An End of an Era - Federal Electric Mach. 3

[Chicagosiren-hunters]

Hello all,

Sorry I haven't been active in a while; busy times abound. I have recently made some headway with an old friend.

Ladies and gentlemen, we got em.

Proud owner of a Federal Electric Type Mach. 3, 9/12 port dual rotor siren!

Removal from the tower was pretty easy with help from a crane, but removing the shroud and all that scrap around it was very challenging. Thankfully brute strength and an angle grinder made light work of everything! The siren now resides in the Rural Heritage Museum in Elkader, Iowa, on loan until I get more space, but it's not going anywhere for a while. I plan to fully restore it to its former glory once I save up money to do so.

Enough talking; here are the pictures!

Mach 3 1.JPG (3.48 MiB) Viewed 24151 times

Mach 3 6.JPG (3.32 MiB) Viewed 24151 times

Mach 3 5.JPG (3.78 MiB) Viewed 24151 times

Motor tag

Mach 3 24.JPG (3.34 MiB) Viewed 24151 times

Shroud tag

Mach 3 3.JPG (3.4 MiB) Viewed 24151 times

9-port fan

Mach 3 4.JPG (4.63 MiB) Viewed 24151 times

12-port fan

Mach 3 21.JPG (3.22 MiB) Viewed 24151 times

Shroud with all scrap removed (save a few screws)

Mach 3 22.JPG (3.52 MiB) Viewed 24151 times

Model 2 for scale!

[clarksburg_1000t]

If you restore it I would like to hear more of this rare siren. Congratulations.

[JJ_OFU]

I did not expect the blades to look like that. Reminds me of B&M a little bit and Sterling.

[yoyo]

Nice siren rotors , reminds me also to the B&M siren rotor

[Hacksaw]

I hope the rotor isn't cracked!

[Synther]

I hope the rotor isn't cracked!

It's hard to see underneath all that dirt, but it sure looks like it. Only visible in one photo, were they both taken at the same date?

[Chicagosiren-hunters]

I hope the rotor isn't cracked!

It's hard to see underneath all that dirt, but it sure looks like it. Only visible in one photo, were they both taken at the same date?

Sorry for the suspense, but based on what I saw there weren’t any cracks. The rotors were loaded with tons of dirt and some twigs (the last photo was taken before I gave it a deeper clean, but the shop vac couldn’t get in all the crevices the best), but after vacuuming them out they look pretty good for their age. Next time I go out there I can try to remove the clumps packed in the vanes for a better look and I’ll upload newer pics of what I find!

[TheSirenFan]

Bump. Any new updates on this beauty?

[Greenrid]

I'm guessing this is rare because of the siren's ports? Also, you should see if you can get it into a siren system!

[Chicagosiren-hunters]

Hey all,

Sorry, there hasn't really been a significant update since removal. About all I got done was getting the top A-frame loosened up and attempting to remove the ID tag & porcelain banner. Thankfully the museum gave me a spare key to get in and try to tinker with it in the off-season, so perhaps I'll have time to try and take some more of it apart!



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RlNOZFf8tQ

In the meantime, I have done a more in-depth walkaround of the siren and its details to hopefully tide you over in the meantime!

I'm guessing this is rare because of the siren's ports? Also, you should see if you can get it into a siren system!

The rarity comes from the whole design. These dual-rotor Fedelcode's are a rare thing to find out there, likely due to launch right before the Great Depression in early 1929. The curved vanes likely made them pretty expensive for the period, so the transition to simpler straight vanes was likely a universal cost-cutting measure, As far as I'm aware, only six of these Mach. 3's are confirmed to still exist:
1. Ex-Volga seen here
2. Hazelton, IA, also on display at their city museum.
3. Evansville, MN (most recent street view is from 2015, so it could be gone for all we know)
4. Ironton, MO (since removed, and awaiting pickup from another enthusiast)
5. Ottawa, OH
6. Bolton, MA. This one is planned to be removed before the old firehouse is to be demolished, but the chief made it clear it will be saved in some manner.

Also, no, absolutely not. The siren is not planned to be reinstalled anywhere as long as I'm in ownership.