The earth shook. Passers-by plugged their ears. And a 104-year Kansas University tradition was resurrected.

After three months of silence, a steam whistle’s booming signal again echoed across campus Friday afternoon.

A group of maintenance workers, some of whom helped install the whistle earlier Friday, celebrated the whistle’s return as they watched steam shoot from the top of KU’s power plant.

“Yabba dabba do!” one worker yelled.

A steam whistle has sounded on campus since 1899, and began signaling the end of classes in 1912.

But the years took their toll on the previous whistle, originally from a German freightliner and installed at KU in the early 1940s. The whistle — nicknamed “The Big Tooter” — cracked under the pressure of 175 pounds per inch of steam at 377 degrees on Jan. 22, blasting the fixture 25 feet into the air before landing on the power plant roof.

That whistle now is displayed at the Kansas Union.

Popular demand

Cash-strapped KU officials briefly considered skipping the expense of replacing the whistle, but that soon was overruled.

Kansas University's Facilities Operations workers, from left, Jack Bame, Floyd Grant and Bob Sieber affix the new steam whistle as fellow worker George Cone watches. The whistle was installed Friday on KU's power plant, where it signals the end of classes. The old whistle cracked in January.

“I was inundated with phone calls and e-mails from people who wanted the whistle back,” said George Cone, assistant director of mechanical systems. “People wanted to donate money or donate whistles, most of them way too small. I was shocked, I really was.”

One of those who missed the whistle was Neal Lintecum, a Lawrence surgeon who graduated from the KU School of Medicine in 1990. Lintecum donated $4,000 in memory of his father to cover the cost of the whistle.

Funeral services for Lintecum’s father, Dean Lintecum of Prairie Village, were Jan. 22, the same day The Big Tooter gave its own farewell. Dean Lintecum, a 1955 KU graduate in architecture, was an avid KU football fan, missing only two home football games in the past 35 years.

“He had a great love for KU, and he’d appreciate any gift for KU,” Neal Lintecum said. “I just think it’s a nice tradition to have that marker for time in Lawrence.”

Rare product

KU's old steam whistle, which came from a German ship, is on display at the Kansas Union near the Hawk's Nest.

Even with funding in hand, the whistle-replacement project wasn’t easy. Whistles are a rare commodity, considering they’re not produced en masse and there are only six operating steam ships left in the United States. Most steam whistles in industrial use are found in prisons.

The university turned to Aaron Richardson, a Cincinnati resident and owner of Richardson’s Landing, which casts steam and air whistles. The company grew out of Richardson’s love of steam boats, but he hasn’t been too busy — he’s cast only 12 whistles in the company’s four years of operation.

Richardson modeled KU’s whistle after the one on the 1920s-era George M. Verity steamboat, which is now at a museum in Keokuk, Iowa. It’s a “plain bell whistle,” meaning it has four separate whistles that each has its own note to form a chord. The 250-pound whistle, made of bronze and steel, looks something like a candelabra.

Aaron Richardson looks at KU's new steam whistle upon completing its construction. Richardson, of Cincinnati OH was contracted by a private donor to replace the old steam whistle which broke January 22.

The previous whistle, a “chime whistle,” had a single unit with three chambers that produced a three-note chord.

The replacement whistle arrived on campus about 10 a.m. Friday. It took a team of KU workers about 20 minutes to mount it on a 1 1/2-inch pipe atop the power plant. They allowed steam to heat the whistle before testing, which began about 2 p.m.

The workers tweaked the whistle until they got just the right sound. Cone said it was designed to have a slightly lower tone than The Big Tooter.

The new fixture soon should begin sounding regularly at 20 minutes past the hour — signaling the end of classes. Workers need to add extra bracing and insulation around the whistle before the installation is complete.

‘Long-running tradition’

Onlookers greeted the whistle’s return.

KU Facility Operations worker Jack Bame, left, and the new whistle's maker Aaron Richardson get ready to hoist the new whistle via a cherry picker. The new whistle, a 4 plane bell, was installed above the KU power plant Friday.

Pat Bame, who works in the Office of Student Financial Aid, took a break from her Strong Hall office to watch the installation in the morning.

“We’ve missed it,” she said. “It’s tradition. It needs to keep going.”

Jodi Oldfather, a senior from Hilo, Hawaii, stood nearby during the testing Friday afternoon.

“That’s awesome,” she said. “It’s a big part of campus. We’ll be getting out of class on time now, that’s for sure.”

Richardson was pleased with the sound, too. He had only tested the whistle once at his shop behind his house before making the drive to Lawrence. His neighbors, it seems, don’t care much for the tests.

He said the whistle was the highest-profile project he’d worked on.

“I think the fact it’s such a long-running tradition is why so many people seem interested in it,” Richardson said. “It’s pretty exciting. Countless numbers of people will hear this.”

¢ 6News video: Steam whistle back at work¢Hear the old whistle blow¢ 6News video: Endowment association gets pledges for whistle¢ Endowment Association establishes fund to help replace steam whistle