Maury Ballstein Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> So what if I told you 473's whistle is originally
> 478's and 478's 5 chime is originally 486's and
> 476 wears a Lunkenheimer probably as an homage to
> it wearing 487's Lunkenheimer from 1967 to the
> 1980's. Does that change which engine is your
> favorite?
>
> Maury
The 3 chime on 473 was carried by 478 longer than some of folks on this site have been alive. I was put on 480 sometime in the 1950's (pic of it shows in 480 in 1958). When 480 was retired in 1964, it went to 478. 478 carried it until 2004. When I was working for the D&S, the whistle developed a problem of some sort. Bumble-painted 473 was out of service in the roundhouse. 473 gave up its 5 chime to the 478, and the 3 chime was repaired when 473 went back into service. So, perhaps 478's present 5-chime, that came from 473, originally (define "originally"....) was on 486. All the D&RGW 5-chimes look the same with a few exceptions, they all sound a bit (sometimes very) different.
In when shopped in 1968, 476 got a short Powell 3-chime, that it carried off and on into the D&S years, then it disappeared. It IS NOT the same Powell 3-chime that 487 carried. 487's was longer and played a deeper chord. I have recordings of both whistles, they are not the same. No idea of where the Powell came from as no other Alamosa engine seems to have carried it.
Before 478 got the 3-chime she had an odd-duck D&RGW 5-chime that was a 6" standard 6-chime bell mounted on a 5" hooter base. Any whistle expert out there will tell you, that won't work, but it did and did quite well. Once removed from 478, it went into the Alamosa parts room and was part of the inventory sold to the C&TS in 1970. For many years it was on 487 and was "487's Voice" until a few years ago, when there was a big whistle swap around, and I don't know where it is now.
Note. I appease Mr. West, I changed the subject title as to not appear to highjack Jerry's nice D&S Polar Express thread....
