Steam Whistle calliope

[JasonC]

Someone posted about a steam whistle calliope a while back. Here's a video of a large one at Pratt University in NY. Beer and steam whistles; my kind of new years!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhmAUF5QLuw

Heres another short clip of one, they sound like the ones you would hear in old cartoons.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t40oQFOj86I

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weZb9a23 ... ed&search=

[ver tum]

Someone posted about a steam whistle calliope a while back. Here's a video of a large one at Pratt University in NY. Beer and steam whistles; my kind of new years!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhmAUF5QLuw

Heres another short clip of one, they sound like the ones you would hear in old cartoons.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t40oQFOj86I

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weZb9a23 ... ed&search=

The last two clips sound like air calliopes to me. I played an actual steam calliope on the Bell of Louisville steamboat for seven years. I wish there were sites out there for us calliope enthusiasts!

[JasonC]

All three are steam powered, as witnessed by the escaping steam (remember, air makes a lower pitch than steam). That's pretty cool you used to play one. There is a one on Big Horn.

[Daniel]

The strange thing about steam calliopes is that they were originally invented as an inexpensive substitute for a carillon for smaller churches. Can you imagine a little, white, New England church belting out circus-like hymns on a calliope with steam billowing out of the steeple?

[Robert Gift]

Dressed in my chimney sweep attire (top-hat and tails) years ago I played Chim-Chim-Cheree, and the beginning of Bach's "Gigue" fugue,
on a steam calliope.
(No chimney - LPG-fired)

But kept getting burned by droplets from spitting pipes.
Also, pitch range was too high.

But much fun.
I wanted to tune some of the pipes.