Sunday, January 4, 2015
New Year's Eve at Pratt Institute
A great way to toot in the New Year is at Brooklyn's Pratt Institute, where they have preserved a 19th century steam power engine room.
![Pratt Institute steam dynamos](https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7490/16176471416_46abff1cb2.jpg)
The engine room's Chief Engineer, Conrad Milster, has amassed a collection of wonderful steam whistles. Note that "whistle" here is kind of a misnomer: these are the annunciators found on tugboats and factories designed to be audible for miles! Anyway, Milsner has hooked his collection up to a manifold, and at the stroke of midnight he activates the steam valves, loosing a chest-juddering cacophony of steam that jets hundreds of feet into the air. It's really the most fun I've had short of blowing things up.
![Steam Whistles at Pratt Institute New Year's Eve](https://live.staticflickr.com/8672/16015021480_061b748a53.jpg)
Also hooked up to the steam pipe was this calliope. These instruments provide the familiar carnival music associated with carousels. The trademark creepy out-of-tune sound arises from the pitch changing as the steam condenses in the organ pipes.
![Steam Calliope at Pratt Institute](https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7520/16016572607_75161c26ed.jpg)
Here's an NY Daily News article with pictures of Conrad Milster and his setup in the daytime. Sadly it seems like this was the last year for the event.