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I asked the same question of a Q/BN B&B Foreman @ Galesburg years ago & later had it confirmed by a Pile Driver crew in SoDak on the C&NW when I was a C&NW Safety Mgr. There were times, given the weight of a full tender (water/coal) that they would venture out on to a recently repaired trestle (or one needing just a bit of 'driving') sans tender so as to minimize the gross weight. The pile drivers could carry enough fuel/water to maintain operation for a short period of time w/o the tender. Ones I was most familiar with were all Alcos. There whistles, whether a Q, C&NW or IC pile driver (the 3 RR's whose piledrivers I got up close with & spoke with crews) had the same steam whistles as normal Alco locos and thus looked & sounded alike. The IC crew told me whenever they had to leave their pile driver unattended, they would detach the whistle and lock inside the tool/crew boxcar to keep railfans from stealing as these were undoubtedly the last steam loco whistles still in use by Class I RR's well after steam had been ret'd (except of course piledrivers and some cranes) Gerald __._,_.___ Posted by: gvlc6@hotmail.com __,_._,___ |