page_title: Steam whistle
section_title: Uses of steam whistles
hierarchical_section_title: Steam whistle / Uses of steam whistles
caption_attribution_description: English: From a 1906 trade catalog.
context_page_description: A steam whistle is a device used to produce sound with the aid of live steam, which acts as a vibrating system.
context_section_description: Steam whistles were often used in factories, and similar places to signal the start or end of a shift, etc.  Railway locomotives, traction engines, and steam ships have traditionally been fitted with a whistle for warning and communication purposes. Large diameter steam whistles were used on light houses, likely beginning in the 1850s.
  The earliest use of steam whistles was as boiler low-water alarms in the 18th century and early 19th century. During the 1830s, whistles were adopted by railroads and steamship companies.
caption: "Gong" chime whistle, two whistles aligned on the same axis.
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