doctorvee
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Northern VA siren info

Sun Jul 25, 2010 6:27 am

Hi All,

Grew up in Northern VA in the '80s, and remember Thunderbolts throughout the area. Mostly located at schools, I saw a few Allertors here and there but not many. They were working until at least '86 or so...tests were the 2nd Wednesday of the month at 11am or just after. Was outside in gym class more than once when my school's siren went off!

I remember watching an entire 60 Minutes segment, sometime btw. '86 and '89, about the DC area system, which included both the siren system plus a bell-and-light indoor warning system for government buildings in DC (which apparently few building managers even knew about by this time). IIRC the report stated that operators attempted to test the system one day, and nothing happened. No one had a clear answer as to what failed, but the report noted that the existing system would have to be scrapped. The sirens started disappearing in the early '90s.

Fletch
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Sun Jul 25, 2010 7:07 am

That "60 Minutes" report would be cool to see if there were a way to find old segments. Seems like DC really could use an outdoor warning system.

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r4tbolts
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Sun Jul 25, 2010 1:48 pm

In DC propper I can only recall seeing T-bolts till they were deactivated. I have never seen an Allertor in DC but have seen them in the burbs both in Virginia and Maryland.

I too, scratch my head as to why the nation's seat of government doesn't have a system of sirens. Same goes for larger cities like NYC and Seattle that are prone to be targets of bio and chemical terrorism. Seems like those cities would want some tpye of outdoor warning that is voice capable to instantly warn the public perhaps say don't go into the subways, etc.

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Mon Jul 26, 2010 12:14 am

Doctorvee,

Everything you said is consistent with what I know. I'm pretty sure there were at least some Allertors in DC proper because I heard one, though I never saw it.

There was an attempt to expand rhe system in the late '80s. Some of the Allertors I saw were in locations that had never had a siren before, partly there were plenty of dead spots. I think expansion must be the explanation why I remember (I read it) many more sirens than Ben Shinn had listed. After the Metro rail system went in urban sprawl exploded.

What I wonder is if anyone at Central Armature Works remembers anything. They maintained the system for years. Actually, the people who remember are likely retired now.

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Mon Jul 26, 2010 9:36 am

Doctorvee said, "IIRC the [60 Minutes] report stated that operators attempted to test the system one day, and nothing happened. No one had a clear answer as to what failed, but the report noted that the existing system would have to be scrapped. The sirens started disappearing in the early '90s."

My guess is that age and lack of upgrading finally caught up to a system that had been in place since the mid-1950s.

I wish I knew what the report meant by "the existing system would have to be scrapped." The activation system, or the sirens themselves? Would all the Tbolts have been replaced with Allertors or something else, or would the Powers That Be have persuaded Federal to keep making Thunderbolts for one last big order? My guess is that they told 60 Minutes that because by that time they wanted to shut down the system and didn't want to talk about fixing it. It would be an expensive system to keep operating.

I suspect the activation system was the problem. The system started with a leased line Western Electric system, and later on radio. I remember lots of problems, including accidental activations of the whole system, sometimes in the middle of the night, scaring everybody half to death, especially me. Even if the system had been upgraded in the 1980s, it would have to be upgraded again now.

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slant-40
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Tue Jul 27, 2010 12:55 am

Some DC locations I can remember off the top of my head: Thunderbolts all:

* Edmunds School, 9th & "D" NE (my "Home Siren")
* "R" & Bladensburg Rd NE (pole)
* 5th & Morse NE (approx) (pole)
* 3rd & Eye SW (pole)
* 9th & "F" NW (900 "F" NW)
* Thomas School, Anacostia Ave NE
* Polk St NE off of Kenilworth (pole)
* Cannon Senate Bldg, NJ & Independence SE
* Stone Straw Bldg, 922 Franklin NE
* 15th & Eye NW (1500-1518 Eye NW)
* Apt block, (approx) 6th & "M" SE (removed when bldg torn down)
* Turner School, Stanton Rd SE


If I remember more, I'll edit this post and post them.
wayne

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Tue Jul 27, 2010 9:28 pm

Federal Signal installed and utilized several mobile Modulators mounted on trailers which were capable of being activated through a dedicated wireless network during the inauguration.

Check out this link

http://www.federalsignal.com/NewsReleas ... Id=1252411

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Allenorgan42099
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Re: Cold-war sirens around DC

Wed Apr 16, 2014 1:53 am

Bshinn wrote:Hello,
I can't remember any of the capital area Thunderbolts being replaced by Allertors, however it may have happened with a couple of them. I was told that when sirens were removed in the early '90s, that was it and none were to be replaced.

I can remember seeing thunderbolts as recent as the early nineties....in towns such as Rockville and Damascus, MD (both in Montgomery County outside DC).
There was also an Allertor in Damascus, Next to the school. I remember driving through other communities in Montgomery County (not sure which ones they were), and just about every one had a T-bolt on the roof of the city hall.

The Allertors were mostly in Virginia, specifically in Loudoun county.
Several of the Fire stations had allertors on poles next to them up until the year 2000 (and they're probably still there)
Arcola/pleasant valley
Lucketts
Lovettsville
Philomont
Middleburg
Neersville
Usually they either have the service wires cut, or the disconnect shut off.
More photos can be seen at:
http://www.loudoun.gov/fire/companies/index.htm

Prince George's county, MD:

I know of one Allertor in Maryland that was part of the system. It is/was behind Allentown Road/Silesia fire station 47 in Prince George's county.

Also, a Thunderbolt still exists at Accokeek VFD Sta. #24 (it's a 1003).
http://www.avfd24.com/index.php
There are also a FS model 5 and a Sterling M10 behind the station on a tower. Not sure if you will find pictures of the Thunderbolt on the website.

A former Thunderbolt location:
On one of my busy days on Squad 27 (http://www.morningsidevfd.com),
We stopped at a county fuel site behind an old school just off of Rt. 4 in the Forestville/District Heights area. There was kind of a bus circle/grass mound with a utility pole in the center that had a pole-mounted platform and 3" standpipe running up the pole.....the siren had been removed some time ago.

You can still find 3T22's on poles at the following stations in PG county:
(these are the ones I know of)
Clinton #25, West Lanham #28, Allentown Road #32, Baden #36, Brandywine #40, Bowie/Mitchelville #43, Marlboro/Croom #45

You can see Brandywine's 3T22 in a station photo at the bottom of this page:
http://www.brandywinevfd.com/AMBULANCE.html

West Lanham Hills has a video with the 3T22 sounding titled "That's the way we roll", available here:
http://www.wlhvfd.com/

Other areas near Washington, DC that have sirens (most cold war-related)

University of Maryland, College Park (Main campus in College Park/PG county), Fed Sig 2001's
Andrews Air force Base (PG county), at least (1) Fed Sig Modulator

These are all close to Fort Ritchie and Site R
Mount Aetna VFD station 16 (Washington County), 3T22 on the roof, you can almost reach up and touch it.

Emittsburg, MD....Vigilant hose Co. Fire station 6 (Frederick County) 3T22 on roof (it was still there last time I saw it....also someone said they have electronic sirens there now)

Thurmont, MD Guardian hose co. fire station 10 (Frederick County) 3T22 and either a model 2 or 3 mounted on a pole behind the station.

Harpers Ferry, West Va. 3T22 on pole behind station. I was hiking on the appalachian trail in my younger days when it sounded for about 10 cycles....I thought that was surely the end.

Hagerstown, MD (Washington County) Used to have 3 thunderbolt 1000's....One on the roof of city hall, one at the Fairgrounds, and one on the roof of the Harvest Baptist Church (formerly Woodland Way School)
As far as I know, the only siren that still exists is the one at city hall.

You can learn more about DC area cold war-era activities by doing a search on Raven Rock Mountain or Nike missile bases in Maryland.

Ben Shinn
There was also an Allertor at the Middleburg VFD.

uncommonsense

Re: Washington D.C., and another question,

Wed Apr 16, 2014 1:59 am

Allenorgan42099 wrote:There was also an Allertor at the Middleburg VFD.
Dude! What are you doing bumping 7 year old posts (in 8 year old threads!!!) just for that?!?!

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Archon
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Re: Washington D.C., and another question,

Sun Nov 23, 2014 4:45 am

I found out today that ACA Made 200 Allertor's for the DC cold war siren system.

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