A Few Questions about the J and one about the A

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Steven 

    N&W freight whistles since the beginning of time or at least from Dec 7 1905 earliest drawing we have at the archives
has always been the (single note) hooter whistle the only difference is the length of the bell on top of the whistle. The standard freight whistle had a 7" bell which would produce a higher pitched sound than the passenger whistle with a 12' bell.
This all changed circa.1940 when the J Class was coming about. N&W adopted the 3 chime Hancock whistle for all passenger power J, K2,K2a,E2a all got the Hancock's then the passenger whistle 12" hooter top replaced the short 7" top on freight power
there are no difference in the whistle other than the top. N&W also according to a drawing in the archives experimented with
a 3 chime top for the hooter whistle before deciding on the Hancock"s
   Currently N&W 475 at Strasburg Pa.has a short hooter on it . The sound could not compare with a Class A giving the lower
boiler pressure. There are several Whistle Blows around the country each summer and there are always some N&W whistles
showing up. I have examples of both whistles. And I may show up at the Cass Railfan Weekend whistle blow in the spring.

Hope this has helped
Larry Evans
Kenova WV


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