Steam & Excursion > D&RGW "Challenger Steam Whistle

Here is your chance of a lifetime, those that have the "greens".

RIO GRANDE #3712 STEAM LOCOMOTIVE WHISTLE RAILROAD

E-Bay Item number: 180104537435

Current bid: US $2,026.12

yes, but getting the means to blow it at 275lbs of steam pressure....that is the problem!

Wish the #3712 could re-appear today out of nowhere just as this whistle did, then we would have one "screamin mimi"!!

This has interested me. To my knowledge all DRGW 3700's were delivered with their "standard" single-note "hooter" whistle. The hooters were used on a great many Rio Grande engines on both standard and narrow gauges.

In photos I've been able to look at it seems to me most if not all were later fitted with DRGW's "standard" 5-chime step-top cast-iron whistles.

I had been under the impression that only the Rio Grande's 4-8-4 and perhaps other passenger power had utilized the Hancock "Long-Bell Chime Whistle" which is clearly what the bell of this whistle is, or at least is patterned after. The Viloco (Harry Vissering & Co.) valve is something I've not seen used with a Hancock whistle, but that's meaningless as things like this changed constantly on railroads all over the country.

I was also unaware that the Rio Grande stamped loco numbers into their whistles, but this appears to bear the possibility being just such. On Union Pacific, for example, whistles were swapped so frequently (let alone all sorts of other components) that they weren't stamped.

Any Grande steam nuts on here know about these things???

I read the ad for the whistle....the guy who had the whistle in his collection stamped it for his own records ID...DRGW did not stamp it....according to the Ebay ad.....

You're right, Almondjoy, thanks. I hadn't even read the description, just looked at the photos. Should have been a little more complete in my perusal.

I'm interested in the valve. I'm going to try and look hard at other DRGW power with these whistles and see if others had the Viloco valves. In the basic shape of the valve body or bowl it's easy to mis-identify as a normal Hancock bowl, but the lever and arrangment of retaining nuts will reveal the difference with good photos and sharp eyes.