The Siren Board

Hello guys. I was wondering if anyone knew anything about Bowling Green's old Civil Defense system of Thunderbolt 1003s (locations and such). I already know of locations. One on Clough Street and one on the campus of Bowling Green State University. If anyone knew anything that would be great! Thanks!

I know Calvin Mayer got the 1003 from the university.

FSThunderboltfan1000 wrote:I know Calvin Mayer got the 1003 from the university.

Plus 1 for you good sir :thup:

Pardon the bump; but I found a vintage 1970s photo (from Wood County Historical Ctr website) that includes the 3T22B that was located on N. Main St & Parkview

floor-a-matic wrote:Pardon the bump; but I found a vintage 1970s photo (from Wood County Historical Ctr website) that includes the 3T22B that was located on N. Main St & Parkview

Would you happen to know where the 1003's and 3T22's were back in the day?

The first four sirens (three pole mounted 1003s and one 3t22) were put up sometime in 1977. The BGSU 1003 was added a year later to provide coverage for the eastern parts of campus that weren't covered by the Clough street 1003. This was mentioned in a BG News article from January 1978...
Article (page 5): http://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/cgi/viewco ... xt=bg-news

Wood County originally tested on the first Friday (later changed to Saturday) and used the three main signals (alert for tornado, warble for nuclear attack, and hi-lo for fire). The BG News used to print notices for the tests...
Article (page 4): http://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/cgi/viewco ... xt=bg-news

I remember hearing the hi-lo a few times during the 90s, possibly set off by accident. The pole mounted 1003s were set at chopper level 6 while the BGSU 1003 was one or two levels lower. I once watched it during a test when I was 7 (well before the STH-10 was put up)

The first 2001AC was put up in 1993 at Conneaut and Mitchell (replaced in 2005 with a 2001-130 along with the three pole mounted 1003s). The 3t22 was removed sometime in the early 2000s and the BGSU 1003 was shut off around this time (the horn remained pointed to the south until heavy winds - or something - pushed it so it pointed east for the next 10 or so years before it was removed in 2013).

Here is a Google Earth map with the locations of the old siren system (1003s, 2t22, and older 2001):
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid= ... 0A0NvR4aIA

Also, here is a birds eye view of the Poe Rd 1003 (from a 1979 Bowling Green Welcome book - page 31 - ohiomemory.org):
http://www.ohiomemory.org/utils/ajaxhel ... DMROTATE=0

I got the 3T22B back in 2002; still sits in a storage barn

Is this BG's 3T22 up close? Or is it from another town in Wood Co?
http://www.jmarcoz.com/sirens/woodcounty_oh.jpg

floor-a-matic wrote:Is this BG's 3T22 up close? Or is it from another town in Wood Co?
http://www.jmarcoz.com/sirens/woodcounty_oh.jpg

I do believe this is the long since removed 3t22 at the intersection of Lemoyne Road and Curtis Road in Northwood. I remember passing it at least twice a month when I was a child. That intersection was part of the main route back to the Interstate when leaving the Woodville Mall. Since then ODOT has built a slip ramp directly off of Woodville Road. I believe it came down around the time the Menards opened up, and was replaced by 2 2001-SRNBs to both the SW and SE. I have a video of the Southwestern SRNB on my channel.

I did some snooping at the area and noticed there were still old street-views miraculously. This Street View on Lemoyne Road shows the old 3t22 still in place. I think its a match but it would be easier to say that if the street-view imagery was clearer. I cannot speak for the 3t22 in BG, I was only a 5 year old the last time I saw it or any of BG's old sirens (other than my bolt).

And as for your Mystery Mod down in BG, I searched all over last year for it to find nothing. I live in Rossford now so I might be more inclined to go take another look one day if I'm bored.

After a quick inspection with the old street view imagery, that's without a doubt the former 3T22 on Lemoyne Road in Northwood. The big giveaway to look for here is the arrangement of those different service drops converging together on the smaller service pole next to the siren's pole. Look closely at the lines in this screen grab with the ones in the original archive photo; even though the viewing angles are different, you can still tell that they're the same in both photos by how they're arranged.