# Whistle



## Paolo (Jan 25, 2008)

Hello All ...I'm again here searching help. My steam engine have a boiler...but boiler need some pressure gauge and...Whistle....Does someone knows where is possible download a nice drawing of a small whistle?
TY in advance.
Paolo


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## Oldmechthings (Jan 25, 2008)

Paolo
I don't know if it will be much help, but I have built a number of small whistles using a brass cartridge case from a high power rifle. For a tiny model they have a rather nice sound. A construction article on building a Steam Roller was sent in to Live Steam Magazine that was fitted with one of these whistles. Page 57 of the March/April 2003 issue shows a picture of the whistle, and on page 62 of the May/June 2003 issue is the drawing to build it.
I'd scan and post it for you, but my past experience posting drawings is that they come up like so much blurry fuzz. Perhaps someone that is more adapt at these #**#*# computers could do it for you.
    Birk


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## shred (Jan 25, 2008)

I ran across this the other day: http://www.fonema.se/whistle/hotwhiz.html 
Those are quite large and very loud. Whistles can be tricky to scale down.


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## Paolo (Jan 28, 2008)

Thanks a lot for your help...I'll let you know my progress...


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## SignalFailure (Feb 10, 2008)

Paolo - they don't come much easier than this...

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/andrew.burchell/AGR/whistle.html


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## tel (Feb 10, 2008)

LBSC's Shop, Shed and Road has a good section on whistle making - if all else fails (and I can find the book) I could probably scan that for you


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## raym 11 (Feb 10, 2008)

from an earlier posting,

Old mechanicalthings;

I made a replica 1" Lunkenheimer whistle from Guy Lutards drawing in a "bedside Reader" He made the drawings by taking the dimensions off of a 'real' one.

Some winter a few years ago I fitted it to the exhaust if my first i.c. engine with a home made drum valve upstream to allow for free flow or exhaust thru the whistle. I really like the adjustable ''chirp' when it fires. Most ordinary folks don't like the sound. 

A publication named 'The Engines Moan' by Ed Fagen has lots of design criteria that might help in scaling down. In any event, it's darn good reading although a little pricey.

Ray M~~~~~~~~~~


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## tattoomike68 (Feb 10, 2008)

I have made a few whistles from wood, nothing pretty but they made noise. very easy to make. I even used a piece of aluminum tent tube and made one.







A 4 note.


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## Paolo (Feb 10, 2008)

TY all....I'll let you know......nice to work with wooden...


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## compound driver 2 (Feb 11, 2008)

Hi
I made a scale whistle for my 1 inch to the foot traction engine. Tuning the bell is the most difficult part and depends on how close you can machine the wall thickness as wellas the volume in the bell.

I kept the wall thickness to 5 thou on all the test bells and settled for a wall of 4 thou on the last one that went on the engine. The sound is a bit high pitch but not as bad as some I have heard.

The mouth of the whistle on my first ones were square but on the later ones I opted for a rounded opening slightly longer than common wisdom would dictate. One of the really hard parts was making a ball valve that would seal and seal every time. The ball in the valve had to be 1/32 inch with a slightly smaller stainles steel spring behind it. Even now the opening for the push rod lets some steam escape when cold but as soon as the boiler heats the whistle up the steam stops pissing out.

Heres a picture of the whistle parts and the finished whistle before polishing. the coin is .800 inch diameter.











Cheers Kevin


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## Powder keg (Feb 11, 2008)

Great looking whistles Kevin and Mike. I have the plans for a Model steam Calliope that I really want to build. Maybe I can post the article here. I don't remember where I got it though?

Wes


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## raym 11 (Feb 11, 2008)

Kevin;

I like that valve. Think I'll make one for my chime whistle.






1" Lunkenheimer model made in 4 parts . The narrow annular slot is created by the difference in OD & ID of two parts


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## Paolo (Feb 13, 2008)

Kevin is a nice realization....I'm trying to made a drawing with your references..I'll show you!! TY


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## kellswaterri (Feb 14, 2008)

Hi All,
trying to obtain plans for a model size steam whistle of the American railway, the sound I can only describe as the ''WAA...WAA'' kind. I have done a few searches but so far found nothing of substance, I would appreciate any information on the subject.
All the best for now,
             John.


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## raym 11 (Feb 14, 2008)

John;

Check out post # 6 on this thread.
A publication named 'The Engines Moan' by Ed Fagen has lots of design criteria that might help in scaling down. In any event, it's darn good reading although a little pricey.

I've seen them for sale at shows. I think some charts might scale down to what you are looking for. If anything, you can learn what to call the whistle in question.  ;D

btw it is published by Astrogel Press if that is any help.
Ray M


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## ChooChooMike (Feb 14, 2008)

You generally can find *The Engine's Moan* book on eBay. There's a couple there right now, here one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/The-Engines-Moan-History-American-Steam-Whistles-Book_W0QQitemZ350025680180QQihZ022QQcategoryZ95164QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem"]Engine's Moan book on eBay[/url]

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1931626014/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20 link[/url]

I forget where I picked up my copy, either eBay or Amazon. It's a great book for reference info & history of steam whistles 

*Description* :


> from The Engines Moan
> 
> . . .by turns a wailing banshee, a demonic shriek, a song of bewitchment, the spur to wanderlust, the voice of loneliness, the echo of solitude, the harbinger of grief, parting and loss. . .[the steam whistle] also signals the prospect of adventures yet to be tasted enterprises yet to be undertaken. . .
> 
> ...


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## raym 11 (Feb 14, 2008)

...and if you are serious about whistles you can subscribe to 'Horn & Whistle' magazine.

Ray M


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## kellswaterri (Feb 14, 2008)

Hi Ray M and Mike,
thank you for that information, I will now try and obtain a copy of this booklet that you spoke of. The idea is to scale down a particular sound of whistle to suit a model steam plant I am building.The boiler driving the plant has an output of 65 lbs/ '' pressure. I would guess that being a musical instrument, the very act of down sizing it may alter the original tone to a much higher and sharper pitch?
All the best for now,
             John.


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## Steam4ian (Feb 14, 2008)

G'day all.
Some of the discussion regarding whistles surprises me. ??? I trust you can remember school boy physics.  The pitch of a whistle is inversely proportional to the length. You reduce the length and thus increase the pitch. A whistle 1/8 scale (11/2" to the foot) will have a pitch 8 times higher than the prototype, that is 3 octaves higher.
On models there are length restraints so it is almost impossible to get a whistle long enough for a prototype pitch. The alternative is a Helmholtz resonator which is a box like chamber with a controlled opening, same physics as a bass reflex speaker box. LBSC has a design in "Shop, Shed and Road".

Toots to all,
Ian


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## compound driver 2 (Feb 14, 2008)

Hi
I think youl find thats why locos in the 3.5 inch to 7 1/4 inch gauges tend to have over scale whistles hidden under the cab or between the frames.
On a 1 inch to the foot traction engine its not possible to have this luxury so some degree of compromise is called for. 
THe whistle I made for the 1 inch traction engine does not sound scale nor was it intended too. Hopw ever the not is a long way from a high pitch thanks to the design of the pipe and the pressure the steam is at when it hits the mouth. As the whistle valve is opened around 50% of the steam is bled off through a small hole in the side of the whistle tube. A lower pressure tends to give a slightly nicer not.

Cheers Kevin


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## ChooChooMike (Feb 14, 2008)

raym 11  said:
			
		

> ...and if you are serious about whistles you can subscribe to 'Horn & Whistle' magazine.
> 
> Ray M



Do that already too !

http://www.hornandwhistle.net/


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## Steam4ian (Feb 15, 2008)

G'day Kevin et al.

Two ideas that do have merit. One the Helmholtz resonator, the other the chime whistle.
At beer o'clock in an office yesterday I finished my stubby of beer and was walking with it back to the kitchen. As I did so I was swinging my arms and became aware of the low note produced as the wind passed over the lip of the bottle. Try blowing over the lip of a soft drink bottle if you are not a beer drinker. 
A stubby bottle produces a low note, guess two octaves below middle C corresponding to stopped whistle about 1.2 metres long, and yet the stubby is only 200mm long with volume of 375ml. 
Solution: drink a stubby bottle of beer (and a few more just in case the bottle breaks, you need spares ;D ). Attach bottle to loco and then blow steam across the lip. 

The chime whistle is a concept that the English readers may not know. A chime whistle comprises a bell divided into about 5 chambers by axial dividers, each chamber is a separate length. The annular steam jet is much the same as for a bell whistle and blows across the lip of each chamber. Because the chambers are different lengths the notes produced are different. The resulting sound is a chord (dischord) which you hear due to acoustic interference as a much lower note.

Making a chime whistle seems like too much work, I like the stubby idea better!

OGTDA
Regards,
Ian


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## compound driver 2 (Feb 16, 2008)

HI
In a scale model the easiest way to make a chime whistle is to use say three smaller whistle pipes hidden in a larger outer pipe. I have seen a couple of whistles made this way but the tunning was im told a nightmare. Theres a company here that sells a scale chime for locos that has the chambers exposed, it looks very nice as you can see in the link.

http://www.maccmodels.co.uk/steamf12.jpg

I have a set of drawings in PDF for a steam siren thats not easy to make but does scale well all the way down to 1 inch to the foot. I have no idea who drew the drawings or how I got them. If its possible to post PDF on here let me know and il put them up.

Cheers kevin


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## mikie6024 (May 9, 2012)

hello i was wondering if anyone has any instructions to build a steam whistle for my miniture steam traction engine?
(if anyone can build one then please message me)
thank you


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