Low note whistle
 

The whistle on my engine hurts my ears, I could do with a low note whistle if there is one around

John Wakeham

why don't you just restrict the steam supply to it???

Normally it is the pressure of the steam that creates the sound. The higher the pressure the higher the scream from the whistle. Restricting the steam supply does not work. You really need a pressure reducing valve. They don't come cheap so a different whistle would be cheaper.
A railway whistle from a boiler of 250 lbs (Gresley Pacifics for example) would probably do on an engine with a boiler pressure of 150 lbs

try a western one, they sound good, easy to source and reasonably priced and come in two sizes!

I have a pair if you want to try one out.

I put a restrictor before the whistle valve. Tapped the base of the valve internally then made a plug to screw into it with a hole through the centre. I then adjusted the size of the hole until I got a pleasing tolerable sound. the valve body and the whistle base acts as expansion space so does lower the pressure. my ears do not bleed anymore when I blow the whistle.

How many of us find that a shrill whistle throws us off balance ?

I would think most of us in our age group Bob. But it never seemed to affect me when trainspotting in the 1950s. Standing next to an A1, A2, A3 or V2 when the whistle blew would make me jump just as it did when the safety valves lifted without warning, but balance then was no problem.

Not age , Roy . Really shrill whistles have always made me buckle at the knees and lose balance . The young drivers of a certain Burrell crane tractor used to enjoy proving the point .

Sorry Bob, your reflexes must have grown old before their time. North-East England must have been a painful area for you in steam days - no-wonder you escaped.

Were you at Dorset when this happened?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cn5djQrJFGQ