Twin Cities Sirens

[Melvin Potts]

Yesterday I returned from a trip to the Twin Cities. I was there for a convention, but kept a lookout for sirens as well.

Most of the time I was on a bus going from one event to another, which made getting pictures impossible.

The convention hotel was the Hilton downtown on Marquette Ave.(between 10th & 11th). Several times as the bus was leaving or returning to the hotel I saw Model 2 which appeared to be #12 of the Minneapolis group on Siren Archive. Couldn't say exactly where it was, but I'm sure it's the one I saw.

I also spotted #16 in this same group. It's at Macy's on Nicollet Mall. Wonder how much that mounting affects the siren's coverage? Seems like the building would block a lot of sound.

During the convention I went to a number of venues in areas other than downtown Minneapolis. Listed below are other sirens I spotted during this trip.

Federal 2001 at the Post Office building near entrance to the airport.

Sentry 10v2T in the town of Shoreview. I don't recall name of the road, but am sure it's the main road into town. Saw this one soon after we entered the city limits.

ASC T-128 in Eden Prairie. This one is located near the interstate & Shady Oak Road. As the bus was exiting the highway, I noticed this one across the road..it was painted dark brown!

Tbolts. I noticed one right alongside the interstate, near the Concordia University campus. Evidently this one had received a fresh coat of paint, because it looked almost new. Same for the one atop pressbox at Macalester College stadium in St. Paul.

Anybody on the board familiar with these sirens?

[ACAP10]

The irony...I just got home from the Cities 30 minutes ago! Sad that the first place I come is airraidsirens.com!

I was siren spotting the entire drive up there from Illinois. I noticed that much of the state is Federal country!

There's a Thunderbeam right off of I-694 (I forget which town) but you can't miss it! I also visited North Dakota and on the drive there through Western Minnesota, noticed multiple STH 10's lining the I-94. In addition to the STH 10's, I saw a few 2001's (which I've noticed seem to dot Interstate's more frequently than any other siren), and one T135 not too far from St. Cloud.

Not quite in the cities, Chisago City has a Thunderbolt, a Thunderbeam at Highway 8 and MN 24, and an STH 10 on 24 as well (Definitly a Federal town). There's a 2001 DC (I think-it has the old nozzle with the screen) in Lindstrom, and a Model 5 or 7 in Center City.

Minnesota is a great state for sirens! They are very prepared for tornadoes when they come and during the summer, they come often

[Nelso90]

I don't know if we get a lot of tornadoes, but we sure so set off our sirens a lot!
At least Dakota County does!

[Dieselfan66]

Minnesota is a great state for sirens! They are very prepared for tornadoes when they come and during the summer, they come often

Prepared?!?!? What are you talking about? They are using old technology and poor planning. The housing developments that have sprung up are mostly uncovered, the Federal sirens they have don't have battery backup, and they're Federal Sirens! I'm not trying to bash federal sirens, but by putting a bunch of 2001's or similar everywhere just doesn't do the trick like it did in the 1950's.

There is flash flooding, chemical warnings, school shooters, winter weather warnings, and post-disaster scenarios that, well I'm sorry, but the federal 2001 doesn't do that good of a job to warn the public of. There's more to a siren system than warning of tornados. Anyone can see weather rolling in, and it's great if a city installs a siren for this, but in metro areas there are more things going on than just tornados! I'd say put up a Modulator, but the 2910's just blow them away! That's what these metro areas should have! Look at Oklahoma City!

[tinyshoes]

in the spirit of the thread's topic, here's a favorite Minneapolis siren:



Located right on Washington Ave, there's a Federal 2000 directly across from some swank condos. What does that sound like blowing at your balcony?

[Nelso90]

ASC T-128 in Eden Prairie. This one is located near the interstate & Shady Oak Road. As the bus was exiting the highway, I noticed this one across the road..it was painted dark brown!

Tbolts. I noticed one right alongside the interstate, near the Concordia University campus. Evidently this one had received a fresh coat of paint, because it looked almost new. Same for the one atop pressbox at Macalester College stadium in St. Paul.

Anybody on the board familiar with these sirens?

Well, the T-128 in Eden prarie is actually a brown RM130, if the one on the white building is the one you're talking about.
I actually have a recording of the Macalester one, and it was the siren that made me love the 1000's so much. There's a kid on youtube, KBilt92, he has a video of that siren, and I was with him when he recorded that.

[holler]

Minnesota is a great state for sirens! They are very prepared for tornadoes when they come and during the summer, they come often

Prepared?!?!? What are you talking about? They are using old technology and poor planning. The housing developments that have sprung up are mostly uncovered, the Federal sirens they have don't have battery backup, and they're Federal Sirens! I'm not trying to bash federal sirens, but by putting a bunch of 2001's or similar everywhere just doesn't do the trick like it did in the 1950's.

There is flash flooding, chemical warnings, school shooters, winter weather warnings, and post-disaster scenarios that, well I'm sorry, but the federal 2001 doesn't do that good of a job to warn the public of. There's more to a siren system than warning of tornados. Anyone can see weather rolling in, and it's great if a city installs a siren for this, but in metro areas there are more things going on than just tornados! I'd say put up a Modulator, but the 2910's just blow them away! That's what these metro areas should have! Look at Oklahoma City!

There is nothing wrong with Federal sirens, they do the job they are designed for, and the Modulators around here have been far more reliable than the Whelens in a nearby city.

Not every city needs electronic sirens either, they are expensive, quirky, and if you don't use the voice capability there is no use in buying them.

[r4tbolts]

Minnesota is a great state for sirens! They are very prepared for tornadoes when they come and during the summer, they come often

Prepared?!?!? What are you talking about? They are using old technology and poor planning. The housing developments that have sprung up are mostly uncovered, the Federal sirens they have don't have battery backup, and they're Federal Sirens! I'm not trying to bash federal sirens, but by putting a bunch of 2001's or similar everywhere just doesn't do the trick like it did in the 1950's.

There is flash flooding, chemical warnings, school shooters, winter weather warnings, and post-disaster scenarios that, well I'm sorry, but the federal 2001 doesn't do that good of a job to warn the public of. There's more to a siren system than warning of tornados. Anyone can see weather rolling in, and it's great if a city installs a siren for this, but in metro areas there are more things going on than just tornados! I'd say put up a Modulator, but the 2910's just blow them away! That's what these metro areas should have! Look at Oklahoma City!

There is nothing wrong with Federal sirens, they do the job they are designed for, and the Modulators around here have been far more reliable than the Whelens in a nearby city.

Not every city needs electronic sirens either, they are expensive, quirky, and if you don't use the voice capability there is no use in buying them.

Perhaps I'm going to stray off the reservation for a second, but seriously. How many people actually take shelter when the sirens sounds vs the people that run outside to see whats going on or to listen to the sirens then decide what they are going to do? Don't get me wrong sirens are great and every town should have them. But it has been my observation when the sirens go off you can count on most of the neighborhood standing in the front yards waiting to see the tornado or funnel cloud and they don't run to the basement till the trees start falling over or lightning hits close by. It seems rather than encourage people to shelter sirens invite people to run outside and see what is going on.

I admit I'M guilty of this also. The last time the sirens sounded in our area I was on my front porch as with most of the neighborhood either out on the porches or out in the street looking at the sky shrugging shoulders looking at at one another with the what the heck look. I'd shudder to think what would happen if the sirens ever sounded for a haz-mat incident. Most everyone in my town would run outside and get overcome by fumes.

[Melvin Potts]

Well, the T-128 in Eden prarie is actually a brown RM130, if the one on the white building is the one you're talking about.

This one wasn't on a building. It was freestanding on a pole across the road from where we got off the interstate.

[Nelso90]

Which road were you on? 494? I don't really get out to EP too much. Good find!