SP Whistles *PIC*

The story an old SP head told me was that the SP, which had gotten some Nathan 6s, liked the design and opted to start producing their own copies. But as Nathan held the patent, the SP made some changes (such as the Star Brass-style base) to get around it. The same goes for the SP's short bell ("Desert") 5-chimes, the earliest (the ones w/fins) are darn near carbon copies of the standard Star design. I seem to remember hearing (Kevin Bush, where art thou?) that the Star 5 was the first commercially-produced step top in the US.
Most (but not all) of the AC’s had pneumatic whistles, which were the standard SP6 design – all, I believe, cast iron. I’ve heard of collectors dropping out the solenoids to use them with standard 2” whistle valves. The whistle Phil mentioned is rare for an AC in that it’s of the standard cast bronze variety.
The one SP whistle you don't hear much about are the long-bell 5s. Errol Ohman and Mike Russell replicated one for the 2467, but Errol, nor anyone else I know, has heard of any originals still extant. (If anyone does, please backchannel me).