Metro Jacksonville

I've not heard his voice in the morning in a month or more.  Where is he?

me neither. I miss it.

I'm guessing that Big Jim is a rooster up in Springfield?

Philistine! Big Jim is the steam whistle now at the JEA waterworks. His disappearance, if that's what it is, is most troublesome.

Quote from: Dashing Dan on April 20, 2012, 10:40:29 AM
I'm guessing that Big Jim is a rooster up in Springfield?

HOW DARE YOU

http://www.examiner.com/greater-jacksonville-in-jacksonville/big-jim-the-voice-of-jacksonville (http://www.examiner.com/greater-jacksonville-in-jacksonville/big-jim-the-voice-of-jacksonville)

QuoteAt first sight, this 120 year-old local icon is rather underwhelming. Made of copper and roughly the same height as a fire hydrant, it stands without fanfare on the roof of Jacksonville Electric Authority's waterworks plant on Main Street. But make no mistake, this is the real deal. Sometimes called the "oldest city employee", Big Jim is still at work. Every day at 7 a.m., noon, 1 p.m. and 5 p.m., the whistle that is the voice of Jacksonville bellows 3 tones simultaneously for 80 seconds. From it's vantage point, Big Jim can be heard for at least 10 miles, but with the right wind, the authoritative moan can be heard as far away as St. Johns Bluff, Mandarin and even Marietta, GA.

Installed in 1890, Big Jim retains the nickname bestowed by its builder, James Patterson. Powered by steam generated by boilers for over a hundred years, twenty-first century technology- hydrodynamic cavitation now creates the steam that gives the whistle its commanding sound. In fact, if residents don't hear that familiar sound, they flood the switchboard at the utility company with calls of concern. To preserve the tranquility of weekends in the Springfield neighborhood it calls home, Big Jim takes Saturday and Sunday off. Other than a two week period in 1971 when it was down for maintence workers to automate the timing mechanism and a "tune-up" in 1997, Big Jim has only had one or two sick days, most notably in 1976 when an unknown malady kept it from sounding the hours.

Big Jims initial job was as a factory time piece and fire alarm. It was the first warning many residents had when the Great Fire erupted in 1901. But the whistle's booming baritone has also heralded celebrations such as the end of both world wars and every new year since 1892.

In 1996 when the waterworks on Main Street no longer used boilers to drive the city's water pumps, rather than scrapping the historic whistle, JEA offered to move Big Jim to its new Southside Generating Station on the opposite bank of the St. Johns River. It stayed there until October of 2001 when the utility decommissioned the station. Although silenced, Big Jim was moved back to the waterworks downtown for safekeeping. Public outcry and civic-minded groups began working on a plan to reactivate the whistle that had become the pulse of the city.

Fourteen months later, due in no small part to the generosity of JEA, Big Jim once again assumed its duties, only to fall victim to the City of Jacksonville's Environmental Quality Division in the summer of 2004. The Jacksonville EQD, acting on a single complaint, stated that the whistle violated of the City's noise ordinance. Not to be denied, the public and JEA pushed for and received an exemption from the City of Jacksonville. According to Gerri Boyce, Media Coordinator for JEA, Big Jim will continue to mark the time for city residents well into the twenty-first century.

Jaeme Haviland
Greater Jacksonville Examiner

He was sounding at an odd mid-morning time (around 10 am or so) for a while. 

Quote from: Bativac on April 20, 2012, 11:12:31 AM

Quote from: Dashing Dan on April 20, 2012, 10:40:29 AM
I'm guessing that Big Jim is a rooster up in Springfield?

HOW DARE YOU

Well excuuuuse me! 

I've heard that whistle once or twice but I didn't know that it had a name, or what that name might have been.

We can't all live in Springfield.

Quote from: Dashing Dan on April 20, 2012, 01:14:27 PM

Quote from: Bativac on April 20, 2012, 11:12:31 AM

Quote from: Dashing Dan on April 20, 2012, 10:40:29 AM
I'm guessing that Big Jim is a rooster up in Springfield?

HOW DARE YOU

Well excuuuuse me! 

I've heard that whistle once or twice but I didn't know that it had a name, or what that name might have been.

We can't all live in Springfield.

Just yanking your chain. I don't live anywhere near Springfield, but I grew up in St Nicholas, around the corner from the Southside Generating Station, and Big Jim was a daily thing, especially after they moved it over to that station. But we could still hear it from across the river. It's been around a long time but it isn't as well known as I thought it was, I guess.

I'm glad to know about Big Jim.  I hope he comes back soon.

Construction is going on at at the JEA site near 1st & Laura. Perhaps related.

I guess that Dan was sorta right, it's kinda like our beloved loud tootin' steam powered rooster....... :)

If you want to experience Big Jim ...try the JTA downtown station or FSCJ parking lots at 12 noon or 1:00  ;D
Big Jim was tuned up in 79' when a Symphony member realized it was singing flat(sharp?) from the copper being eroded.
I very quickly passed by the water works the other day and there seems to be a lot of destruction/construction going on.

I believe they're replacing the underground water tank with an above ground tank.

The sound of that whistle messes with my emotions and my head... I LOVE STEAM, AND I LOVE STEAM WHISTLES, huh? I wonder why?

It's back tootin' again! I'm no electricity expert, but maybe a lightning rod will cease any other future hits. Can't wait to hear it again. :)

www.actionnewsjax.com/mostpopular/story/big-Jim-is-back/fRXFxROGyki9u490rAoJ6Q.cspx

It has actually been back for about a month per channel 4 and my own ears. I live on E 10th and had been missing my 7AM alarm to let me know it was about time to leave for work. Several weeks back I started hearing him again. Glad he is back. :) And the report said that it was a lightening Strike that took him out.

Damn shame that none of you Millennial's will get to hear what it REALLY sounds like. Saturated steam would completely change the tone of the old boy. Any other city on earth and they purchase a small electric steam generator and keep it real.

The whistle at the waterworks first sounded a fire alarm July 21, 1886 (though some texts date it to 1890). Big Jim sounded all fire alarms in the city and the alarms were coded (rather morris code style) depending on which neighborhood the fire call came in from. It was found that the whistle wasn't loud enough and the engineer at the water works increased the steam pressure by 30 pounds per square inch. On April 19, 1887, the young fire department was tested by the Continental Insurance of NYC, Springfield Fire and Marine Insurance of Columbia, SC, Southern Board of Fire Underwriters and the Southeastern Tariff Association.

A few minutes after 8 (we assume AM) the alarm was pulled on 'Box 23,' on the corner of Hogan and Duval Streets. The Fire Chief arrived in 35 seconds, the Western Division on a minute and 15 seconds, the Central Division on a minute and 30 seconds and the Hook and Ladder unit was on scene in a minute and 40 seconds. The first water stream was hooked up within 2 more minutes, and the second stream a few seconds later.

The tests were a smashing success and the officials immediately certified Jacksonville's efficiency and lowered the insurance rates in the city, saving the citizens $30,000 dollars annually to property owners and businesses.

Now to hear what a steam whistle sounds like as God intended it, take a 36 second listen to this sweet sound: