Steam & Excursion > Southern 4501 returns to the mainline

After a 15 year plus hiatus Southern 4501 performed a successful test run from the TVRM in Chattanooga, TN to Cleveland, TN and return. The location is Pine Hill Road, Knoxville West End District, MP 223.6.......running about 45 mph on a 1.1% grade with 8 cars and no diesel she sounded fantastic, enjoy.

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Great  video. Thank you for sharing it with all of us!

Chris

Wow! Great Video! I just love that whistle and somebody that knows how to blow it!

WOW!!  Now THAT is IMPRESSIVE!!  That is
a great video!  And that whistle -- I am in awe...
SO beautiful and mournful -- and, as "patd3985"
said, that hoghead really knows how to blow it.
NOW I see how an engineer could play a tune with
his locomotive's whistle.   None of the steam
locomotives I have ever heard -- up until now --
have been able to do that!

To the experts here:
What is it about the 4501's whistle that allows that
hoghead to make that incredibly beautiful and
mournful sound -- and to vary the pitch so much?

And no diesel.  Nice!  She doesn't need one. 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/30/15 01:12 by Margaret_SP_fan.

Bless you for recording this and sharing this with us !!!!
Simply beautiful and very storied whistle !!! --- so very Lovely.
---- Daniel

Margaret_SP_fan Wrote:
------------------------------------------------------->
> To the experts here:
> What is it about the 4501's whistle that allows
> that
> hoghead to make that incredibly beautiful and
> mournfu sound -- and to very the pitch so much?
>

I'm not an expert, and maybe you're hearing something different than I am.  If you're referring to the perceived change in pitch as the locomotive goes by, I think that's just the Doppler Effect. 

Walter Dove used to say you "had to have a marble in your wrist." For those that weren't around then, he was the Southern General Road Foreman of Engines who was main engineer during 4501's early excursion career.

Great video Thomas, thanks for bringing back the memories.
Charlie
>
> To the experts here:
> What is it about the 4501's whistle that allows
> that
> hoghead to make that incredibly beautiful and
> mournfu sound -- and to very the pitch so much?
>
> And no diesel.  Nice!  She doesn't need one. 

Song of the rails. Beautiful, the way things should be.

It was a whistle like that which lured two generations of my family to railroading, and the hook that keeps me there...

Margaret_SP_fan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> WOW!!  Now THAT is IMPRESSIVE!!  That is
> a great video!  And that whistle -- I am in
> awe...
> SO beautiful and mournful -- and, as "patd3985"
> said, that hoghead really knows how to blow it.
> NOW I see how an engineer could play a tune with
> his locomotive's whistle.   None of the steam
> locomotives I have ever heard -- up until now --
> have been able to do that!
>
> To the experts here:
> What is it about the 4501's whistle that allows
> that
> hoghead to make that incredibly beautiful and
> mournfu sound -- and to very the pitch so much?
>
> And no diesel.  Nice!  She doesn't need one. 

Southern (and at least the L&N as well) locomotives have whistle levers which the engineer pulls back on, as opposed to a rope or lever you pull down that is typically seen. It might sound crazy, but I think the Southern's method allows the whistle to be "played" easier. 

CalZephyr Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Margaret_SP_fan Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> ----->
> > To the experts here:
> > What is it about the 4501's whistle that allows
> > that
> > hoghead to make that incredibly beautiful and
> > mournfu sound -- and to very the pitch so much?
> >
>
> I'm not an expert, and maybe you're hearing
> something different than I am.  If you're
> referring to the perceived change in pitch as the
> locomotive goes by, I think that's just the
> Doppler Effect. 

I'm not an expert but I've noticed the tone shift also.  From what I know, the whistles have a natural frequency with a particular amount of steam or air flowing through them.  That normal tone is maintained over a fairly wide range of flow but as the pressure increases above or below that range, the pressures in the chamber increases or decreases and the tones can be changed.  If the engineer gives a little "toot toot" to someone without stretching the whistle rope, it usually sounds a bit lower in frequency than a full blast.

 Living in Louisville, Ky. we have a steamboat race every year, a part of the Kentucky Derby Festival.  We're the only place that takes 2 weeks to prepare for a 2 minute horse race.  I've been on the Belle of Louisville several times, a true steamboat and stern wheeler.  When they blow her whistles they usually start off with gradual increase of volume and pressure introduced into the whistle over several seconds.  The tone gradually increases from a low moan to a mid range howl, probably about an octave higher.  Likewise, the steam calliope doesn't play right if the steam pressure is not right, however tradition dictates that the calliope is always slightly off key.

There are some laws of physics that you just can't change but there are some that we may not consider or understand and are often at the end of the spectrum.  I often shoot an air rifle.  The speed of the pellet us usually limited to the speed of sound since the air pushing the pellet "can't exceed the speed of sound," or about 1127 FPS at sea level.  However, there are some air rifles that develops enough pressure to push pellets in excess of 1200 or 1300 FPS.  I have the feeling that as the pressure in a steam whistle increases, the effective length of the chamber is altered by that pressure, thus changing the resonant frequency of the whistle.

I may be way off base and if a physics professor wants to correct me, I'd be glad to learn a lesson.

John

Re: 4501's whistle ---
How could anyone with a pulse resist THAT?

Thanks for the info, guys! 

Txhighballer ----
Your words gave me goose-bumps! 

CalZephyr ---
I am certain I was not hearing the usual Doppler
effect, but, rather, actual changes in pitch because
of somethingt the hoghead was doing.  The pitch rose
and fell, and rose again -- nothing that could be a
Doppler effect, which I am familiar with.

So the Southern Ry had levers, instead of cords, to
operate the whistle.  That would give the hoghead
control over the whistle sounds that a cord couldn't.
Learn something new every day!

As "Johnny 5" said in "Short Circuit": "More input!"

 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/30/15 01:14 by Margaret_SP_fan.

I love "quilling " a whistle. Back in the day you knew who was running by the way the whistle sounded. Depending on the diesel, you can do a bit of fancy whistling. Amtraks' units ( and I think the Southern did too) had a reducing valve in the air line to the horns so you could play them some. Dieseld with actual whistle cords you could have some fun with too...

Txhighballer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I love "quilling " a whistle. Back in the day you
> knew who was running by the way the whistle
> sounded. Depending on the diesel, you can do a bit
> of fancy whistling. Amtraks' units ( and I think
> the Southern did too) had a reducing valve in the
> air line to the horns so you could play them some.
> Dieseld with actual whistle cords you could have
> some fun with too...

On youtube you can find several bored engineers playing jingle bells at gRade crossings...

Posted from Android

Thanks guys for the compliments, it was worth the wait to see her.  

Great video all around! 

John Miller
Conestoga, PA

Awesome, that's how a steam excursion should be!