SuperBanshee
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Fond Du Lac's Old Thunderbolts

Sat Jun 11, 2016 8:25 am

The city of Fond Du Lac once used a system of Thunderbolts. The first two went up in 1955 and were purchased with Civil Defense matching funds.
By 1968, there were five sirens in use. These served well until the mid 1990s when they began to show their age. They failed for a tornado warning which led to their removal around 1995. The city subsequently purchased a batch of ASC RM-130s around 1997-1998. First we begin with two old newspaper articles: one detailing the first Thunderbolt that went up in Fond Du Lac, and the other documenting their failure. The STH-10 is North Fond Du Lac's. Big thanks to Jerry Wick for sharing these a while back!
STA73034.jpg
Article 1.
STA73032.jpg
Article 2.
Then we find a former Thunderbolt mounting platform: pole and blower pad. One can see a part of the blower pipe clamp was left on the pole, which itself was simply cut down. I don't know which exact siren used to be here - just that it was a Thunderbolt.
FDLRoost.JPG
Thunderstump.
Next comes St. Peter's old Thunderbolt. This was from Fond Du Lac's old system however it was a later addition. It would have been yellow originally and was repainted gray once it went to St. Peter. One can see the mounting holes on the horn panel for the mesh screen although the screen itself was removed. The A2 blower can be seen - smaller wheel and pulleys compared to the original A1. Unfortunately this siren died at some point and failed to go off both times I tried recording it. Eventually the township decided to replace with an Allertor. It was such a surprise to see the Allertor - sadly the local practice of reusing old sirens in small towns has diminished amid the pressure to "buy new".
StPeter1.JPG
Under-shot. Zoom in for detail.
StPeter2.JPG
Controls.
StPeter3.JPG
Blower upshot.
StPeter4.JPG
Failed test!
And here is Malone's 1000T. This was the first Thunderbolt I ever recorded, although it took three attempts to really record a decent video. Its loud, distorted, non-harmonic sound was way more intense compared to the pedestrian T-128s I was used to. Originally it was yellow but then it became beige when they painted the since-demolished grain elevator it sat on. It looked so cool, all that industrial equipment huddled together on a roof - and there's the Thunderbolt sticking out of the mess. This was one of the first Thunderbolts Fond Du Lac had, dating back to 1955. Whether or not this is the one that was on the bank building is out to debate, but it was certainly different from the later Thunderbolt found in St. Peter.
One can see a strange bar inside the horn, not a complete grille but not the mesh screen either. No mounting holes for a mesh screen were spotted - while some earlier Thunderbolts did have a screen this wasn't always the case. The A1 blower chugged along nicely - it didn't sound anything like the later A2 or B Series blowers. How much of the siren was original is out to debate although it matters little to me. I was very surprised to learn the siren was removed and presumably dumped. I suppose it will eventually be immortalized in 1/87 scale once I find more beige paint.
Malone1.png
Side shot.
Malone2.png
Horn with bar.
Malone3.png
Back.
And here is the last video I took of Malone's 1000T. It is hosted on my archived videos account.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qr-nxE-L7HQ

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Josh_S
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Re: Fond Du Lac's Old Thunderbolts

Mon Jun 13, 2016 8:56 pm

Such interesting find! What is the story with the STH-10/RSH-10 at the rail yard?
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Re: Fond Du Lac's Old Thunderbolts

Mon Jun 13, 2016 9:49 pm

Isn't there a Thunderbolt in the woods somewhere in Fond Du Lac or am I confused with somewhere else? I seem to recall a Tbolt in the woods somewhere in WI that a member took a piece of a FS decal off of the back of the blower.
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Re: Fond Du Lac's Old Thunderbolts

Tue Jun 14, 2016 11:53 am

North Fond Du Lac's first siren was an STH-10, probably installed during the 1950-1960s. This was roof-mounted on the old Wisconsin Central rail yard which was later taken over by Canadian National. This served well but by the 1980s they needed more coverage for the growing village. Here, they bought two Thunderbeam RSH-10s. Then in 2006 they got two T-128s and one of those T-128s had to be replaced with another one in 2010. Sadly they removed one of the Thunderbeams a few years ago and it's only a matter of time before the other one goes down. The STH-10 should still be there unless it died.

I don't know of any other remaining Thunderbolts in Fond Du Lac county. The only other one was Ripon's and its blower sticker were reduced to a silhouette. It couldn't have been the siren you're thinking about because this one had a swirled "F" logo, used during the early 1970s.

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Re: Fond Du Lac's Old Thunderbolts

Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:34 pm

Brendan W wrote:Isn't there a Thunderbolt in the woods somewhere in Fond Du Lac or am I confused with somewhere else? I seem to recall a Tbolt in the woods somewhere in WI that a member took a piece of a FS decal off of the back of the blower.
I am fairly certain you are speaking of the Thunderbolt located in Eau Claire off of Fairfax St. It is located here: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Eau+C ... 91.4984941
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Re: Fond Du Lac's Old Thunderbolts

Tue Jun 14, 2016 9:35 pm

SuperBanshee wrote:North Fond Du Lac's first siren was an STH-10, probably installed during the 1950-1960s. This was roof-mounted on the old Wisconsin Central rail yard which was later taken over by Canadian National. This served well but by the 1980s they needed more coverage for the growing village. Here, they bought two Thunderbeam RSH-10s. Then in 2006 they got two T-128s and one of those T-128s had to be replaced with another one in 2010. Sadly they removed one of the Thunderbeams a few years ago and it's only a matter of time before the other one goes down. The STH-10 should still be there unless it died.

I don't know of any other remaining Thunderbolts in Fond Du Lac county. The only other one was Ripon's and its blower sticker were reduced to a silhouette. It couldn't have been the siren you're thinking about because this one had a swirled "F" logo, used during the early 1970s.
So at what point did they add the RSH-10 to the CN yard and is that still there?
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Re: Fond Du Lac's Old Thunderbolts

Wed Jun 15, 2016 10:20 pm

That Thunderbolt in Eau Claire is a leftover from their old Cold War siren system which composed of Thunderbolts and 2T22s.

There was no Thunderbeam in North Fond Du Lac's CN yard, only the old yellow STH-10. The two Thunderbeams were located at:

1. Sports field near Friendship Learning Center (since removed).
2. N. Pioneer Road near a truck stop (might still be there).

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Re: Fond Du Lac's Old Thunderbolts

Thu Jun 16, 2016 4:23 pm

SuperBanshee wrote:That Thunderbolt in Eau Claire is a leftover from their old Cold War siren system which composed of Thunderbolts and 2T22s.

There was no Thunderbeam in North Fond Du Lac's CN yard, only the old yellow STH-10. The two Thunderbeams were located at:

1. Sports field near Friendship Learning Center (since removed).
2. N. Pioneer Road near a truck stop (might still be there).
Oh, I see. I was under the impression something had replaced the STH-10. So the STH-10, is that still functioning?
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Re: Fond Du Lac's Old Thunderbolts

Thu Jun 16, 2016 5:14 pm

North Fond Du Lac's STH-10 should still be there unless it died. There is also another STH-10 in Van Dyne which is very similar except it's mounted on a pole.

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Re: Fond Du Lac's Old Thunderbolts

Thu Jun 16, 2016 5:22 pm

SuperBanshee wrote:North Fond Du Lac's STH-10 should still be there unless it died. There is also another STH-10 in Van Dyne which is very similar except it's mounted on a pole.
Is it located on the roundhouse?
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