gold-n-rod
06-07-2006, 06:31 PM
The following article comes from the 6/5/06 Detroit Auto Scene newspaper and is copied below in its entirety:
CHRYSLER RESTORES VINTAGE DEFENSE TOOL
AIR RAID SIREN AN EARFUL
By Kyle Lohmeier Staff Reporter
Traditionally, the deep, throaty sound of a Hemi-powered machine often triggers images of powerful hot rods cruising down Woodward Avenue.
On May 26, however, the city of Trenton was treated to an entirely different interpretation of the fierce Hemi sound – a fully-restored 1956 Chrysler Air Raid Siren, powered by the famous engine.
The siren was purchased by the city in 1958 and mounted atop a 90-foot pole in preparation to warn residents of everything from a quick heat up during the Cold War to severe weather. The siren was supplanted with a radio-controlled version in the late ‘70s but remained atop its pole until 2002, when the Walter P. Chrysler Museum acquired it from the Trenton Fire Department.
“The restoration was done by the Chrysler Group’s archive and vehicle collection staff,” said Pat Adanti-Joy, museum spokeswoman.
After enduring nearly 50 years of exposure to the elements, the siren didn’t look quite as good as it did when it was first hoisted atop the pole.
“It was in really rough shape. Obviously it was hugely dingy, it was very weather worn, a lot of it had deteriorated,” Adanti-Joy said, adding that the archive and collection team, along with some volunteers, worked hard to restore the siren. “They worked diligently – pulled the entire piece apart.”
That was no small task either, according to Adanti-Joy, since the unit is more than 11 feet long, 4 feet wide and 5 feet tall. The siren weighs in at a hefty 5,000 pounds. After clearing out more than four decades worth of dust, dirt, plant matter and assorted animal debris, the team managed to return the old, neglected 180-hp industrial Hemi V8 to life.
“We idled it today, so it actually runs. We gave it a little gas, it was very cool,” Adanti-Joy said. “It does work.”
Apparently, it works quite well. At low RPMs the siren generated sufficient racket to require onlookers to don ear protection. The Hemi engine drives a powerful, three-stage compressor that blows more than 2,500 cubic feet of air per minute at roughly seven pounds per square inch of pressure. The air exits the six horns at more than 400 miles per hour. When really revved up, the siren is capable of generating an eardrum-splitting 170-decibel peal that still registers 138 dBA 100 feet away. Standing the same distance from a jet aircraft while it is taking off, its engines working as hard as they can, would subject the listener to 120 dBA of noise.
At the time of its creation, Chrysler’s Industrial Division sirens generated the loudest continuous noise ever created by mechanical means, a title that may well stand to this day.
“The concern is where do you take it to ever really run it?” Adanti-Joy said. “It was designed in World War II to deafen or at least really scare the enemy. The literature at that time promises definite hearing loss if you’re too close to it with unprotected ears.”
As a civil defense/tornado siren, the unit was a natural fit for cities all across the nation as it was completely self-contained and didn’t need to rely on any public utilities that might be cut off during an attack or weather event; plus, it could be heard several miles away. They were first installed in New York City in 1942. Several cities installed multiple sirens to blanket their citizenry with warning sounds if need be, including Detroit, Seattle, Chicago, Los Angeles and Miami.
Though no longer needed to warn the citizenry, Trenton’s old Chrysler siren will serve to educate visitors at the Chrysler museum, where it will join the museum’s permanent collection.
“It’s been restored and ultimately it’s scheduled to go on exhibit at the Walter P. Chrysler Museum. We have a tank engine and aircraft engine on exhibit, so it’ll be joining those pieces,” Adanti-Joy said, adding that the siren may have been retired, but it has not necessarily been silenced just yet.
“The manager of the vehicle collection is always looking for that opportunity [to test the siren at full power],” she added. “It’s definitely something that will happen.”
Photo here: http://www.detroitautoscene.com/photo6page.html
CHRYSLER RESTORES VINTAGE DEFENSE TOOL
AIR RAID SIREN AN EARFUL
By Kyle Lohmeier Staff Reporter
Traditionally, the deep, throaty sound of a Hemi-powered machine often triggers images of powerful hot rods cruising down Woodward Avenue.
On May 26, however, the city of Trenton was treated to an entirely different interpretation of the fierce Hemi sound – a fully-restored 1956 Chrysler Air Raid Siren, powered by the famous engine.
The siren was purchased by the city in 1958 and mounted atop a 90-foot pole in preparation to warn residents of everything from a quick heat up during the Cold War to severe weather. The siren was supplanted with a radio-controlled version in the late ‘70s but remained atop its pole until 2002, when the Walter P. Chrysler Museum acquired it from the Trenton Fire Department.
“The restoration was done by the Chrysler Group’s archive and vehicle collection staff,” said Pat Adanti-Joy, museum spokeswoman.
After enduring nearly 50 years of exposure to the elements, the siren didn’t look quite as good as it did when it was first hoisted atop the pole.
“It was in really rough shape. Obviously it was hugely dingy, it was very weather worn, a lot of it had deteriorated,” Adanti-Joy said, adding that the archive and collection team, along with some volunteers, worked hard to restore the siren. “They worked diligently – pulled the entire piece apart.”
That was no small task either, according to Adanti-Joy, since the unit is more than 11 feet long, 4 feet wide and 5 feet tall. The siren weighs in at a hefty 5,000 pounds. After clearing out more than four decades worth of dust, dirt, plant matter and assorted animal debris, the team managed to return the old, neglected 180-hp industrial Hemi V8 to life.
“We idled it today, so it actually runs. We gave it a little gas, it was very cool,” Adanti-Joy said. “It does work.”
Apparently, it works quite well. At low RPMs the siren generated sufficient racket to require onlookers to don ear protection. The Hemi engine drives a powerful, three-stage compressor that blows more than 2,500 cubic feet of air per minute at roughly seven pounds per square inch of pressure. The air exits the six horns at more than 400 miles per hour. When really revved up, the siren is capable of generating an eardrum-splitting 170-decibel peal that still registers 138 dBA 100 feet away. Standing the same distance from a jet aircraft while it is taking off, its engines working as hard as they can, would subject the listener to 120 dBA of noise.
At the time of its creation, Chrysler’s Industrial Division sirens generated the loudest continuous noise ever created by mechanical means, a title that may well stand to this day.
“The concern is where do you take it to ever really run it?” Adanti-Joy said. “It was designed in World War II to deafen or at least really scare the enemy. The literature at that time promises definite hearing loss if you’re too close to it with unprotected ears.”
As a civil defense/tornado siren, the unit was a natural fit for cities all across the nation as it was completely self-contained and didn’t need to rely on any public utilities that might be cut off during an attack or weather event; plus, it could be heard several miles away. They were first installed in New York City in 1942. Several cities installed multiple sirens to blanket their citizenry with warning sounds if need be, including Detroit, Seattle, Chicago, Los Angeles and Miami.
Though no longer needed to warn the citizenry, Trenton’s old Chrysler siren will serve to educate visitors at the Chrysler museum, where it will join the museum’s permanent collection.
“It’s been restored and ultimately it’s scheduled to go on exhibit at the Walter P. Chrysler Museum. We have a tank engine and aircraft engine on exhibit, so it’ll be joining those pieces,” Adanti-Joy said, adding that the siren may have been retired, but it has not necessarily been silenced just yet.
“The manager of the vehicle collection is always looking for that opportunity [to test the siren at full power],” she added. “It’s definitely something that will happen.”
Photo here: http://www.detroitautoscene.com/photo6page.html