Thanks for posting your 4-8-2 SLSF1522 video! SLSF 1522 proves once again that the steam locomotive was man's most noble invention. (*) Ken (*) Frequent quotation from Joe Collias
4-8-2 SLSF 1522 - Ringtone I just made an mp3 clip of the SLSF 1522's whistle from the 1994 video I shot of 1522 coming through my hometown. You can watch the video on YouTube.com by searching for "Frisco 1522 in Sulligent, AL". I blue toothed my mp3 file to my phone to use as a ringtone. If anyone wants the mp3 file, send me your e-mail address. The mp3 files size is 229KB. If you want to blue tooth it to your phone, you will have to have a computer with blue tooth capabilities or a blue tooth device plugged in. I am not sure, but if your phone can get e-mail, that may work too. Ship it on the Frisco. Preferably one of the 1500's.
4-8-2 SLSF 1522 Don, In your time operating the SLSF 1522, what was the fastest speed she ran? Thanks, Tom
Cell phone ring tone. Here is one for most phones. Use a computer sync cable or send it to your phone and place it in an appropriate folder in your phone to be used as a ringtone. The methodology will vary based on the phone manufacturer and/or cell provider.
Hi guys, There is a rumor on Facebook going around that 4-8-2 SLSF 1522 was sold to a man in San Francisco and will be moved there to be restored and pull excursions. Can anyone validate this? If it is true it will be sad to see the Frisco steamer leave. Hope they at least leave it in Frisco paint. Ship it on the Frisco! Murphy Jenkins
I got some good running video pacing 4-8-2 SLSF 1522 along south Sprigg Street just after you passed under I-55 up to Marquette. I need to get it captured on the computer from my 8 mm video and post it.
I have scanned all steam locomotive diagrams as well as other stuff. All sent to Mike to post on this web site, lots and lots of information. I am working on my Official Railway Equipment Registers (ORED) now 1896 to 2011.
As soon as I can unearth it, I can scan it for you. I think you mean the one I drew with all the modern additions. I can also scan a Frisco diagram for you if that is what you want.
I have successfully made my first PVC air whistle (3 chime). I was not concerned about pitch but I am now. I want to make one with the Frisco 1522 sound or as close as a PVC whistle can get for my 4-8-2 bar-e-que grill. How many chimes does the 1522's whistle have and what are their pitches? I have analyzed several YouTube clips of the 4-8-2 SLSF 1522 and, as best I can tell, there are at least 3. I think the lowest pitch when the whistle sounds completely open is around Bb3/B3, there seems to be a middle pitch around D3, and the highest pitch seems to be about F4/F#4. In one clip it sounded like B-D-F# or a B minor chord. In another clip it sounded like Bb-D-F or a Bb major chord. I am not sure if it is just a pitch difference in the clips or if other factors such as temperature, humidity, track speed (wind resistance), barometric pressure, steam characteristics, etc. alter the pitch slightly in any way. Please reply if you have knowledge about the 1522 whistle.
Toward the end of her career 4-8-2 SLSF 1522 was used in freight service. At least one other 4-8-2 1500 Mountain class , SLSF 1503, was converted back to a coal burner and used in freight service. Some 4-6-2s even had doghouses. Tom G.
Regarding the whistle pitch, find a VHS by Pentrex, called "St. Louis Steam Celebration". There are many opportunities to hear the whistle, especially at the scene when the 4-8-4 UP 844 and the 4-8-2 SLSF 1522 are saying "goodbye" at the steam museum. If you arm yourself with an electronic pitch indicator you might be able to zero in on the exact pitches. Good luck.
Not bragging, but being a high school band director, I have a pretty good ear for discerning pitches. So, I decided to attempt to use my training and experience to find the pitches of the 1522's whistle from my 1994 video. I recorded the original video directly onto a VHS cassette tape in 1994 with my parents old RCA VHS cassette video camera. 15 years later, in 2009, I finally dubbed the VHS to DVD with my VHS/DVD-RW. Then, I decrypted the DVD in my computer, converted the file to WMV format for YouTube, and uploaded it to YouTube. As long as the pitch did not change through all of those steps, I believe I have determined the 4-8-2 SLSF 1522 played a lovely "B minor" chord. It sounds to me like I heard 3 chimes. Musical notes/pitches: B2, D3, & F#3. The frequencies for each chime sound like 123.47Hz, 146.83Hz, and 185.00Hz. I cannot say I am 100% correct about these being the absolute pitches of the SLSF 1522 in June 1994, but it certainly sounds like it to me. Maybe someone will find this information useful, intriguing, or at the very least, humorous. Here is the chart I used to translate music tones into hertz. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/~suits/notefreqs.html Brandon [video=youtube;j03m-bYv5fo][/video]22
It sounds like you have all the technical skill and hardware needed to find out what you wanted to know. When you get your whistle hooked up and fine-tuned, it would be fun to hear it. I hope you will share a *.wav-file with us, then. Everyone talks about the mournful sound of the steam locomotive. The minor triad here certainly gives that impression. I wonder why tuning was to a minor rather than a major, happier-sounding key. Dissonance seems to be desirable because another thread talks about the 5-tone diesel horns being a B minor 9th chord. ( http://www.frisco.org/vb/showthread.php?1627-Replacement-of-the-Wabco-horns-with-Leslies - Post #19) Why does such a sad sound make us all so happy to hear it? George
Excellent work on finding the pitch of the whistle. Perhaps the minor chord was chosen because it might sound more like a warning that a major chord would give. The Frisco steam whistle was often described as having a beautiful baritone sound.
I saw a video of 4-8-2 SLSF 1522 with a CB&Q 5 chime whistle and questioned that decision. I love that deep SLSF 1522 whistle. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
The five chimer was off a Burlington mike, and was used on a trip around the old Burlington Route. It was fun to play with. Our whistle could make different sound depending on how we turned the body on the base and which chamber was facing out. We also had an IC whistle on it for a while, which sounded basically the same except it would shriek if you surprised it.
