Belle of Louisville whistle

Thank you, Tom, for your kind words about the program at the museum in 2005 to dedicate the Capt. C.W. Stoll Memorial Bookcase and exhibit. Yes, Capt. Kevin Mullen and I "cooked up" that the BELLE would pause in front of the mansion and blow a final whistle salute to C.W. Almost as if on cue, it came just as Capt. Bill and Becky Ray finished singing "Old Time River Man" by Capt. John Hartford. It certainly was a poignant moment that brought forth both goosebumps and tears to many of those in attendance. Thank you again for being there and for recording that special event with so many of your great photos!

I know exactly what you mean, Tom - I was there also. While I usually don't consider the sound of the BELLE'S whistle mournful, it certainly was that day. It was unbelievable how it came at exactly the right moment - jus at the end of the program, while everyone was kind of catching their breath from the emotion of the presentation, and before we stampeded for Judy's cookies! I didn't know you'd gotten a picture of the BELLE that day - would sure love to see it - would you bring it to the next Howard event if possible?

Once again, the "little hole at the low point" trick comes into play! My old boat, the Mikahala, had the valve near the boiler, and the whistle on the stack. Because the boiler was so efficient, stack temp. was never very high, so the use of a weep hole at the bottom of the line helped out a lot. Sometimes the whistle line is routed inside the stack to keep it warm.
S'
David D.

Unfortunately, I can't find my copy of Frank Teuton's (sp?) book, "Steamboats on the Upper Tennessee River." For some reason I believe that I read in it that the IDLEWILD, AVALON, BELLE of LOUISVILLE's whistle was cobbled out of the whistles of three different boats, and that he gave the names of those boats. Maybe some one has a copy of this book and can find out if my memory is serving me, or if it's playing tricks on me once again.

Never-the-less, when I was on the DQ, the steam pipe was smaller than the inlet and you could blow hair off people's heads with that whistle. Our whistle on the Graceful Ghost also has a smaller pipe than inlet. We never open the valve all the way as the whistle will overblow. But then the slits from which steam escapes are very narrow. This does not diminish the volume of the whistle.

A whistle can be overblown on an undersized line for the following reasons:

1) It was designed for operation at a lower pressure than the available operating pressure. Fat whistles of large scale will blow the loudest without overblowing, but can be overblown if the operating pressure exceeds the design pressure. The operating pressure is dependent on a number of factors, including the scale, the cutup (the distance between the bell and the bowl) and the width of the slit admitting steam to the bell.

Whistles reach their full output when the radiating mouth area is equal to the cross sectional area of the bell itself. Any further increase in mouth area beyond this point only makes the whistle require higher pressure and steam consumption to achieve this output.

The operating pressure of a whistle quadruples for every halving of the slit width, provided that the inlet area exceeds the slit area. Widening the slit allows the whistle to achieve its full output at a greatly reduced pressure, as doubling the slit width allows the same flow rate at a mere 1/4 the pressure. In this case there is no loss of output at the reduced pressure, as full flow is maintained. This is one method of making whistles more efficient, as they require only a fraction of the power to produce the same amount of sound.

There is another method, which I will not get into now, that permits full output of a whistle at a fraction of the flow rate for even further increases in efficiency to make them competitive with air horns in terms of power used vs acoustical power output. Of course they still look and sound like whistles and not air horns. Air horn manufacturers could use some healthy competition these days from a competitor they never expected-the steam whistle!

If a whistle is aleady blowing very loud at a relatively low pressure and overblows at a high pressure, you can remedy the problem by installing a ball valve in the line directly before the whistle valve and setting it for maximum output prior to overblowing. The ball valve simply acts as a flow restrictor.

2) The whistle is of too small a scale (working length to diameter ratio). Skinny whistles of small scale can be easily overblown at high pressures. Operating pressure is related to the square of the change in scale (if the scale is halved, the operating pressure prior to overblowing drops to 1/4). The output prior to overblowing in this case is also 12 dB less.

3) The bell is set too low over the bowl. The operating pressure of a whistle is related to the sqaure of the change in cutup height (if the cutup height is halved, the operating pressure prior to overblowing drops to 1/4). The output prior to overblowing in this case is also 12 dB less.

Lexie Palmore;6768 wrote: Never-the-less, when I was on the DQ, the steam pipe was smaller than the inlet and you could blow hair off people's heads with that whistle. Our whistle on the Graceful Ghost also has a smaller pipe than inlet. We never open the valve all the way as the whistle will overblow. But then the slits from which steam escapes are very narrow. This does not diminish the volume of the whistle.

Frank: I dug out my copy of Frank Teuton's "Steamboats on the Upper Tennessee" (published in 1983) book last night. There are photos of several whistles, of which the Belle's is one, and Mr. Teuton mentions an incident of the IDLEWILD not responding to a passing signal from a towboat. Unless I overlooked it, I could find no mention of the whistle being put together from other whistles. I also checked Teuton's earlier book, "Steamboat Days on the Tennessee River", published in 1967, and couldn't find anything in there either.

Keith,

From the July 16, 1961 issue of the Davenport Sunday Times Democrat, in an article entitled "Steamboat 'Round the Bend," the writer quotes Capt. Ernie Wagner, speaking of the AVALON's whistle: "It's really a combination of whistles, made from three boats. One whistle came from the old PRINCESS. Another is off the AMERICA. The last one is from a boat that ran around Pittsburgh at the turn of the century. No one can remember 'er name."

And from Virginia Eifert's book "Delta Queen" copyright 1960, page 27: "The excursion steamer AVALON, still actively operating out of Cincinnati, possesses a three-way whistle, put together from a trio of lost boats. The basso pipe came from a vessel which worked out of Pittsburgh soon after the beginning of the twentieth century. The baritone whistle came from the excursion steamer AMERICA; the soprano pipe from the excursion steamer PRINCESS."

Now whether Mrs. Eifert got her information from Capt. Wagner about the AVALON's whistle in her book, or whether Capt. Ernie got his information from elsewhere, I don't know. But these two accounts seem to agree. HOWEVER, if Capt. Fred Way says her saw and heard her go downriver at Sewickley on her delivery trip with the SAME WHISTLE she carried as the AVALON and BELLE, that's good enough for me. One of the problems with the story recounted in the two articles cited here is that the AMERICA ran up until 1932! This was one of the fascinating little details I dealt with last year at the Howard program on the boat.

Don't mess with that whistle! 'Nuff said!

Thanks, Dave. You're right, "'Nuff said!" Although I am glad that I didn't dream that stuff up 'bout the whistle's origins.

We have always thought that our whistle would do well at lower pressures, for which it must have been intended. But, because of its age and our lack of expertise, we do not mess with it any more than is necessary. When we got it , the whistles were very close together, so we spaced them wider apart and that helped a lot.

Richard, Thanks for that diagram! I never thought of building the bowl like that. I would assume the plate could be made of thicker material, turned down so the center could support the bell rod. Why is the plate edge tapered, wouldn't that caust the steam jet to blow outward?
S'
David D.
PS sorry for changing the subject a bit!

It really won't blow outward as long as the languid plate is flush with the bowl as shown. The bevel is there only to improve the air or steam flow. In many whistles, the languid plate is supported from a central pipe with holes in the side. In this case the total area of the holes must equal the inlet area or it will choke the flow and require a higher operating to overcome it. The bell is then supported from a rod directly above the plate.

David Dewey;6791 wrote: Richard, Thanks for that diagram! I never thought of building the bowl like that. I would assume the plate could be made of thicker material, turned down so the center could support the bell rod. Why is the plate edge tapered, wouldn't that caust the steam jet to blow outward?
S'
David D.
PS sorry for changing the subject a bit!

Richard,
Exactly, that's why I really appreciated your drawing, as I hadn't thought of supporting the languid plate with spacers and screws--it greatly simplifies machining the bowl and plate support--and since I dream of building a calliope, that's critical!
My question on the plate was perhaps poorly worded--what I am visioning is making the plate from thicker material, turning it to the proper thickness except for the center area, so it can provide a more substantial support for the bell rod, threaded into it at the center. The three or four support spacers and screws should provide plenty of strength to support the bell.
Oh boy, now to find some scrap material. . . .
S'
David D.

Thanks Dave! Like you, since Fred Way said he heard that whistle on the brand new IDLEWILD in 1915, then that's the gospel and I'm sticking with it! The whistle was featured on the Whistle Echoes #2 recording, made in 1965, upon which Capt. Fred and J. Mack Gamble discuss the authoritative tooter!

I think Captain Ernie was pulling some reporter's leg. Those three whistles are made exactly alike in every detail. The excursion Str. America burned on September 8, 1930. Cooley's America sank August 13, 1926, at New Orleans. The Princess burned in January, 1928. The Coney Island's Princess was crushed in January, 1918. Fred Way stated the Idlewild had this whistle when new in 1915. The whistle was probably new and more than likely made in one place at one time.

Whistle Heaven

Best place I heard that whistle blow was leaving the old cobblestoned Cincinnati Landing... or was it with Captain Red Schletker on a dark night at Tobacco Patch Bend; or coming into Pittsburgh after a Moonlight ride; or rounding the turn into the Upper at Cairo Point; or St. Louis before the Arch; or Peoria, Beardstown, or begging for a bridge above Joliet on the Illinois; or Lacrosse; or Hudson and Stillwater on the St. Croix; St. Paul; waking babies on the Alton landing; or blowing passing signals for the LEWIS, CLARK, and the MITCHELL on the Missouri; or at New Madrid where cotton was still picked by hand in the fields behind the levee; or passing the Str. MISSISSIPPI on the backside of President's Island at Memphis; or saluting the PELICAN hauling a load of rail cars at Helena; or entering Lake Ferguson at Greenville; or in sight of the Old Courthouse at Vicksburg; or rounding-to below the Natchez bluffs; or backing down at Port Allen and Baton Rogue...?

Naw. My favorite place I recollect those warbling notes of that golden whistle was steaming through the harbor in New Orleans and every steam whistle (and there were still lots of them) blew the AVALON a traditional New Orleans Harbor Salute. That was whistle heaven!

Capt. Alan,

I couldn't agree with you more. I almost posted a diatribe about exactly what you stated in exactly the right amount of words!

~Travis~