Federal Siren Whistle from 1922

shift change in the coal mine. they clam it's better then a steam whistle. but then they were not selling steam whistles.
 
So, I have driven past this siren for 10 years and had always thought about taking a photo, today I did. I'm pretty sure that there isn't a coal mine within a couple hundred miles, but the fact that it's painted red leads me to believe that it might have been for volunteer fire service or possibly tornado warning, we do have those around here.
 

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they changed ours to some kind of rotating thing you now get half the noise for half the time. impossible to run out and see just how the sound waver are going out in the air like the pictures shows
 
1922 was right around the beginning of electric horizontal stationary sirens of that size.

Sterling in Rochester NY was developing their 5 horsepower horizontal in the first half of the 1920s. By 28 Sterling patented their new machine with an electric brake. Sterling's big marketing concept was a coded siren system so firemen could respond directly to the fire area based on the code pattern sounded.

Sterling's last horizontal was made in the 70s, and installed in Fairport House 2. Other than a ball bearing custom motor from General Electric it was little changed from the first horizontals.

I can hook you up if you need the last 3Ø 5hp Sterling siren motor in inventory.
I know the Sterling service man.
 
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