The evolution of the locomotive whistle (say the Liverpool Post) is interesting. Seventy-five years ago engine-drivers were provided with a tin horn, which they used to blow before rounding curves or passing over crossings. In 1833, an English farmer, on his way to market, was run down and himself killed with his two horses. The produce, consisting of one thousand eggs and one hundred pounds of butter, was destroyed, and all had to be paid for by the company. The managing director sent for George Stevenson. “ Our drivers can’t blow their horns loudly enough to c ear the tracks ahead,” he said. “ You have made your steam do so much, why don’t you make it blow a good loud horn for us?” The inventor consulted a musical instrument maker, and the outcome was the locomotive whistle.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/MH19081008.2.15
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Manawatu Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 438, 8 October 1908, Page 3
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136Untitled Manawatu Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 438, 8 October 1908, Page 3
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