Thief River Falls, MN and Drayton, ND Thunderbolts

[Train99]

So I was finally able to get pictures of a few of the Thunderbolts left in service in my region. Thief River Falls, MN has two Thunderbolts, two 2T22's, a presumably deactivated Sterling, and a handful of 2001-130s (At least that's what I've found so far.) This Thunderbolt is located on the north side of the city near a trailer park, and the other unit (which is identical) is on the south side of the city. Here it is on a rather frigid day earlier in the year. So far TRF's older units are holding up quite well.

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Drayton N.D. has almost the exact same build of Thunderbolt as TRF's however they are slightly more faded then their TRF counterparts. This Thunderbolt is in the south side of town, while it's counterpart (which would've been photographed I didn't have to wade through mud to get a close shot.) Drayton also has a smashed up Darley Model 3 in the middle of town, but I don't know if it runs or not. The thunderbolts have both changed position recently, so I assume they're active. Of note is the fact that these units have an American Signal Control Box mounted as well.

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Crookston, MN also has a Thunderbolt 1003, which I will photograph eventually.

[Non-Zero]

always had questions about those Drayton units. Very cool!

[Train99]

I found out just the other day. The FS Thunderbolt 1003 in Crookston MN has been replaced as of September or November 2022. There is a new Federal Signal 2001 siren where the 1003, and the blower pad is gone.

Drayton, MN's Thunderbolts are still doing well, I had a visual on the other one a few days ago.

Thief River Fall's 2 Thunderbolts and 2 3T22's are still alive and kicking according to Google Maps. They relocated the 3T22 on the North Side of town to the Public Works Office a block south. The new 2001-130 in Ole Engelstad Park is now visible on google maps. I also found a siren I have yet to seen documented. On the roof of Thief River Maps. Airport there is a Model 5/7. Now I'm wondering how many other airports in the region have sirens.

On another note Warren, Minnesota has taken one of their STH-10's off its pole, so I'm not sure if their fixing it, or if the other STH-10s in town have been removed as well. We'll see what happens.

As of fall 2022 Hallock's SD10s are still alive and kicking.

That's my big update for now. I don't believe any other Civil Defense era sirens in Northern Minnesota have been removed or replaced. Sadly we did loose a few of the good ones this year, and I fear the older equipment up here is already running on borrowed time. We'll see what happens in 2023.

[jerrylovessirens]

Nice find with the Drayton Thunderbolts. When I was out there for nearly 10 years, I only saw one other Thunderbolt that was in a small town in-between Bismarck and Minot. It was a 1003. Next closest one I saw was in Sundance, Wyoming. Dickinson ND used to have a full system of them, but were replaced with 2001s