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The Lost Sirens of Tucson!

Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 12:02 am
by tachi88
Today I have started hunting for the remaining sirens in the Tucson metro area. I didn't know where to start, so I vistited the SD10 on Grant and Wilmot.

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Note the siren's CD paint had been stripped to the primer coat, only a small spot of the original yellow remains. Probably from the intense sun and sandstorms.
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Up close.
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Control box
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I know Davis Monthan Air Force base has a few Whelen's but base security wasn't too keen on me taking photos of the base (eventhough I wasn't even on base) so the pics I did get were very crappy and not worth posting.

I am searching out the best places where a siren could still be standing (Right now I am focusing on Parks and Schools) If I happen to come across anymore I'll be sure to post them here.

If you happen to know where some others may be please let me know so I can set out to find them.

Rumor has it that there are several T-bolts still standing in the downtown area. I haven't found them yet, but if there out there I will find them!

-Dan

Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 12:56 am
by r4tbolts
Look at the roof tops downtown.. Back in the day in most larger cities had roof mounts for sirens in the downtown areas. I'd pay the most attention to the 3 to 5 story buildings. Nice pics BTW.

Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 4:16 pm
by ginbot86
Look at the control box. You can see "Bell System" written on it. I think it's a phone relay.

Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2009 4:49 am
by thunderbolt69
By looking at the siren it appears to be a 1st generation SD-10

Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 12:06 am
by tachi88
Spent almost a full day hunting in the downtown district, and luckily didn't come home empty handed.

Found this one on sixth and 28th.

I have no idea what type of siren this is.

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Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 12:26 am
by dilloncarpenter
That would be a Darley Champion (?) Nice find, you don't see many of those. Notice the smaller thing inside the tower that the Darley is on! Looks like one of those old GE sirens or something with the conical rotor/stator.

Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 2:18 am
by Thunderboltlover
Great pictures!

Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 5:43 am
by Daniel
That Darley probably has a 12 port Model 5 inside, but the small siren underneath is more interesting to me. It seems like a cross between that US Navy siren with the conical rotor in the famous Pearl Harbor photo and the small "paint can" sirens I find throughout Oregon, including my "John Day Fire Siren" Youtube video. Perhaps they all came from the same manufacturer.

Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2010 6:53 am
by tachi88
Daniel wrote:That Darley probably has a 12 port Model 5 inside, but the small siren underneath is more interesting to me. It seems like a cross between that US Navy siren with the conical rotor in the famous Pearl Harbor photo and the small "paint can" sirens I find throughout Oregon, including my "John Day Fire Siren" Youtube video. Perhaps they all came from the same manufacturer.
I can probably head back down there tomorrow and get some shots of the other one.

To be honest I thought it was some random piece of junk hanging off the bottom.

Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2010 11:59 pm
by tachi88
Went to the siren Grave yard today. Looks like someone picked it clean of Thunderbolts and Thunderbolt parts, I am actually pretty glad I was able to pick one up before it was too late.

There were 4 t-bolt 1000's (possibly more) and I am guessing about 10 maybe 11 SD-10's. Lumpysnake and I are the only ones I know that took a T-bolt.
Pretty much all that remains are the SD-10's, here is some pictures.


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SD-10 Control Box
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