Are there any more Thunderbolts in Franklin County Ohio?

[Jared H]

Newark's 1000 - which, by the way, is a 1959 5M, is active, it just has a busted rotator. The guy who does the work on it is actually on the board - hey guy, if you see this, you might want to let the city know about that!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_EHRLq4ZIo

[SirokatM1]

The Newark Thunderbolt might not even have a rotator in there. If you look at a siren map of Newark, one of their Thunderbeams is awfully close to the back side of the Thunderbolt. Probably just a bit over 3 quarters of a mile away even. That leads me to believe that when the system was installed, the Thunderbolt's rotator never worked or it even may not have one. Either that or the rotator broke at some point, so instead of fixing it they moved that Thunderbeam behind it. It really is an interesting system.

[carexpertandy]

The Newark Thunderbolt might not even have a rotator in there. If you look at a siren map of Newark, one of their Thunderbeams is awfully close to the back side of the Thunderbolt. Probably just a bit over 3 quarters of a mile away even. That leads me to believe that when the system was installed, the Thunderbolt's rotator never worked or it even may not have one. Either that or the rotator broke at some point, so instead of fixing it they moved that Thunderbeam behind it. It really is an interesting system.

Oh, it's rotator used to work alright. One guy who lived in Newark used to have videos of it as well as some of Newark's other sirens, and was a member of this forum. For personal reasons, he wanted his account here deactivated and shut down his YouTube accounts.

[Fletch]

I remember as a kid seeing a Thunderbeam while driving with family in Newark once in the 1990's and I thought it was the most bizarre looking siren ever.

As a side note, anybody remember seeing an SD-10 somewhere in Central Ohio? I'm 100% positive I saw one probably 25 years ago but I can't recall where.

[Тһundеrbοlt1000Tfan]

I believe that's still active as I've passed it a few times this summer and would occasionally see it in a different position.

Is it still there as of this year? If it is, has it changed positions at all within the past year or so?

Sorry for the extremely late response. I've passed it several times the last few years, and I always look out for it. It's still on top of the building, but its position has not changed at all as it still faces somewhat west. Unless of course there's a beautiful coincidence that every time I pass through, it just happens to rotate itself back to that direction after numerous tests. I doubt that theory though, and I'm guessing it's dead or out of the system. The Thunderbeam is also still standing, but I've never memorized where the plate is facing because it's hard to tell when I'm driving fast on the highway.

I actually managed to finally catch it going off in May of this year (3rd time was the charm). Turns out it has a broken rotator, but besides that, it seems to work just fine. Here's the video I got of it a few months ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_EHRLq4ZIo

[Startug]

As some already know, I got the last standing one from the west side of Columbus, but I remember reading somewhere about one still standing downtown near the arena district or something. I don't know... :/

This is a really late response, but I can confirm after living in Columbus for the last few months that there is one Thunderbolt standing. I don't think it's operational, but it's behind the bus garage on Kenny Rd near Lane Ave, somewhat close to the arena district and just west of downtown.

[Josh R]

As some already know, I got the last standing one from the west side of Columbus, but I remember reading somewhere about one still standing downtown near the arena district or something. I don't know... :/

This is a really late response, but I can confirm after living in Columbus for the last few months that there is one Thunderbolt standing. I don't think it's operational, but it's behind the bus garage on Kenny Rd near Lane Ave, somewhat close to the arena district and just west of downtown.

There is one located here as well. I drove up and saw this one and the other one discussed previously in person before.

[Тһundеrbοlt1000Tfan]

As some already know, I got the last standing one from the west side of Columbus, but I remember reading somewhere about one still standing downtown near the arena district or something. I don't know... :/

This is a really late response, but I can confirm after living in Columbus for the last few months that there is one Thunderbolt standing. I don't think it's operational, but it's behind the bus garage on Kenny Rd near Lane Ave, somewhat close to the arena district and just west of downtown.

There is one located here as well. I drove up and saw this one and the other one discussed previously in person before.

That is actually the one I have as my profile photo.

[Purring Cat]

The West Jefferson Thunderbolt may actually be gone, but I'm sure its still there according to Google, it may be awaiting removal.

[Startug]

The West Jefferson Thunderbolt was there as of late March/early April 2020 when I passed by it. I'll check again this weekend.

Update: I ended up going out for a warm evening drive and drove through West Jefferson. The 1003 is still there.