, streamlined for the Mercury trains.
