Melvin Potts wrote:That is an OLD siren. It was there when I moved to Cobb County in 1971; don't know how long prior to that it was installed.
I heard this siren during one of my GA trips many years ago(probably 15 or more). Just happened to be on Cobb Parkway headed S when I heard it fire up for the test. I recognized the sound, so I pulled into a nearby parking lot and watched it rotate as it sounded.
The WPS siren on Winters St. in Marietta replaced a Tbolt which was there in 1971. Maybe the two of them were installed at the same time?
Oh yes, it's definitely one of the first Thunderbolts, and appears to have even been retrofitted with that dual toned chopper at some point in its lifetime. It's a Series A1 that has the big size 6M Roots blower on it powered by an old Peerless(?) 7.5hp three phase motor, and the siren also sported the "circle-F" logos at one time, as evidenced by the acid etching on the panels from where the decals once were. Such a shame that something as simple as a burned out time delay relay will probably spell the demise of this old brute.
I had been told that both this and the Winters St Thunderbolts had been purchased at the same time, likely new, by the city of Marietta. The thing I wonder is, does the city itself still own this one and just turn over control of it to the county, or have they given the entire siren itself over to them? If the city, there may be a higher chance of me being able to snag it if and when it comes down, but if it's the county, getting a hold of it would be about like trying to pull teeth from a chicken. The worst part of it is all the money they spent not too long ago moving it and replacing the pole, all the standpipe, the blower platform, and all the conduit and wiring.
