Latest Addition to my Whelen Collection

[Sarge619]

Pictured is my latest acquisition for the Whelen family in my vintage beacon collection: Whelen 994. It arrived several weeks ago, I'm just now getting around to posting pictures. This is exactly how the light looked when it arrived. The dome, "pie pan", interior workings and retaining band are in 'like-new" condition, no need for any refurbishment here. A very desirable light in outstanding condition. Now to secure a 994PA. That would boost my Whelen family to a 5200 Commander, 5200PA Commander, 994 and 994PA.


Enjoy!

 

[tsquale]

Very nice addition!

 

[Sarge619]

Very nice addition!

Thanks!

 

[ex416]

congratulations Mike. that's a very nice looking light in deed. :thumbsup:

 

[Sarge619]

congratulations Mike. that's a very nice looking light in deed. :thumbsup:

Thank you sir!!

 

[dmathieu]

Another Gem!!

 

[flahotrod]

Beautiful!

 

[fastbrianman]

Very nice unusual find and the condition looks perfect.

 

[kitn1mcc]

now that's a light

 

[Tristar]

Very nice! I have the identical light, but the dome is a bit crazed. I like its unique shape.

 

[Sarge619]

Another Gem!!

Thanks Dan! It was quite an advantageous find!!

 

[Sarge619]

Beautiful!

Thank you!

 

[Sarge619]

Very nice unusual find and the condition looks perfect.

It really does look as if it had very little (if any) use!

 

[Sarge619]

Very nice! I have the identical light, but the dome is a bit crazed. I like its unique shape.

I always liked these too. The town I grew up in had them on their cruisers starting in 1981. They had switched from TwinSonics dating back from 1975 to a pair of 994's on a crossbar with a chromed siren speaker - all Whelen components. After only a few years, they went back to enclosed lightbars, buying JetSonics. Because of the dome shape, we called them "salad bowls".

 

[PinballCharlie]

Love that light!!!!

 

[Tristar]

I always liked these too. The town I grew up in had them on their cruisers starting in 1981. They had switched from TwinSonics dating back from 1975 to a pair of 994's on a crossbar with a chromed siren speaker - all Whelen components. After only a few years, they went back to enclosed lightbars, buying JetSonics.

Wow...they went from Twinsonics to pairs of 994s! I'm not knocking the 994s, but that's pretty unusual, to go in that direction, no?

 

[Sarge619]

Wow...they went from Twinsonics to pairs of 994s! I'm not knocking the 994s, but that's pretty unusual, to go in that direction, no?

Not sure why they did it Tristar, I was surprised too. When I moved to town in '71 they were using blue CJ184's, then the move to all-blue Twinsonics in '75. It had a few of us scratching our heads when they went from an enclosed bar to beacons and a speaker on an open bar, kinda like reverse evolution. I don't know what a Whelen setup like that would cost as compared to the different light bars available back them (1981), but maybe it was cost driven? Interestingly, the passenger side 994 on all the cruisers had a completely red dome (which violates Mass law regarding police vehicle lighting). Someone must've said something, because a short time later, the red domes were replaced with blue.

 

[Tristar]

Not sure why they did it Tristar, I was surprised too. When I moved to town in '71 they were using blue CJ184's, then the move to all-blue Twinsonics in '75. It had a few of us scratching our heads when they went from an enclosed bar to beacons and a speaker on an open bar, kinda like reverse evolution. I don't know what a Whelen setup like that would cost as compared to the different light bars available back them (1981), but maybe it was cost driven? Interestingly, the passenger side 994 on all the cruisers had a completely red dome (which violates Mass law regarding police vehicle lighting). Someone must've said something, because a short time later, the red domes were replaced with blue.

Interesting...maybe it had to do with tradition (like Michigan SP)? I'm guessing they eventually went to a fully enclosed bar...what kind did they get?

 

[plybeep68]

Sweet Addition:thumbsup:

 

[plybeep68]

I always liked these too. The town I grew up in had them on their cruisers starting in 1981. They had switched from TwinSonics dating back from 1975 to a pair of 994's on a crossbar with a chromed siren speaker - all Whelen components. After only a few years, they went back to enclosed lightbars, buying JetSonics.

I bet that crossbar looked awesome!!

 

[JennyCop]

Very nice beacon!

 

[Sarge619]

Interesting...maybe it had to do with tradition (like Michigan SP)? I'm guessing they eventually went to a fully enclosed bar...what kind did they get?

Nope, don't think it was tradition..... prior to the TwinSonics, they had a single FS CJ184 on the roof for many, many years. Prior to that, they had Beacon Rays. Up until 1975, the PD handled all EMS calls, so their cruisers were Mercury station wagons w/stretcher in the back. In '75, the FD took over the EMS role, and they went to sedans w/the TwinSonic. Those were swapped from car to car until 1981 when they purchased the Twin 994 setup. After a few years, these were replaced with JetSonics (for only a very short time, their maintenance officer HATED them), then moved on to Whelen Edge 9000's, and eventually Liberty's.


Every marked car had the same configuration except the "Highway Safety" car. These were provided by the state's Governor's Highway Safety Bureau to any town that wanted one (along with RADAR equipment). The cars arrived completely set up with Model 14 Twin Beacon Ray setup with fiberglass wide-mouth siren/PA speaker. If you accepted one of these cars, it had to be all-white (regardless of your department's paint scheme) and have "HIGHWAY SAFETY" and "GHSB" markings prominently displayed on it in addition to the department emblems. They got their first Highway Safety car in '74 (Dodge Monaco Pursuit), and ran one right up until the early '80's (not sure if the state paid for replacement cars, or if the PD just carried on the tradition. That was right about the time Prop. 2 1/2 came into effect, decimating police and fire budgets statewide. It's possible the GHSB program continued to an extent so departments who's fleet budgets had been slashed could at least get a new car or two courtesy of the state).


The last Highway Safety car I remember was a white '82 Ford LTD "S". This car had the Twin 994 setup on it. Perhaps they wanted to replace the aging TwinSonics and as the Highway Safety car was equipped with the Whelen setup, they decided to run the same thing on their other three marked cars. That's purely speculation though.

 

[Tristar]

Sarge619 - thanks for the history. One of the two NJ towns I lived in back in the late 1980s had JetSonics on their PD cars. Our VAC was using Code 3 XL bars. I was always impressed with the XL, and thought that the JetSonics was fairly ineffective.

 

[stansdds]

The best thing about the Jetsonic was its aerodynamics, beyond that they were pretty ineffective bars. Henrico County (Virginia) phased out well used model 11 Twin Beacon Ray bars and briefly used Whelen dual 88 crossbars for Jetsonics in the late 1980's. The 11's and dual 88's were red and blue, but the Jetsonics were all blue. The light output was almost invisible in bright sunlight. The Jetsonics lasted for several years, the Henrico began replacing them with Streethawks.


Sarge619, I kind of wonder if maybe a Whelen rep came around and made a really good offer on trading in the Twinsonics for Whelen dual 994 crossbars.

 

[Sarge619]

The best thing about the Jetsonic was its aerodynamics, beyond that they were pretty ineffective bars. Henrico County (Virginia) phased out well used model 11 Twin Beacon Ray bars and briefly used Whelen dual 88 crossbars for Jetsonics in the late 1980's. The 11's and dual 88's were red and blue, but the Jetsonics were all blue. The light output was almost invisible in bright sunlight. The Jetsonics lasted for several years, the Henrico began replacing them with Streethawks.


Sarge619, I kind of wonder if maybe a Whelen rep came around and made a really good offer on trading in the Twinsonics for Whelen dual 994 crossbars.

That's quite possible. Very few departments were using Whelen products at the time and they may have trying to make in-roads.


I'm really dating myself now; When I was going to college and working for the Richmond Bureau of Police, Virginia was still running all-red lights. Blue wasn't introduced until a few years after I returned to Mass. Our cars in Richmond were all-white and had either Twinsonics or AeroDynics on them (newer cars had AeroDynics). There were even a few of the powder blue-over-white cars (most notably a '78 Ford station wagon parked out behind second precinct) with the Twin Beacon Ray setup banging around (though most were derelicts in the City Garage lot).

 

[stansdds]

That's quite possible. Very few departments were using Whelen products at the time and they may have trying to make in-roads.

I'm really dating myself now; When I was going to college and working for the Richmond Bureau of Police, Virginia was still running all-red lights. Blue wasn't introduced until a few years after I returned to Mass. Our cars in Richmond were all-white and had either Twinsonics or AeroDynics on them (newer cars had AeroDynics). There were even a few of the powder blue-over-white cars (most notably a '78 Ford station wagon parked out behind second precinct) with the Twin Beacon Ray setup banging around (though most were derelicts in the City Garage lot).

I remember those days. If I recall correctly, the powder blue and white paint jobs became all white as a cost cutting program, that would have been late 1970's. I think it was around 1980 when the RPD started using 24EAH Aerodynics.

 

[Sarge619]

I remember those days. If I recall correctly, the powder blue and white paint jobs became all white as a cost cutting program, that would have been late 1970's. I think it was around 1980 when the RPD started using 24EAH Aerodynics.

You are correct sir! :thumbsup:

 

[stansdds]

You are correct sir! :thumbsup:

Once in a while the old memory system works correctly.

 

[Skip Goulet]

The only one of these lights I've ever seen in use was a red one mounted on a nice '62 Chevy station wagon ambulance that belonged to the Hale Center (TX) VFD. HCVFD got the car from the local funeral home when they exited the ambulance service. The original setup was a red 174 beacon flanked by twin red Fireball lights (the F.B.s remained on the car) and an older Federal doubletone siren under the hood. Some time after the fire dept got the car the 174 shut down on them and they replaced the beacon with the Whelen. I wish that way back then that I had known that the problem with the 174s, much like as with the junior beacons, was a plastic gear that was faulty. When the fire dept retired the wagon in the mid-to-late '80s, it was given back to the funeral home. I had tried to buy the wagon when I found out that it was coming offline, but there was some sort of agreement between the department and the funeral director, so he got it back. He stripped the car and gave it to his then-teenaged son, who promptly took it out and rolled it!


A few years ago the late John Dorgan found a source to have those plastic gears made for the 174s and the juniors. I wish I had known J.D. back then; but of course that was long before he was in business. I would've snagged that 174 if those gears had been available, as I used 174s quite a bit on my ambulances. Fortunately I never an into the gear problem.