articles in the current issue

1. Our "What the Heck Is It?" contest. Here's a new one for you. The last one was somewhat of a challenge. This one may be a little more challenging!

2. Nomina Anatomica Fistularia. Here's an interesting look at whistle parts terminolgy over the years. Peter Ommundsen gives you a detailed look at how the part names for steam whistles changed over the entire steam whistle era, beginning with the Latin title which means, if I remember my high school Latin well enough, "part names of whistles."

3. The Marketplace: Fishing, Searching and Buffing. These three unrelated terms are all excellently explained. Watch out for the dangers of phishing, one of the Internet's worst scams. Then find out how to refine your eBay searches so you find the items you want without wasting time looking at [to us horn and whistle folks] worthless items; and finally find out where to get the best polishing and buffing items to make your brass treasures really shine.

4. Restoring a Ship's Whistle Pull. Master restorer Gareth McNabb shows you how he restored a nice whistle pull, a device found on steam ships for operating and controlling the ship's steam whistle. When his work is complete, the device is not only functional but really beautiful to see as well.

5. The Youngstown, Ohio Toot. Harry Barry, H&W Editor-in-chief takes you to one of the Horn and Whistle community's annual events. Where else but at a Horn and Whistle event can you get to make as much noise as possible, and the louder it is, the more we like it!

6. The Horn Doctor. Adjustable Cap Nathans. Those horns with adjustable or screw-in back caps can be tweaked to perfection, but there's a lot of artistry and finesse involved in adjusting those back caps. Do it right and the horn becomes a musical instrument as well as a signal device. Do it wrong and you may end up with junk. If you own a Nathan M series horn, or one of the really rare N horns or early Swanson Airchime horns, don't touch that horn until you read this article.

7. The Star Brass Company's 1933 Whistle Catalog. Star Brass was one of the leading makers of steam whistles in the USA. For a fascinating look at their complete whistle and siren line as it was offered in the year 1933, we have reproduced the entire whistle section of their catalog. See what they offered, what the different whistle models looked like and also what they cost in the early thirties. If only we could buy whistles like these at those prices today...

And there's more..... So check us out! A subscription to this quarterly journal is only $18.00* per year. In addition to articles about signal devices, we also feature visits to interesting steam plants and other industrial facilities. Related technologies to the horn and whistle field as well as railroading and marine applications also appear frequently in our pages.