The Siren Board

Well apparently Monroe County, MI, isn't the only place to have Whelen sirens with FS controls. I got to go to Princeton, IL, to do some train watching and I decided to check some of their sirens too. I already knew what they had and where they were. In total, they have 4 Whelen 2900s, 3 2001-130s, and an ACA Screamer (unknown if still used.) They also used to have a 2T22 and another ACA siren, but I digress. Anyways, I got to see one of the Whelen 2900s up close (they said it was a 2906, but I can tell it has 8 cells.) and to my surprise, it has FS controls on it. Unfortunately, since it wasn't siren test day, I didn't get to hear it, but I assume it sounds like a Modulator. I saw one of the other 2906s and it too had FS controls. I didn't get to see the other 2, but I assume they too have FS controls. Here are some pictures as well of the 2 I photographed.

Whelen 2906 behind McDonalds on Main St. (yes it has FS controls, I saw them.)


Whelen 2908 at Euclid Ave. and Lennox Ln.


FS controls on the Whelen 2908.


In case you are wondering, here are the locations for the other sirens in Princeton.

Whelen 2900 at Central Ave. and Vernon St.
Whelen 2900 on S. Fairground Ave. north of US Route 6.
FS 2001-130 at Clark St. and Maple St.
FS 2001-130 on Progress Dr. west of Main St.
FS 2001-130 at Chestnut St. and Thompson St.
ACA Screamer on Peru St. (US Route 6) east of 5th St.

Fascinating. Most likely they wanted to standardize the equipment with the 2001-130s that went in.

That being said, those are Whelen 2800s. You can tell from the screen being closer to the outer edge and the lack of EZ-Pull drivers.

Interesting, well if that's the case, then the city's page screwed up on that. Here's the map of the siren locations on their website. I know they already screwed up in calling one of them a 2906 when it clearly has 8 cells.

http://www.princeton-il.com/images/stor ... en-map.jpg

I live here. I can confirm the lone screamer is still in use. There were 3 screamers, 2 2T22s and a STH-10 near your first pictured whelen previous to 2005. Around 2007 the STH's motor burned out. It was replaced by nothing. Around 2008 the 2T22 on the south side was replaced by a Whelen across the street. Around 2010 the second 2T22 was replaced by nothing. It was the one by the train depot. Around 2011 they removed 2 screamers, one nearest my house on maple & Clark, and the one at Alexander pool. I had the lucky opportunity to receive a siren from their stockpile of replaced sirens. I got one the screamers. After that they went to the scrapper. Most of the new sirens didnt actually replace anything at their locations. I can also say that not all whelens have fs boxes. The one on Vernon & Central does have original boxes. Other than that, they all have fs boxes. I also can add the screamers were installed in 1984, and the 2T22s were installed around 1974.

Interesting. Thank you for your input. Do you know whether the Whelens with FS controls sound like Modulators? If so, I'm considering videotaping 1 or 2 of them in the summer. And for the Whelen that still has the Whelen controls, do you know what hertz tone it plays (435 or 560)?

TommyBNSF wrote:Interesting. Thank you for your input. Do you know whether the Whelens with FS controls sound like Modulators? If so, I'm considering videotaping 1 or 2 of them in the summer. And for the Whelen that still has the Whelen controls, do you know what hertz tone it plays (435 or 560)?

I believe they sound like normal whelens. As for the hertz tone, which ever one is lower. I am not that in to audio.

TommyBNSF wrote:Interesting. Thank you for your input. Do you know whether the Whelens with FS controls sound like Modulators? If so, I'm considering videotaping 1 or 2 of them in the summer. And for the Whelen that still has the Whelen controls, do you know what hertz tone it plays (435 or 560)?

The Whelens with FS boxes most absolutely will sound like modulators. If they have UltraVoice controllers, they will sound the UV tone.

TommyBNSF wrote:Interesting. Thank you for your input. Do you know whether the Whelens with FS controls sound like Modulators? If so, I'm considering videotaping 1 or 2 of them in the summer. And for the Whelen that still has the Whelen controls, do you know what hertz tone it plays (435 or 560)?

The Whelens with FS boxes most absolutely will sound like modulators. If they have UltraVoice controllers, they will sound the UV tone.

This would be the lower tone (435 Hz)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvcdyJ9rqWw

uncommonsense wrote:

TommyBNSF wrote:Interesting. Thank you for your input. Do you know whether the Whelens with FS controls sound like Modulators? If so, I'm considering videotaping 1 or 2 of them in the summer. And for the Whelen that still has the Whelen controls, do you know what hertz tone it plays (435 or 560)?

The Whelens with FS boxes most absolutely will sound like modulators. If they have UltraVoice controllers, they will sound the UV tone.

I believe thats the hertz.to be honest, I have somehow never heard them. I'll have to take a listen next month. (if they feel like testing.). I swear they just sound like normal whelens, but I live about a 3 blocks from the maple and Clark 2001, and the whelen closest to me is the one on Vernon and central or the one near the fairgrounds, it's about the same distance. But the 2001 really drowns out the whelens.