St. Louis area siren enthusiasts: O'Fallon, Mo's new sirens

[FedTB]

For the siren enthusiasts from the St. Louis area, as you know the Page Avenue (Hwy. 364) extension's last phase of construction is coming through O'Fallon and Dardenne Prairie in western St. Charles County. One of O'Fallon's Whelen WPS-3016s is smack dab in the middle of where the new Hwy. 364 is coming through. This is on Hwy. K just south of Highway N. I knew that the siren would soon have to be relocated somewhere close, out of the way of the highway's expansion.

Last week I was on Hwy. K and noticed a brand new Whelen WPS-2909 standing about 250-300 feet south of the 3016. This was a surprise I didn't see coming! I wasn't sure if the city decided to replace the 3016 with a brand new siren instead of relocating it or what. A few days later I did some research on the internet and discovered that the City of O'Fallon is in the process of replacing their older sirens: nine Whelen WPS-3016s and two Whelen WPS-4003s.

The reason for replacing the older sirens? The 3016s were installed between 25 and 30 years ago and the 4003s were installed 18 years ago. A police sergeant with the O'Fallon P.D. who heads the EMA division stated that parts for these sirens will be hard to come by in the next few years, according to Global Technical Systems, Inc., the company who has installed O'Fallon's sirens in the past and continues to maintain them. So he recommended replacement of the sirens and the city agreed. They'll be purchasing three WPS-2909s per year for the next four years, beginning this year.

I know that Whelen no longer manufactures the 3016 but they do still make the 4003. So I'm guessing that the 4003 will be out of production in the next few years? But there are thousands of these sirens out there, and some are fairly new or brand new. So why would parts for these be "hard to come by" in the next few years??? Surely Whelen would continue to manufacture parts for the 4003 for the next several years. I'm just wondering if Global fed the city some "misinformation" in order to make money.

The City of Wentzville (west of O'Fallon, for those not from St. Louis) also has six 3016s, so I'm guessing that they'll be replacing theirs soon as well.

[FedTB]

On my way home from work this morning, as I drove north on Hwy. K, I noticed that half of the wooden pole that the 3016 mentioned in the above post was still standing but broken in half. There are two control boxes on the pole, and they're still attached. But the horn/rotator assembly and the conduit leading up to the horn are laying crumpled on the ground below, all bent up. I would've thought that the city would want to keep this equipment in good shape for parts for the other 3016s that aren't being replaced yet, but I guess that wasn't part of the plan.

Wentzville is replacing one of their 3016s, located on Wentzville Parkway at Cox Drive, with a Whelen WPS-2909, and relocating it across the street next to the Wentzville Police Department building. This will leave them with five 3016s, three Whelen WPS-2809s and one Whelen 2909.

[Cadets+]

On my way home from work this morning, as I drove north on Hwy. K, I noticed that half of the wooden pole that the 3016 mentioned in the above post was still standing but broken in half. There are two control boxes on the pole, and they're still attached. But the horn/rotator assembly and the conduit leading up to the horn are laying crumpled on the ground below, all bent up. I would've thought that the city would want to keep this equipment in good shape for parts for the other 3016s that aren't being replaced yet, but I guess that wasn't part of the plan.

Your description of the pole, reminded me of this Modulator after the Moore, Oklahoma tornado. Of course, with less debris around it.. It's so sad to look at. But it comes with a happy story!!

"From the Director of Emergency Management for the City of Moore, Oklahoma -- had a couple of ladies come up to us while we were there, crying, etc. When they found out who we were, they gave us big hugs and stated that the siren saved their husband’s life…one husband heard the siren, went across got the other one and then got into shelter."

[FedTB]

Neat picture! Thanks for sharing! There was a T-Bolt 1000T in Bridgeton, a suburb of St. Louis, that looked similar to this after the EF-4 "Good Friday Tornado" on April 22, 2011.

The other two brand new Whelen WPS-2909s installed in the last day or so in O'Fallon are on Bryan Road just south of Mexico Road, and in front of Fort Zumwalt North Middle School on East Terra Lane, which can be seen from I-70. It's nice to see the 3016s gone from those locations.

[Cadets+]

Thank you! Are these one of the Thunderbolt's in the pictures? I'd just thought I'd throw in the 2001-SRN, it's kind of scary what these storms can do, just looking a the backgrounds. The worse I've ever been in is a few warnings, and a small one this summer at Blackdown Cadet Summer Training Center.

[CrazyCalvinWilliams]

Ouch! I can't believe that all those sirens were taken down by the storm.

That t-bolt in the second photo, third panel, looks like the one that ACAPenetrator50 took a video of Nov. 17, 2012!
http://youtu.be/DkCETm54Ya0

[Cadets+]

The Modulator is in Moore OK, and the second is in Joplin MO, I don't know where the rest are, I know the Whelen's pole got hit by a drunk driver, the 2t22 in another storm, bother Thunderbolts, a storm, STL-10 a storm, but I don't know the SD-10....

And the T-bolt does look like ACAPenetrator50 took!

[JMAN]

Thank you! Are these one of the Thunderbolt's in the pictures? I'd just thought I'd throw in the 2001-SRN, it's kind of scary what these storms can do, just looking a the backgrounds. The worse I've ever been in is a few warnings, and a small one this summer at Blackdown Cadet Summer Training Center.

By the way, that is a 2001-130 (SRNC) from Joplin Mo. It replaced a RSH-10. I saw it in a before-after video on YT. Before was the RSH-10 on Streetview, after, a crumpled up 2001130.

[Cadets+]

I'm guessing the RSH-10 is now in shreds, or even melted down? Or did someone save it

[DJ2226]

Last week I was on Hwy. K and noticed a brand new Whelen WPS-2909 standing about 250-300 feet south of the 3016. This was a surprise I didn't see coming! I wasn't sure if the city decided to replace the 3016 with a brand new siren instead of relocating it or what. A few days later I did some research on the internet and discovered that the City of O'Fallon is in the process of replacing their older sirens: nine Whelen WPS-3016s and two Whelen WPS-4003s.

The reason for replacing the older sirens? The 3016s were installed between 25 and 30 years ago and the 4003s were installed 18 years ago. A police sergeant with the O'Fallon P.D. who heads the EMA division stated that parts for these sirens will be hard to come by in the next few years, according to Global Technical Systems, Inc., the company who has installed O'Fallon's sirens in the past and continues to maintain them. So he recommended replacement of the sirens and the city agreed. They'll be purchasing three WPS-2909s per year for the next four years, beginning this year.

I know that Whelen no longer manufactures the 3016 but they do still make the 4003. So I'm guessing that the 4003 will be out of production in the next few years? But there are thousands of these sirens out there, and some are fairly new or brand new. So why would parts for these be "hard to come by" in the next few years??? Surely Whelen would continue to manufacture parts for the 4003 for the next several years. I'm just wondering if Global fed the city some "misinformation" in order to make money.

The City of Wentzville (west of O'Fallon, for those not from St. Louis) also has six 3016s, so I'm guessing that they'll be replacing theirs soon as well.

Can anyone save the old sirens? I'd hate it if they destroy them without giving them a chance of having a second life (give them to a city that needs them or sell them to us... well not me, I live way too far away).