Looking for St. Louis (Mo.) area siren enthusiasts

[FedTB]

Adam, the Thunderbeam at the St. Peters Golf Course was replaced about 3 years ago by the 2001 because the motor on the T-Beam froze up. Did you read somewhere recently that they're replacing their older sirens with the 2001's? That would be a bummer, as they have the last 2 active T-Bolts in St. Charles County.

The only Lake St. Louis 2800-series siren that I know of is located behind the Lake St. Louis Public Works building.

Concerning the ASC T-128 on Zumbehl Road and Wembley Drive, the newspaper article that I read stated it had been blown down and damaged beyond repair in a storm. That's the press for you!

Not a bad shot at all of the Frontenac T-Bolt! Still looks to be in great shape!

I didn't know that there was a 4003 by Suson Park.

As far as I know, the first 4003 that St. Louis County EMA ever installed, which replaced a very old St. Louis County CD T-Bolt 1000, was at Baptist Church Road north of Lindbergh Blvd., and that one is gray. I remember it being the first one ever installed because there was a big deal on the news about it being battery/solar powered, etc. That's been at least 15 years ago, maybe.

Uncommonsense, I remember the T-Bolt on Clayton Road that you're referring to. It was located around Principia School. I stumbled upon that back around 1980 or so. It was one of the original old St. Louis County CD T-bolt 1000's.

Also, in case you didn't know, there was a St. Louis County CD T-Bolt 1000 located either on Bauer Road or Schuessler Road (off of Tesson Ferry Road) several years ago. I can't remember which road it was now, but I do remember it being pretty far off of Tesson Ferry Road. I discovered that one back around 1980 as well.

The two City of St. Charles T-121's off of Hwy. 370 & Elm Street/New Town Road are located WAY too close to eachother. It's strange to be able to look at one and glance over and see the other one nearby.

Uncommonsense, the Whelen 2810 you're referring to on Jungs Station Road near Upper Bottom Road used to be a 2807. It was upgraded about 2 years ago to a 10 cell siren.

Adam, as far as the Chrysler sirens go being in St. Louis, I just assumed they had them because of the old ad I saw on the Chrysler Siren website. I would think that legally Chrysler couldn't advertise that certain cities had their sirens unless they really did. But who knows???

Are you guys going anywhere today to check out siren activations for the Missouri state tornado drill?

[vortexofmisery]

I'll be recording one in Jefferson County Missouri, either the Arnold ATI system or a neighboring city's Whelen.

[Adam Pollak]

I'm in Florida right now so no siren tests for me. On a good note (and making sure we do not get off-topic because this is my favorite thread on the board) FAU, Florida Atlantic University, has one of their campus sirens in the ground and the other 2 are going in tomorrow. I have no transportation over there as of yet, so I may need to start figuring out bus schedules and stuff.

[uncommonsense]

Uncommonsense, I remember the T-Bolt on Clayton Road that you're referring to. It was located around Principia School. I stumbled upon that back around 1980 or so. It was one of the original old St. Louis County CD T-bolt 1000's.

I wonder if we're talking about the same siren. There is a 3016 located right across from Principia's west end along Clayton Road. Further down, in some residential areas, there is a 4004 where once a T-Bolt stood. I wonder if there used to be two T-Bolts, especially because you said you found this siren in 1980, which would have been from before the Whelen system was installed.

I'd love more information from 1982. I'd love to see news from that period and get more information about the process of such a massive upgrade. I can't believe a siren system upgrade that large didn't get some sort of coverage--especially if the system went from municipality to county governed. Part of me would also love to see a Whelen catalog from that era. The 2000-Rs are a rarity--St. Louis is the only place I've ever seen those, and I'd kill for more information on them.

I know electronic sirens get bashed around here quite a bit. But, I will say that, for being 26 years old, those old Whelens sure have held up and stood the test of time. Impressive.

Are you guys going anywhere today to check out siren activations for the Missouri state tornado drill?

I'd planned to get a 2001 in Springfield, but the damn siren came on for one cycle of attack and then shut off. I didn't even get that since I was in an elevator heading to the roof of a parking garage to get a good vantage point. Needless to say, Springfield-Greene County EMA is getting a report about it being out-of-order.

[FedTB]

The T-Bolt near Principia was located on the same side as the school. If I remember correctly it was at the west end of the campus, right along Clayton Road. I just remember the pole being extremely close to Clayton Road.

As far as the 1982 installation of the Whelen sirens, I was 18 at the time and excited because I thought St. Louis County was going to install 200-plus T-Bolts and 2T22's. Boy was I wrong! I remember being in the car with my mom, driving down Telegraph Road (in Oakville) and seeing this siren mounted to a telephone pole laying on the ground as crews were in the process of placing it into the ground. Immense disappointment is what I felt upon seeing this goofy looking horn, which turned out to be a 3016 and not a T-Bolt.

Later on that day I did hear the siren being tested when I was back at home, just a very short windup woop and then it stopped. A few days later I saw an ad for Whelen sirens in 'Firehouse' magazine, and it showed a picture of the 3016. So then I knew what it was.

There was a pretty good deal of press coverage of the siren installations back then, both on the local TV news and in the newspapers.

I have to add, I didn't know back then that the Thunderbolts were called Thunderbolts, I just knew what they looked like and how cool they sounded, although at the time I was only familiar with the sound of the T-Bolt 1000. I had no idea then that there were 3 different kinds of T-Bolts! If only we had the internet back in 1982! I've learned so much about sirens since seeing Jason's siren website for the first time several years ago. What's it been now, maybe 7 or so years ago?

I do recall seeing the Thunderbolt emblem on the blower boxes but didn't really know that that was what the sirens were called, at least back in 1982. As I got older I put 2 and 2 together and figured that this must be what the siren was named. On the old St. Louis County CD T-Bolts the CD symbols were painted black and located on the blower boxes. I do not recall them having the Thunderbolt name on them.

I don't know if you know this or not, uncommonsense, but a few of the 3016's and 2000-R's have already been replaced by the 2800's and 4003's because of rotator box malfunctions. That seems to be the biggest problem with these 'older' sirens so far, from what I've heard. It's a shame that T-Bolts and 2T22's, sirens like that, have lasted much longer than these newfangled 'stereos on telephone poles'. I realize that they're electronic and not going to last nearly as long as a mechanical or electromechanical siren, but they should last a little longer than some of them have.

Springfield used to have a large system of T-Bolts and 2T22's, until about 5 or 6 years ago, then replaced them with the 2001's.

Today I went and watched the T-Bolt 1000T activate for the tornado drill at the St. Peters water tower on Kimberly Lane. It only sounded for about 3 minutes, whereas the county sirens stay on for 5 minutes. Lots of 2800's could still be heard after the T-Bolt shut off.

Adam, let us know what the FAU siren system consists of and what do they use them for: Hurricanes? Tornadoes? Terrorism or other campus emergencies? All of the above? Enoy your stay!

At least here we're having some pretty decent weather (for now!). Temps in the 70's tomorrow!

[uncommonsense]

Oh yeah--I've known about the siren replacements in St. Louis. I made a comment some time ago that it seems to be accelerating, too. But, I still am impressed that the sirens function so well 26 years later.

I think the siren you talk about is in fact the site of a 3016 now. Sounds like where I know there to be a 3016.

Not to veer too much off topic, but I've been impressed with the 2001s here. They propagate well and the sound is attention getting. I just am truly mystified--the whole system does not have battery back-up!

[Adam Pollak]

So I know I'm bringing up a somewhat old thread, but I have lots of fun relevant info, so I promise it is worth it, especially for you St. Louisans.

I found an SD-10 in East St. Louis a few weeks ago on Birds Eye, which is the first one I found on there before finding it in person. It brings the total number of SD-10s that I have found to 7. It is located near Jones Hall Park, about a block and a half from the Washington Park village limits. It's a typical land-line ESL SD-10 installation, corrosion, tilting, and all.



This is a Model 5 (not 5T) at the Villa Park fire station. The fire service setup within St. Clair County is interesting in how there are many unincorporated communities, within or bordering cities, that have their own VFDs, siren and all. Golden Gardens, Camp Jackson, Midway, French Village, State Park Place, and Hollywood Heights are some of them. So here is the Villa Park siren. I also thought the Sheriff's name was quite appropriate.



On fire service within cities, Belleville is probably the best example of numerous fire departments within one city. There is the city of Belleville FD, Northwest FD, and East Side FD all serving the city. With that, each of those 3 entities, as well as Signal Hill FD, has their own siren system installed. So there are 4 siren systems that cover the city of Belleville. As I was driving down IL 13, Old St. Louis Rd, I saw the siren pictured below. From further out, I thought it might have been an old CD siren, as it was next to railroad tracks that bordered a school. When I got closer, I realized it was an an auto repair facility, which is the #1 business most likely to take over an abandoned fire station. I talked to the guy who owns the place and I guess until about 15 years ago it used to go off every Monday night for a fire meeting. There is also a new Whelen Vortex about one block away at the NW FD fire station.

[FedTB]

Adam, thanks for keeping the thread alive!

Those East St. Louis SD-10's are in very poor shape, needless to say. I wonder if they even still work. They appear as if they could fall off the pole at any moment.

On a side note, I returned today from a trip to Appleton, Wisconsin to the Pierce fire truck factory, as my department has ordered a new pumper from them. Anyway, I saw lots of sirens on my trip, mostly 2001's in Illinois and some T-128's in both in Illinois and Wisconsin. I think I counted 5 T-128's in Springfield, Illinois alone from my vantage point on I-55. There was one small Illinois town, a farming community, where I saw two 2001's, close enough to where I could see both of them at the same time.

Keep the thread alive if you have more pics and stories!!!

[EOWS 612]

Adam, that siren on top of the fire station isn't a Allertor, it's a Mobile Directo.

[Robert Gift]

... a typical land-line ESL SD-10 installation, corrosion, tilting, and all.

Is this a design fault of Federal Signal?
I would either fix it or take the siren down rather than risk it falling and killing someone.
Imagine the starting torque twisting it and it falling.