The Siren Board

Does anyone have some more information about these and GCS sirens? Specifically, did Federal make the 'guts' for the Darley and GCS Model 2/3/5 sirens, or were they produced by Darley/GCS under license?
Does anyone know of a proper name or model number for the 'helmet' sirens? I've seen pictures of the six-port rotor for them, but does anyone know the horsepower ratings for them? Both the little ones and the larger ones.
And, the siren actually known as the Champion, the small dual-head one, does anyone know if it was a Darley design, or was it another 'copy'?

Darley siren factory. This "helmet" siren is definitely not a Model 2. All of their siren models were called Champion, and on the 2 Hp. siren this man is building, the motor sits on top of the stator. That protrusion on top of the motor accommodates the lifting eye, while the siren rests on the base of the stator (which is visible on the completed siren in the background, painted black). There is one of these in my county, where you can clearly see underneath the siren into the rotor. I believe that Darley originally built their own sirens, but later began rebadging Federal sirens. Today they buy from Sentry, as does Edwards. By the way, "helmet siren" was my name for them because the top is reminiscent of a WWI doughboy helmet.



Regarding GCS (General City Services), they were headquartered in Minneapolis and, as far as I know, were just rebadged Federals with their own housings. I once owned a GCS Model 2 that was identical to the Federal, except that the badges on the housing and on the motor were for GCS. There may be a possible connection with the old Erick company of Minneapolis, which died out during the Great Depression, but Decot may have acquired some of Erick's materials also.

I knew about the origin of the helmet siren name, but I was curious about an 'official' name for them. Also, the Darley siren in Shoshone has a bit of a different housing than the Darleys shown here, the openings are much shorter and are near the top, at about the same height as a Model 5's stator. The top was also a bit different, perhaps it was another Model 5 design they made? https://www.dropbox.com/sh/r80st1nuh6dhj0r/w2E0k8sjss
And, any thoughts about this one? It's tiny, smaller than a Model 2 https://www.dropbox.com/sh/x7e7iocefqif5oc/FLDc1tQ5Pz

The big Darley in Shoshone does indeed have a Federal 5/7 inside of it, and dates back to what I believe is the 40's or 50's. Jeb has a Darley-branded Model 7 low-tone that originally had that same style of housing, and it's old enough to have been made with a cast iron rotor instead of the more-common aluminum rotor due to the shortage of aluminum during WWII. So with that said, if it had been Federal-branded instead it would have had the "Fedelcode" style housing.

As for the small Darley Champion in Richfield, it looks like the smallest one behind the man in the photo that Daniel posted above. Not quite sure on what horsepower the motor on that particular model is, but it's probably no more than two for sure. I'd venture to say that speaking in sound output terms, it's probably comparable to a Federal Model 2.

I wonder why they have two Model 5s up there then... I believe that the Richfield one was smaller than the one pictured though, look at the size compared to the lamp below it.

I've got a Darley 2T and so does Ian. Just a federal with a different housing.

That siren in Daniel's photo looks a lot like a Spartan, about the same size also. They had a 3 horsepower siren that was like an overgrown model 2.

Are either of the Shoshone sirens still used? Are both of them 12-port models?

Here is a "pith helmet" version. I believe that this is the same thing in the factory photo, and the siren that the worker is building is the same size as the one behind him. Darley was known for their ever-changing housing styles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZy4HTxvNhg

Daniel wrote:Are either of the Shoshone sirens still used? Are both of them 12-port models?

Here is a "pith helmet" version. I believe that this is the same thing in the factory photo, and the siren that the worker is building is the same size as the one behind him. Darley was known for their ever-changing housing styles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZy4HTxvNhg

The insides?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcKqkGHyr2Y

Here's another Darley 6-port with a newer, Federal-style housing, sounding alternately with a 5T.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgVwrpaY79A

At least one of the sirens in Shoshone goes off at noon and again at 10PM. I don't know if they both go off, if one goes off for each, or if only one works. The Model 5 looked to be a 12-port, but you can't really see into the Darley. That first video looks like it might be the same model as the one in Richmond, but there's no way it's the same size as the one behind the worker in the factory picture. That last video looks like it could be similar in size to the Richmond one. I still don't believe that it uses the same guts as a Model 2 though, it's just too small.