Sirens in Central Texas

[holler]

San Angelo has this also: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdZw0XDv0JI

[siren fan]

Holy cow that is mounted low! Got to be the lowest mounted P-50 in existence.

[bigtuna7O]

Austin used to have a system comprising of Thunderbolt 1000t's but they've almost all been removed. I've managed to find 3 in the city (which to my knowledge are the only 3 left) and they're obviously disconnected, but still fun to check out. One of them had its blower stripped for some reason; maybe some enthusiast stole it to put it to better use.
Waco also used to have a Thunderbolt system but it was totally replaced around 1999 for T-128s. My mom grew up in Waco and remembered there being a Thunderbolt on her school playground. They were auctioned off to a private owner and absolutely none of them are left, even the one that used to sit atop the mighty Alico building.
Georgetown, 25 miles directly north of Austin, has a system in place with a handful of model 2's as well as one random Sentry (I think it's a 10V). They test them every wednesday at noon.
Lott, a small town northeast of Georgetown, has a Thunderbolt without a blower on its volunteer fire station. It's incredibly low to the ground, probably only 10 or 12 feet up. Not sure if they test it, might be worth looking into.
Granger, directly east of Georgetown, has an old Sterling on top of their fire station. There's also a model 2 out at the Granger dam.
Jarrell, the town ravished by that f5 two decades ago, has one model 2 (I think?) on their volunteer fire station.
Mason, west of Georgetown, still has an active Thunderbolt in one of its parks.
Troy used to have this colorfully painted model 5, but after moving it around to different parts of town they seemed to have done away with it. The pole it used to sit on, with it's RCM panel still attached, is empty.
That's pretty much all I know of siren locations in the greater Austin/central Texas area off hand/worth noting, but surely there're a lot more. And really, most small towns you drive thru more often than not have at least one old siren, if you know where to look; maybe not functional, but again still cool to check out.

I'd also be interested in anyone who knew of any more functional Thunderbolts in the central Texas area? I know of some in north Texas (Dallas/Fort Worth area), and of course the panhandle is a goldmine, but are there any y'all know of more centralized?

[Model2]

I went to San Angelo this weekend and saw a couple of Allertors, an SD-10, and a Thunderbolt. Talk about a harmony in sirens, I'd like to here those all sound off at once.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZ13rkxdJCw

[bigtuna7O]

I was asked this morning what I knew about the remaining Thunderbolts in Austin, so in case anyone else is interested in where they are I'll go ahead and forward my response.

It took a couple trips and a little luck to find these guys. I discovered that almost all the sirens in Austin proper were taken down, but the further away from the city center you got the more likely you'd be in finding one (I guess because they cared less about those on the outskirts). My strategy was driving to as high of an elevation as possible, seeing as the terrain in Austin is crazy and I figured they'd want sound projection as high (elevation wise) as possible for optimal coverage. In doing so I spotted two horns barely visible across the hills.

The first Thunderbolt is in Hatley park in Rollingwood, an Austin neighborhood just west of Mopac right after you cross the Colorado river, at 4821 Rollingwood Drive. I didn't realize it at first but the Rollingwood police department is tucked away in the trees about 50 yards from the siren, which is why I assume they put it there. But basically you'll drive west down Rollingwood Drive and eventually you'll see it on your right when you get to the baseball fields. This is kinda what you'll see from the street:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/54544911@ ... /lightbox/

Here are a couple other pictures I took of it:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/54544911@ ... /lightbox/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/54544911@ ... /lightbox/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/54544911@ ... /lightbox/

Here's a couple angles highlighting the missing blower:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/54544911@ ... /lightbox/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/54544911@ ... /lightbox/

If you were to visit one of these three Thunderbolts, this would be the one I suggest you opt for. It's in a beautiful location, and as you'll soon understand, long and aways the most easily accessible.

The second Thunderbolt I spotted over the hills was this one at 2115 Rabb Road near Barton Springs. It's literally in someone's backyard (I'm a little jealous) which makes it hard to physically approach. The lot behind the property with the Thunderbolt used to be vacant so I could walk right up to the fence and a couple feet away from the siren, however the lot has since been developed and a new house is blocking the approach. So basically you're stuck with a street view, unless you want to sneak around the side of the house (which I actually did once; shh, don't tell anyone) or ring a doorbell. But, here are a couple photos of it. I used to have more but for whatever reason some have been lost.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/54544911@ ... /lightbox/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/54544911@ ... /lightbox/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/54544911@ ... /lightbox/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/54544911@ ... /lightbox/

My third and final Thunderbolt was found purely by dumb luck. It's located at the Camp Mabry Texas National Guard, right on the street. After looking at several fire and police stations around Austin, I thought, "hmm, maybe the army base." And lo and behold, right on the street was a Thunderbolt. It's located at 2450 W 35th street, right off Mopac. Again, this one isn't the easiest to get up to, as parking is limited and it's on a busy street, but I've still managed to walk up to it a few times and check it out. Here she is:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/54544911@ ... /lightbox/

Well guys, that's all I got. There might be more on the east side of Austin; I've only briefly scoured that area because, candidly, it's just a worse part of town. It's also being developed further which leads me to believe that the siren removal over there was probably given more of a priority than, say, Rollingwood. I also heard tell of there being a Thunderbolt in both Manchaca and Dripping Springs, however after extensive searching I believe them to be removed as well. If anyone knows anything to the contrary I'd be happy to hear it.

Happy hunting

-Tom

[PeachtreeSirens]

Welcome to ARS, Tom!

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[Brendan W]

I find it interesting they would slap a thunderbolt right in the middle of a subdivision.

[CDV777-1]

Last year a guy who lives in the area sent me some pics of the Austin Rabb Road siren.
Yes. It is in someones back yard. There's no alley so the fence has to be over the city easement that the siren is located on.

[lilrags16]

Like a boss...
What if he set it off...

[Stormsetter4]

His neighbors would shoot him...