The compressor is a 375 CFM 125 PSI rental. This was our second
trip into the New River Gorge to blow whistles and I don't think
anyone was disappointed.
Man, what a weekend, of sounds that I never thought I'd hear, let
alone comprehending hearing in my ENTIRE life-span.. It was really
that spectacular! To start off the weather was A+ ... Better than
the forcasters said actually, we had highs of about the mid 60's
and lows in the 30's.. IDEAL for recording! And not a spot of rain
until Sunday night, which we were already done by then but, none
the less a fantastic weekend weather wise.
Jim Smith and I met
up in St. Albans at around 8:15 at Tim Hortons for Coffe and
Doughnuts, and did a brief tour of the C&O main-line for Jim.
Catching our Q-303 with an HLCX motor with a FANTASTIC RS3-L
blasting away westbound (No recording sadly, the recorder was
packed away). We got on the road at around 8:30 to keep about a
half an hour ahead of the New River Train, making sure we beat it
to the New River Gorge, or Hawks Nest....
Arriving at Hawks nest at
around 10:15 or so, with a few others already there, we barely got
time to set up the horns before low-and-behold came three Amtrak
P-42's across the bridge.. Jim Smith had his AMTK P-5A dualing the
P-42's K5LA, and yes the crew did get a kick out of us, as well as
responding somewhat.
Such faces seen this year
at Hawks Nest were Jim Smith, Larry Krailik, Ernie and Tommy Clay,
Matt Shawver, Scott Greathouse(C&OK42705), Jamason Conn (C&O1600),
and My father and myself.
Throughout the day we did all sorts of test, rings of tests, and
then just blast-off's of multiple whistles and horns, including
such whistles and horns as these. (Horns first then whistles per
person)
Jim Smith - P-5A, M-3R1, M-5R24, PRR 3-chime, Nathan 6-chime.
Larry Krailik - 1953 S3-L (AKA the mouse launcher!!), Nathan
Single Chime M-1, CNR 5-chime, And his Naval Siren (GOSH THAT WAS
FUN!!!).
Matt Shawver - (No horns) Custom 6-chime replica (NYC), B&O 3
chime, C&O 3 chime, C&O hooter "1488", and his NYC 5-chime.
Scott Greathouse - (No horns) Custom hooter-whistle (PRR Banshee),
and a Custom 3-chime whistle (SOU).
Jamason Conn - (No horns) Custom 6-chime whistle (NYC), Custom
3-chime whistle (SOU).
Ernie and Tommy Clay - (No horns) CN 5-chime, C&O Hooter-whistle,
C&O 6-chime, B&O Side-mount 3-chime, 3-chime ships whistle, And
quite a few others that I don't remember (maybe 2-3 more than I
mentioned)
And myself - Prime 920, Leslie RS3-L, and two Leslie Experiments,
Leslie RS5-T, and a Leslie RSL-4T (Both with decent results).
All in all guys, it was a fantastic weekend, and I hope I can
schedule another one for next year and get more hotel rooms
available to everyone, as fall colors season was "Slim-pickens"
for hotel rooms, sorry everyone!
Mike Mullins
St. Albans WV
