Hello,
I can't remember any of the capital area Thunderbolts being replaced by Allertors, however it may have happened with a couple of them. I was told that when sirens were removed in the early '90s, that was it and none were to be replaced.
I can remember seeing thunderbolts as recent as the early nineties....in towns such as Rockville and Damascus, MD (both in Montgomery County outside DC).
There was also an Allertor in Damascus, Next to the school. I remember driving through other communities in Montgomery County (not sure which ones they were), and just about every one had a T-bolt on the roof of the city hall.
The Allertors were mostly in Virginia, specifically in Loudoun county.
Several of the Fire stations had allertors on poles next to them up until the year 2000 (and they're probably still there)
Arcola/pleasant valley
Lucketts
Lovettsville
Philomont
Neersville
Usually they either have the service wires cut, or the disconnect shut off.
More photos can be seen at:
http://www.loudoun.gov/fire/companies/index.htm
Prince George's county, MD:
I know of one Allertor in Maryland that was part of the system. It is/was behind Allentown Road/Silesia fire station 47 in Prince George's county.
Also, a Thunderbolt still exists at Accokeek VFD Sta. #24 (it's a 1003).
http://www.avfd24.com/index.php
There are also a FS model 5 and a Sterling M10 behind the station on a tower. Not sure if you will find pictures of the Thunderbolt on the website.
A former Thunderbolt location:
On one of my busy days on Squad 27 (
www.morningsidevfd.com),
We stopped at a county fuel site behind an old school just off of Rt. 4 in the Forestville/District Heights area. There was kind of a bus circle/grass mound with a utility pole in the center that had a pole-mounted platform and 3" standpipe running up the pole.....the siren had been removed some time ago.
You can still find 3T22's on poles at the following stations in PG county:
(these are the ones I know of)
Clinton #25, West Lanham #28, Allentown Road #32, Baden #36, Brandywine #40, Bowie/Mitchelville #43, Marlboro/Croom #45
You can see Brandywine's 3T22 in a station photo at the bottom of this page:
http://www.brandywinevfd.com/AMBULANCE.html
West Lanham Hills has a video with the 3T22 sounding titled "That's the way we roll", available here:
http://www.wlhvfd.com/
Other areas near Washington, DC that have sirens (most cold war-related)
University of Maryland, College Park (Main campus in College Park/PG county), Fed Sig 2001's
Andrews Air force Base (PG county), at least (1) Fed Sig Modulator
These are all close to Fort Ritchie and Site R
Mount Aetna VFD station 16 (Washington County), 3T22 on the roof, you can almost reach up and touch it.
Emittsburg, MD....Vigilant hose Co. Fire station 6 (Frederick County) 3T22 on roof (it was still there last time I saw it....also someone said they have electronic sirens there now)
Thurmont, MD Guardian hose co. fire station 10 (Frederick County) 3T22 and either a model 2 or 3 mounted on a pole behind the station.
Harpers Ferry, West Va. 3T22 on pole behind station. I was hiking on the appalachian trail in my younger days when it sounded for about 10 cycles....I thought that was surely the end.
Hagerstown, MD (Washington County) Used to have 3 thunderbolt 1000's....One on the roof of city hall, one at the Fairgrounds, and one on the roof of the Harvest Baptist Church (formerly Woodland Way School)
As far as I know, the only siren that still exists is the one at city hall.
You can learn more about DC area cold war-era activities by doing a search on Raven Rock Mountain or Nike missile bases in Maryland.
Ben Shinn