Ferryman
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Post by Ferryman on Jul 31, 2007 19:22:34 GMT -8
Now that I have a new video camera, I'll start to rebuild my collection of horn recordings.... Here's my speech on the horns: In my opinion, the Ferry horn is the next thing in line, after shape, that adds character to the Ferry. Like the variety of shapes and sizes of all the Ferries in the Fleet, there is a variety of horns amongst them as well. For example, comparing the electric one tone megaphone that the Spirits have, to the classic 3 note Airchime horns on the Queen of Vancouver. When people think of a BC Ferry, I bet most people play that classic 3 tone chord in their mind. When AM 730 does the Ferry Conditions, they play the classic stereotypical 3 tone Ferry horn at the begininning of the segment. I can even remember when I was a little younger, when Check TV was still around, they would play the 3 tone chord during one of their advertisements. So why do I care about this sort of thing? Well, knowing that the older boats are slowly starting to be retired, and have grown up hearing the horn everytime I'd take a Ferry, I've grown some sort of attachment to them. Also the fact that when these horns were first manufactured, someone spent the time and effort to fine tune these horns to sound perfect. Now some of these horns 40 years later are starting to start kind of...off. When onboard the Queen of Vancouver these days, I can hear a blast of air coming from the pipes, like theres a leaky valve somewhere, which screws the chord up. At one point, only one of two of the Queen of Esquimalts horns was working. Recently they have fixed that. Anyways, I'd like to share with all of you, the sounds of our fleet. Queen of Vancouver, sounding her horn as she passes Bellhouse Park, Galiano Island. ferryman.sitesled.com/horns/vanact.wavQueen of Saanich, sounding her horn at 10:45pm, as she passes Bellhouse Park, Galiano Island. Heard from Seal Bay, beside Miners Bay on Mayne Island. ferryman.sitesled.com/horns/saanact.wavQueen of Esquimalt, sounding her horn upon departure at Langdale. ferryman.sitesled.com/horns/esqlang.wavQueen of Nanaimo, sounding her horn in Active Pass, as she's about to pass Helen Point, Mayne Island. ferryman.sitesled.com/horns/nanact.wavJust for fun, all 3 V's sounding their horn in a sequence. The 1st is the Vancouver, 2nd is the Saanich, and 3rd is the Esquimalt. ferryman.sitesled.com/horns/vansaanesq.wavMore to come in the next few weeks!
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Post by Low Light Mike on Jul 31, 2007 20:06:05 GMT -8
Thanks Chris, I've enjoyed listening to these on your site.
I appreciate that you have the volume levels all similar....so I don't get too freaked out.
I like the Q-Nanaimo horn the best.
1 - 3 - 5 nice sound.....
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Post by Hardy on Jul 31, 2007 20:14:23 GMT -8
How complex are the systems used to "wire" (install etc) the horns onboard the V-vessels? Is it something where some caring workers from DPM before they send the V's to Aalang might remove one of these classics and install it say, at a terminal, as a keepsake or a tribute to the past so that others may enjoy it in perpetuity? Just a thought .... but then again, I am in the trucking industry --- don't know nothing about horns!
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Ferryman
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Post by Ferryman on Jul 31, 2007 20:40:01 GMT -8
How complex are the systems used to "wire" (install etc) the horns onboard the V-vessels? Is it something where some caring workers from DPM before they send the V's to Aalang might remove one of these classics and install it say, at a terminal, as a keepsake or a tribute to the past so that others may enjoy it in perpetuity? Just a thought .... but then again, I am in the trucking industry --- don't know nothing about horns! While I sitting in the funnel the Queen of Esquimalt at Departure Bay over a month ago, I took a real good look at how these horns were rigged up. To my suprise, it was really quite basic. The lever in the bridge that sounds the horn, is connected to a long pull cord that comes out of the roof of the bridge (Monkey Island in shipping terms), and is suspended all of the way from this point to inside the funnel, where this cord just simply opens a valve in the airline just below the horns. The airlines would assumably lead down to the air tanks located in the engine room, which are probably the same tanks that are used to open water tight doors, adjust throttle of engines, etc... I'm wishing I had better pictures of this, but oh well. You can actually see part of the pull cord in this picture.
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Post by Queen of Nanaimo Teen on Jul 31, 2007 21:58:29 GMT -8
I can't wait to hear more! You've done a great job of collecting the horns, its very impresive! You don't perhaps have a recording of the Mayne Queen's horn, do you? (I thought her horn was pretty sweet!)
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Mirrlees
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Post by Mirrlees on Jul 31, 2007 22:28:48 GMT -8
How complex are the systems used to "wire" (install etc) the horns onboard the V-vessels? Is it something where some caring workers from DPM before they send the V's to Aalang might remove one of these classics and install it say, at a terminal, as a keepsake or a tribute to the past so that others may enjoy it in perpetuity? Just a thought .... but then again, I am in the trucking industry --- don't know nothing about horns! Speaking about that, I wonder who has the Sidney's horns? They've been gone for awhile now anyone know? That sounds like a great idea to remember the V's by. I vote to preserve the Vancouver's horns and keep them operational. A fitting tribute to Bob "The Whistle Man" Swanson as well.
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Ferryman
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Post by Ferryman on Jul 31, 2007 22:29:32 GMT -8
I can't wait to hear more! You've done a great job of collecting the horns, its very impresive! You don't perhaps have a recording of the Mayne Queen's horn, do you? (I thought her horn was pretty sweet!) You're in luck, because I do! Heck, I'll even throw in the Queen of Cumberlands horn as well. Mayne Queen sounding her horn as we make the final turn out of Active Pass, before arriving at Sturdies Bay. ferryman.sitesled.com/horns/mayneact.wavQueen of Cumberland sounding her horn as we enter Active Pass by Bellhouse Park, Galiano Island. Heh, you'll have to excuse Jordans commentary in the background though. ferryman.sitesled.com/horns/cumbieact.wav
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Ferryman
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Post by Ferryman on Jul 31, 2007 22:30:54 GMT -8
That sounds like a great idea to remember the V's by. I vote to preserve the Vancouver's horns and keep them operational. A fitting tribute to Bob "The Whistle Man" Swanson as well. That does indeed. Cheers.
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Post by Curtis on Jul 31, 2007 22:55:16 GMT -8
How complex are the systems used to "wire" (install etc) the horns onboard the V-vessels? Is it something where some caring workers from DPM before they send the V's to Aalang might remove one of these classics and install it say, at a terminal, as a keepsake or a tribute to the past so that others may enjoy it in perpetuity? Just a thought .... but then again, I am in the trucking industry --- don't know nothing about horns! While I sitting in the funnel the Queen of Esquimalt at Departure Bay over a month ago, I took a real good look at how these horns were rigged up. To my suprise, it was really quite basic. The lever in the bridge that sounds the horn, is connected to a long pull cord that comes out of the roof of the bridge (Monkey Island in shipping terms), and is suspended all of the way from this point to inside the funnel, where this cord just simply opens a valve in the airline just below the horns. The airlines would assumably lead down to the air tanks located in the engine room, which are probably the same tanks that are used to open water tight doors, adjust throttle of engines, etc... I'm wishing I had better pictures of this, but oh well. You can actually see part of the pull cord in this picture. I'm Surprised that it's so simple. Though I guess it was made in the 70s
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Post by Barnacle on Aug 1, 2007 11:55:38 GMT -8
I'm Surprised that it's so simple. Though I guess it was made in the 70s So was I... you got a problem with that? The technology hasn't changed much, though in addition to the manual pull cord (which I prefer; you can work the whistle a little better that way), most have an electric solenoid which allows for push-button operation as well.
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Post by Hardy on Aug 1, 2007 20:57:06 GMT -8
I'm Surprised that it's so simple. Though I guess it was made in the 70s So was I... you got a problem with that? The technology hasn't changed much, though in addition to the manual pull cord (which I prefer; you can work the whistle a little better that way), most have an electric solenoid which allows for push-button operation as well. Why over-complicate a system that works? Not everything has to be 20,000 parts and wires to operate! Sometimes less is more. What can break with a pull-cord? The cord? How do we fix that? Replace the cord -- no need to discombobulate half the boat to get at the cord at least!
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Post by Hardy on Aug 1, 2007 21:00:48 GMT -8
Seeing I mentioned it first, and others second it -- I think it would be kind of cool to preserve the horns at say a few of the major terminals once the old gals are retired. I would start off at Tsawwassen and then perhaps Swartz, followed by Horseshoe. I think that TSA stands out as the terminal that would be most suited to receive the first one .... :-)
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Post by Barnacle on Aug 1, 2007 21:28:44 GMT -8
But to what purpose? How would they be used? If they were only to be sculpture, there wouldn't be much point. I suppose they could be used as fog horns...
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Mirrlees
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Post by Mirrlees on Aug 1, 2007 21:57:27 GMT -8
I was thinking along the lines of a noon chime. Any better ideas?
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Post by Hardy on Aug 2, 2007 3:40:45 GMT -8
I was thinking along the lines of a noon chime. Any better ideas? This would be a novel use for them. To be honest, I had not really given their actual USE a lot of thought, insofar as I was more worried about the historical preservation aspect of saving them. I can see that they would be used for Special Events, or retirements, promotions etc. Kind of more a symbolic-PR type of arrangement than any real day-to-day use. It is not really practical to save a whole ship as a momento, but, as has been said, a lot of us IDENTIFY BC Ferries with their multi-tone horn of the past, that we all grew up hearing sounded so often during departures and sailings thru Active Pass. There doesn't always have to be a specific reason to save anything over and above it's historic and sentimental value, does there?
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Post by Dane offline on Aug 2, 2007 6:23:36 GMT -8
Lots (okay, like three in Vancouver that I know of) of railfans mount train horns into their cars...
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Post by Northern Exploration on Aug 2, 2007 12:56:47 GMT -8
Years ago when we had a motorhome, as a result of my begging we put a three note air horn on it. If I or my parents had one I would install one to mimic the V Class ferries and make everyone around mess their drawers when it was used hehe.
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Post by Scott on Aug 2, 2007 22:18:13 GMT -8
Hopefully there will be a new maritime museum coming to North Vancouver. Maybe one could go there. It could be blasted at the top of every hour during the daytime:)
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Post by Hardy on Aug 2, 2007 23:21:46 GMT -8
Hopefully there will be a new maritime museum coming to North Vancouver. Maybe one could go there. It could be blasted at the top of every hour during the daytime:) Is there anything to back this up? I mean the maritime museum idea? I have not seen anything about this anywhere, mind you I live in Surrey and only infrequently get over to North Van and almost never read the local rags over there.... Any local museum should undoubtedly include a large component of BCF, as they are so prevalent in the area, particularly the North Shore, where HSB is and where the former CFI were .....
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Post by Scott on Aug 2, 2007 23:26:50 GMT -8
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Post by Balfour on Aug 6, 2007 17:36:53 GMT -8
It would make Lower Lonsdale even better than ever and restore it to it's former glory when it was known as "Moodyville"
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Ferryman
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Post by Ferryman on Mar 4, 2008 20:13:48 GMT -8
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Post by Queen of Vancouver on Mar 4, 2008 20:51:51 GMT -8
Cool
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Post by coastalcody on Mar 4, 2008 21:08:53 GMT -8
My favourite is easily the oak bay!!!
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Post by DENelson83 on Mar 5, 2008 2:40:03 GMT -8
I'd like to hear the horns from the Queen of Tsawwassen and the Queen of Chilliwack.
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