seattle, washington Federal DSA's

[Travis]

Scanned from info found at the Seattle Public Library:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v302/ ... ens001.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v302/ ... ens002.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v302/ ... ens003.jpg

[Jonas Clark]

Ooh, addresses! Thanks a lot!! Lessee...
The gas-powered ones are the Chryslers. From the top:
--1st. NE & 127th: There's no 127th there (it doesn't exist at that location) but between 125th & 130th, where 127th would be, is the Chrysler at Northacres Park. It's on a metal tower, and is unrestored and in unknown condition; I need to go look at it in person.

--N. 67th & Phinney: A few blocks north of Woodland Park Zoo. Also on a metal tower. Restored cosmetically, painted yellow, drive shaft missing. Has a plaque at the base of the tower explaining its significance. A local resident told me this one was tested every Sunday at noon into at least the late 1970s.

--Andover & Letitia: These two streets don't cross, though maybe they did in the past. This is the mysterious Columbia City siren; the photo shows a metal tower on a barren hillside and doesn't list an address, and the area is so populated and wooded that I thought I'd never figure out where, exactly "south of Columbia City" was. I can't seem to see it on Google Maps, so I'll go out there and look!

--36th NE & Willow: There's a park, a reservoir and some big water towers here. Looks like a good place. But there's no siren I can see; it'd have to be on a tower here. This wasn't one of the locations on the Chrysler Siren site.

--Steam Plant, at Willow St.: Could they have gotten confused somehow with this Willow St.? The Georgetown Steam (power) Plant's roof, according to the historical shots, had the siren mounted on the higher north end. It isn't there now. This is a museum now; eventually, I plan to go ask them about it.

--Washington Athletic Club: Downtown. I think, between Google Maps and the old installation photos, this siren was installed on the southern side on a lower parapet. But I can't see it on any Maps view. The WAC is an exclusive place, I can't just walk in the door and ask, and getting hold of someone by phone hasn't worked yet.

--City Light Warehouse: No longer on the roof. Not only proved by Google Maps, but an elevated roadway runs right past the building and the roof surface is very visible. No siren there.

--Not listed here, but on the Chrysler site: Police Garage on Cherry, downtown. Razed in the 80s.

Electric:
--55th & Andover: Nothing.
--21st & Charlestown: Nothing I can see.
--Beacon & Barton: Nothing I can see.
--31st & King: Nothing.
--22nd & Thomas: Nothing.
--Can't read...
--Greenwood & 117th: Nothing.
--20th & 127th: Fire Station no. 39, old & new. Nothing I can see, on either one or on a telephone pole.
--Sandpoint & 105th: Not even a pole here.
--15th & 87th: Nothing I can see.
--29th & 77th: Only one telephone pole. Nothing on it, not even a platform or a support for one.
--35th & 85th: Nothing. No telephone poles.
--40th & 60th: Nothing.
--46th & 45th: Right between a school and a park. Nothing.
--Latona & 43rd: Nothing.
--39th & Dravus: Nothing. Water tower and (I think) reservoir.
--35th & McGraw: Pole on the NW corner (there are two - this one is on McGraw) has a little bracket halfway up, just below the street light. Siren mounting point?
--4th & Howe: Nothing.
--3rd & Blaine: Nothing.
--41st & Madison: I don't find 41st North & East Madison, just 41st East. Nothing, though there's a pole here with nothing at all on it, wires, brackets or otherwise, save for a sign.
--2nd & Harrison: Pole has a side-arm for three cables, a style I've seen elsewhere, but this version has a lower crossbar supporting that. Might be a spot.
--Westlake N. & Valley St.: Can't find an intersection between these.
--38th & Norwood: Nothing.
--Rainier & Bush: Can't find an intersection.
--California & Hill: Nothing.
--California & Manning: Nothing.
--Atlas & Juneau: Nothing. Nice remote spot.
--42nd & 100th: Nothing.
--11th & Bertona: Nothing. Nice spot on a hill, would've really carried.
--52nd & Morgan: Nothing.
--Boyer & Lynn: Nothing.
--Seaview & 62nd: Can't find an intersection.
Wonder if Seattle took these down all at once at some point.

Most of the steam siren locations are hard to figure out; the unit could be anywhere on them, and I really don't know what steam sirens look like.

[Columbus]

I remember the siren at 22nd E and E Thomas. It was still standing when I arrived in Seattle in September 1983. I lived about a block away. Sometime between 1983-85 it was removed. It was a Bumblebolt, white with black stripes, very weathered and on top of a platform built for that purpose, not a single pole. With all the fallout from "The Day After" and "Testament" (which was in local theatres right then) the siren took on a sinister meaning to me and I tried not to look at it as I walked/ran about the neighborhood. Never heard it sound, however.

[Jonas Clark]

What sort of platform? Was it slung off the side of a telephone pole, or can you describe it more?

And...seriously? Bumble Bolts in Seattle? I only got interested in sirens in the last ten years (unless you count wondering about that weird thing on a tower on Phinney Ridge - I was always into wind turbines as a kid, and I assumed it was an old generator sans blades, having never walked to the downhill side and seen the horns).

[Columbus]

Believe me, it was there on the SE corner of 22nd and Thomas. There is a parking lot for a business there now. If the siren was installed in the early 50s, by the time 30 years had rolled around the paint could've faded somewhat giving it a black and white appearance where it originally may have been yellow and black. It was definitely a Bumblebolt.

The platform looked like a much smaller version of the Chrysler tower at 67th and Phinney. It was wooden and a large pole bisected it; the siren was on top of the pole. I remember some steps in the platform that would've allowed access for maintenance.

The siren on Phinney was in a very strategic spot, overlooking a valley that would have allowed the siren's reach to be much wider than usual. The one at 22nd and Thomas was on a slight hill coming up from John St. Since Seattle was/is so hilly, I'm sure sirens were placed to take advantage of that fact.

[murrfarms]

Here's one of Seattle's original "Bumblebolt" installations on a similar type of platform that Columbus mentioned, but using two telephone poles to hold the large platform instead of an actual tower. Interesting way of mounting it, but I suppose they hadn't really gotten down the ideal mounting setup for the Thunderbolt quite yet, being that they were still a brand new siren design at the time.



Also, here's a couple photos of an original RCM1A for one of Seattle's old Thunderbolts, prior to installation.

[Columbus]

Do you know the location of the siren photo you posted, by any chance?

[echo1030]

Does anyone know if they were single or dule tone

[murrfarms]

Do you know the location of the siren photo you posted, by any chance?

31st Avenue & King Street, I believe.

Does anyone know if they were single or dual tone

All of their original Thunderbolt installations were single tone. Federal hadn't come out with the 1000T at the time those were installed.

[Columbus]

I wonder if Seattle decided at some point, "What's the use"? No tornados happen there and it is obvious by the geography that trying to leave the city IF a nuclear attack was imminent would be a wasted effort. I could understand that line of thinking.