articles in the current issue

1. Our "What the Heck Is It?" contest. Here's a new one for you. The last one was somewhat of a challenge. This one may be a little more challenging!

2. Electric Motors of the Steam Whistle Era. This is the final installment of this article that deals with antique electric motors; how they work, why they work, and details operating principles of a number of different types of both DC and AC motors.

3. The Marketplace. What's been happening in the signal device selling community? Intrepid H&W market guruEAF tells you this important information.

4. The Horn Doctor. Here Ken Kanne, our horn editor and resident horn restoration expert shows you how he repairs and restores to better-than-new condition a 5 chime K horn manifold that got broken in service and then fell victim to a well-intentioned but very unusual makeshift repair.

5. Whistle Engineering Questions. Here once again, Peter Ommundsen, who is noted for his very accurate and comprehensive research into all aspects of the steam whistle explores the effects of steam quality, steam slot width vs bell diameter, steam slot width vs sound level, scaling of the bell on a single-bell chime, cut-up vs. blowing pressure, and mouth arc vs. gas (steam) flow. His informnation is invaluable for those of you who either build or are contemplating building a steam whistle. Save yourself needless hours of trial and error, get the important information right here.

6. British Fog Signal Research in 1871. This is a fascinating account of the latest research on audible fog signals in the latter part of the nineteenth century. It is also an interesting look at a typical European scholarly research paper. All original spellings and language have been retained. Although the mighty diaphone foghorn was still in the future, there were already fairly powerful steam and air powered audible signals available to protect mariners by 1871.

7. Recording Horns & Whistles Successfully. [Second of three parts.] There's more to getting a really great sounding audio recording of our treasures and our events than you might realize. These loud signals present a real challenge, but if you know the tricks and have the right setup, you can indeed create masterful recordings that will make listeners think they are right there in the midst of the action. This three part article explores this subject and presents several unique aspects for doing this correctly. There's a lot more to it than just plugging a microphone into an inexpensive hand-held recorder.

8. The Incredible Steam Engines at the Colonel Ward Pumping Station. The major part of this article will be in the next issue, but here's a sneak preview of one of the USA's most impressive engine rooms. From bottom of the pump to the top of the steam cylinders it is 7 stories. Flywheels are 20 feet in diameter. For those who love the steam engine, (and just about all of us horn and whistle people do!) it doesn't get much better than this.

9. Exclusive to the on-line E-zine version, Harry Barry's latest, and also a look at special wood wrenches he developed for holding threaded close pipe nipples during disassembly from whistles and whistle valves. Don't use a pipe wrench for this task, use Harry's idea instead! Also, we have a picture tour through a large utility power station. See the incredible technology on the other side of your wall sockets as we look around a little in a large fossil-fuel power station. To see these two additional articles and a few other points of interest, get H&W on-line instead of paper.

And there's more..... So check us out! A subscription to this quarterly journal is only $25.00* per year. In addition to articles about signal devices, we also feature visits to interesting steam plants and other industrial facilities. Related technologies to the horn and whistle field as well as railroading and marine applications also appear frequently in our pages.