Blair County Siren Trip

[Modulator Master]

Yesterday I went to to Blair County to get these photos so here they are:

First up is Greenwood's STH-10.







Next is Pinecroft's SD-10.





And next we have Tipton's Darley Model 2





And Finally Bellwood's Sentry Siren 5v, 16 port.

[Travis]

That last siren is most likely a skirted 5V with a 16 port rotor on it. It looks a little small to be a skirted 10V.

[The3t22sOfUSA]

At the end of this video you can hear that 16 port 5V operating.

YouTube

I'd love to get my hands on it, but it doesn't need work.

[jerrylovessirens]

Holy shmoke! That 16 gets up and screams!

[cauberallies]

I just went on a siren hunt last week in that exact same direction. I live in Altoona, and I was on my way home from Tyrone, and I took the "scenic route" and checked out some sirens. I was wondering what Tipton's was. I thought it was too big for a model 2.

Also, there is a Model 5/7 on a building about 100 yds from the Sentry in Bellwood. Great pictures, by the way. If you ever come through this area again, I can show you some interesting siren locations. There is one in particular at the Sinking Valley VFD that is still a mystery.

[Modulator Master]

Btw I plan on getting Sinking Valley's in the next 2 weeks when I'm done with my friend move. Btw I'm gonna be retaking some pics from county like Holidaysburg and Martinsburg. Btw any idea what station # Juniata Gap is?

Btw I was in Bellwood last year and I took some pics of the Model 5TT:

[cauberallies]

Btw I plan on getting Sinking Valley's in the next 2 weeks when I'm done with my friend move. Btw I'm gonna be retaking some pics from county like Holidaysburg and Martinsburg. Btw any idea what station # Juniata Gap is?

Btw I was in Bellwood last year and I took some pics of the Model 5TT:

A 5T, eh? Is it still active? I wonder what was on that platform?

I'm not sure of the station number, but Juniata Gap hasn't existed for about a decade now. The building and siren are still there though as far as I know. I can take a drive up that way tomorrow or one of the next few days and check it out if you want me to. Back in 2001, I tried to find out who is responsible for the station so I could ask what they planned on doing with their SD-10, but I couldn't get a straight answer as to who the station belongs to, and who is in charge of what's left, let alone information about the siren. I'm sure it didn't help that I was a 13 year old at the time.

Here in a few weeks, I'm going to try to acquire one of the 4 abandoned former Altoona air raid sirens left on top of buildings. There are two STH-10s, an SD-10, and an STL-10. The one STH-10 and the STL-10 are both situated on buildings in a way that wouldn't necessarily require heavy machinery to dismantle and remove. I shouldn't have too much trouble getting permission. When the system was dismantled about 10 years ago, they removed the sirens on poles first. There was one in particular, an STH-10 in the northernmost corner of the Juniata section of Altoona, that was left standing. The pole was on the property of a business owned by a friend of my dad's. We asked about the siren, and he said that when the city came to take it down, it was too windy to do it safely, so they left it up, and told my dad's friend that he can do what he wants with it. He told my dad and I to help ourselves. But before I could mow enough lawns to afford a crane for a couple hours, the damn thing fell off the pole, and was hauled off and sold for scrap.

I really did get off topic there, didn't I? Well anyway, my friend's dad is the chief of the Sinking Valley VFD, and I'm going to see what I can do about getting him to test the siren so I can make a recording of it. I'm going to be up at their place sometime this week to take care of some problem groundhogs with my friend, so hopefully I'll have a good chance to ask.


Oh, and I found two sirens in Tyrone when I was up there the other day. There is a Model 5/7 next to the football field, and an SD-10 on a building downtown. There may be more, but that's all I was able to find. If you let me know what areas you're planning on covering, I'll make a list of all the sirens/locations that I know of in that area.

[Rheems1]

I am in for a siren test at Sinking Valley!! I could use to photograph their fire trucks as well since I failed the last time I tried to find the firehouse and everyone tells me it is a real b**** to find anyone around Sinking Valley. Juniata Gap was company 11 back in the day, they had white fire trucks which is not a bad color but they had UGLY painted silver wheels which was not very appealing. If you can arrange the siren test and are able to pick a day may I please put in a request for either a Tuesday or Saturday?


Mike Martinelli photograph

[Modulator Master]

Hey Marcus or Dave do you know if Foot of Ten, in Allegheny Twp still has a station? I know they are station 51. And do you know where Keystone Search and Rescue is? As they are known as Station 19. And one more thing do you know if Blue Knob has a Siren? Yes I have their address.

[Rheems1]

Last I knew the Foot of Ten station was closed down, Allegheny Township should just be operating out of the station by the fuel tanks with the SD-10. Blue Knob is one of the departments that is on my list to photograph so I haven't been there, I have seen some pictures of thier firehouse and didn't see a siren anywhere around but that doesn't mean they don't have one as the picture didn't show the whole firehouse. Can't help with the search and rescue team, don't know Blair County well enough to help on that one.

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=fir ... 4,,0,-2.56

Blue Knob's firehouse on Streetview