Nostalgia & History > Is this a mailbox whistle?

How is it used and why is it here?

Picture 1, “Call Number: GB-6629. Title: Rear of Panoramic Special Provo, Utah. Creator(s): Beam, George L. (George Lytle), 1868-1935. Summary: Men and women pose on the observation platform of the Pullman coach 'Glenwood Canyon' part of a Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad 'Passenger Special' train at Provo, Utah. People stand to the side. Date: between 1922 and 1930? Formerly HC15. Scanned image from loaned collection. Title supplied. Physical Description: 1 photonegative: nitrate; 20 x 25 cm. (8 x 10 in.). Is Part Of James Ozment collection of George Beam photographs.”



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/25/14 16:52 by flynn.

---

Damn. Didn't those people know how to smile?

I believe that most railroads have rules against assuming this position while whistling for a crossing during a back-up move. I mean, during a collision, the guy might be crunched against his whistle, likely causing a painful injury!

-E.O.

flynn Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> How is it used and why is it here?
>
>

If you're asking about the small whistle next to the guy on the right hanging on, it's a 'peep' or back-up whistle used for basic protection by an employee controlling a shove from the observation platform. The valve on the same stem is a trainline valve that will allow him to control the shove by reducing train line pressure, or dumping the air completely.

Alexmarissa Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Damn. Didn't those people know how to smile?


They are!

Well...somehow the photo and description got mixed up. That isn't the Scenic, but the Panoramic. And, it is not the car indicated (10 section Pullman - likely a Plan 2521) it is one of the rebuilt (by D&RGW) CANON cars, likely the GLENWOOD CANON. The CANON cars were owned by the D&RGW and were rebuilt from library-buffet-baggage cars.

Imagine 'em all in bathing suits. Yowzsa!!!

Sorry rswebber my mistake. I think the two pictures and text are correct now.

Picture 2, “Call Number: GB-8113. Title: Provo - Pullman 10 section-lounge open-platform observation car on rear of westbound train #1, the Scenic Limited, at Provo, Utah. Creator(s): Beam, George L. (George Lytle), 1868-1935. Summary. Men and women pose on the deck of a Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad Pullman observation car in Provo, Utah; a plaque on the railing reads: ‘Scenic Limited.’ Hotel sign reads: ‘Railroad Inn Board and Room.’ Date: Summer, 1925. Title hand-written on negative sleeve, with: ‘neg file #457/4 - (2-45 sec)’ and ‘print - K. S. Brewster, A. D. Dubin - Chgo, G. L. Dunscomb 9/1976.’ Physical Description: 1 photonegative; 20 x 25 cm. (8 x 10 in.). Source: Jackson Thode.”

---

Note the flagging kit with torpedoes hanging on the handbrake shaft, perfect for that kid's July 4, 1925 fun!

-E.O.

No need to apologize, always good to see these cars!

And I made a mistook - the GLENWOOD CANON and others were built from the 1910 Pullman built steel coaches- something you'd have thought I'd remember given I had a kit made for them.

That's why, when you look at the full photos of the two, the draft gear and ends look very similar - both built by Pullman with distinctive Pullman structures (albeit almost a "generation" apart (less than a few years, but as one of the first all steel coaches, there was room for corrections)).

Those cars were built for the D&RG, 40 of them were leased to the WP (which at the time was the Pacific Extension) along with the first D&RG steel baggage cars (also a kit), composite (in the non-Pullman sense) diners and B&S Composite composite cars - the buffet-library-bagge cars). (In Pullman terms, a Composite car was not one built with multiple types of materials (i.e. a steel underframe and a wood body, but a car with multiple areas of service - mostly used for the so-called combines of the limited trains - baggage-library-buffet-club cars). The D&RGW rebuilt a lot of those 1910 Pullman-built coaches - to Chair cars, cafe-coaches, to stream-styled cars, to streamlined cars, to the CANON series observation-lounges, etc. They were worn out by the mid-50s, which is why some went to the AC, while the D&RGW purchased newer (1915) Pullman built cars from the NP for the continued use in the Ski train, which are now on the Wine Train in Napa (and the scars that replaced THEM are now on the AC).

Be very careful when looking through the DPL images, as there are a LOT of errors in the descriptions. The most infamous is "a Rio Grande Southern train through the Royal Gorge". Not sure if they've fixed that one or not.

Note the DPL caption on that second photo:
on the deck of a Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad Pullman observation car in Provo, Utah

Several errors. Platform vs deck, not a D&RGW observation car, strictly a Pullman car, assigned to the D&RGW (and not leased - assigned)

Pedantic? Not really - that's how errors get propagated. (Not by Flynn! - I mean in publications, and searching).

BTW, you think the Pullman attendant would be just a little ticked off by the gent with his feet braced on HIS rail?

Lots of good details when you look at these. I have some of the photographs from the original plates/negatives from Beam - and those things are as clear as can be and details just POP!

penncentral74 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> flynn Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > How is it used and why is it here?
> >
> >
>
> If you're asking about the small whistle next to
> the guy on the right hanging on, it's a 'peep' or
> back-up whistle used for basic protection by an
> employee controlling a shove from the observation
> platform. The valve on the same stem is a
> trainline valve that will allow him to control the
> shove by reducing train line pressure, or dumping
> the air completely.

The Chicago Short Line uses a back-up whistle for reverse moves.