The text said "can you be at the FD in 20 minutes"

That's funny!! I have a steam whistle on the garage.

 

Had one in high school myself. Things were pretty rural back then with just stop signs at the RR crossings. Give it a blast as people were on the tracks always woke them up.

 

So does my neighbor...took me the longest time to figure out who was "playing with a steam engine" all the time (he is ~1.5 miles down the road) he finally showed me his setup when I was there one day...hard piped right to his shop air with a simple ball valve.

 

The one I have has a poppet style valve built in and it's piped into the shop also. It'll drop a 240 gallon system from 175psi to 40psi with a 8 second blast. You feel it in your teeth. I'd solenoid valve it with a motion detector if the governing force (ie wife) would permit it.

 

That would make a great driveway alarm...

 

We've got noon whistles all over here in SE Wisconsin. They are really tornado sirens.

I think that the idea of getting rid of the sirens was that they can go to radio, tv and smartphone alerts. Well, those things are not always on or close enough to earn.

 

I was at a country concert a few years ago. We were tailgating in a parking garage that was very enclosed. I guy in a F-250 rolls up a lays on the massive train whistle/horn. From then on it was sign language and reading lips.

 

Bowdil? I know they used to.

 

The old town where I grew up still has a noon and 6 pm siren. And the church plays a hymn on the chimes in the bell tower at 4pm I think. I remember it playing after school as I walked past.

I have a train bell, horn, and steam whistle I need to plumb up. Always wanted an old air raid siren/tornado siren. When the airport sold theirs my wife just gave me an evil eye when I mentioned it.

 

Marshallville

 

My wife gave up on me years ago.

 

That's why I'm taking the initiative to install my own. If I see a tornado I'll flip it on and run like hell.

 

They did have a distinctive sound for sure but somehow I don't remember the laughing part. The sweaty itchy dusty booger part i remember well enough though.

 

We had a Wisconsin powered baler for a while when I was a kid...remember that sound well. I also remember how cantankerous it was to start...some days baling didn't start as early as everybody had planned due to that POJ!
We still have a Wisconsin V4 powered water pump at work (its actually not that old, and modern Wisconsin's start much better BTW) and I got tired of that factory "soup can with holes" muffler making my ears ring, so I replaced it with a car muffler, man what a difference!

 

That was the guy stuck up in the hay mow! (me usually)
No cold shower ever felt better than after a day of that!

 

I have quite a few wisconsins all the older ones. If you set everything dead on, point gap, timing, impulse coupling etc. they start pretty good. Biggest problem is because of the long stroke and the almost airtight choke they can flood in almost one turn. That and people crank them to fast and the impulse coupling locks out. Soup can is giving the oem muffler to much credit.

 

Now does that sound like something most farmers would do?!

 

Point taken !!