Drawings of GWR Whistles, relief valves etc.

[dinmoremanor]

The deeper tone whistle was commonly used to ask for a bit of braking effort from the gaurd as far as I am aware. It has often been referred to me as the 'brake whistle'

[taff]

Hello dinmoremanor,
You are quite right, the large whistle was often referred to as the brake whistle and may on occassion have been used to signal to a Guard to apply more brake, but the main reason it was called the "brake whistle" is because up untill about 1908 the train communication cord was connected to the whislte via a long cord (cable) which was set outside each coach just above door level and which when pulled sounded the whistle to attract the drivers attention. This was before valves were fitted to the end of each coach which allowed air into the vacuum brake system to apply the brake. In old photographs the cord and the stanchions on the tenders can often be seen and indeed the early "Churchward" loco's were so fitted.

Taff.

[peterseager]

Thanks for that info. It means we should try to emulate the smaller, higher frequency, whistle for general use on our models, which has got to be helpful.

Peter