Hi Earl,
I saw the pic "Remember When", posted by Les Jarrett, and got to wondering if I might have been running the thing that day. Then I read the next post, "As an Aside", and remembered making that whistle. It was my first attempt, and a sorry-sounding one at that. If I remember correctly, I believe it was built to sit down on the center post stud of the D&RGW valve, so it wasn't necessary to kill the boiler to install or remove it. After testing it, I think the evening before the train went out, I decided to put it on as an unpleasant surprise for Richard the following morning.
As I think back now, I was acting shop foreman during the 1980 season, so I didn't need anybody's permission to install the hooter.
By the way, 1980 was the season I started the shop crew cleaning and trimming the fires in the morning instead of the train crews. Prior to that year, the engineer and fireman performed that hot, dusty, smoky task, then proceded to the coal tipple (1975 and 1976), where any remaining healthy lung tissue was suitably coated with coal dust. Then, back to the sand house for the minimum daily requirement of silica dust. The lucky road crew got to grease the locomotive in Antonito at the end of a long, hot day, then walk into town for a restful stay at the Grand? Hotel in downtown Antonito, only to look forward to being rousted out at 6:00 a.m. by a long blast on the locomotive whistle, courtesty of Sol, the night watchman. After a delicious breakfast at the Narrow Gouge Inn, promptly served with a smile, the engineer and fireman then proceded to clean and trim the fire again before the day's run, this time without the benefit of an ash pit. That's how it was back in the day...and we liked it!
You must have one hell of a diary or log to be able to dredge up the details of that hooter whistle with that kind of accuracy. It'll be a great resource for future generations of railroaders and rail fans.
