Canadian Line Materials LTD. (CLM) was a Canadian siren manufacturing company which built civil defense sirens. These sirens were built and installed all over

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

to warn residents and military about incoming nuclear attacks from the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

during the Cold War. Though most CLM sirens are now decommissioned or removed, few are owned privately, with rumors about one being refurbished and put back in service in

Dashwood, Ontario Dashwood (original name ''Friedsburg'') is a small, primarily residential, community in southwestern Ontario, Canada. The former police village is located at the intersection of Bronson Line and Dashwood Road, on the boundary between the Municipal ...

History

Canadian Line Materials was a Canadian electrical manufacturing company which began business in 1957 as a division from

McGraw-Edison McGraw-Edison was an American manufacturer of electrical equipment. It was created in 1957 through a merger of McGraw Electric and Thomas A. Edison, Inc., and was in turn acquired by Cooper Industries in 1985. Today, the McGraw-Edison brand is us ...

in Scarborough, Toronto and built electrical equipment such as lightning arresters. Shortly after they began business during the Cold War, the

Canadian government The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown-in ...

contacted CLM asking if they could make civil defense sirens to warn civilians and military about incoming

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

nuclear attacks that were confirmed by NORAD. CLM accepted and began production of their sirens, installing over 1600+ sirens all over

. In 1985, CLM was sold to

Cooper Industries Cooper Industries was an American worldwide electrical products manufacturer headquartered in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1833, the company had seven operating divisions including Bussmann electrical and electronic fuses; Crouse-Hinds and CEAG ex ...

, and no longer exists.

Siren models

The CLM Model 92729DP siren (rotational CLM) is a 10/12 port rotating electromechanical siren. The decibel rating of the model is ~130 decibels. These sirens use

Lincoln Electric __NOTOC__ Lincoln Electric Holdings, Inc. is an American multinational and global manufacturer of welding products, arc welding equipment, welding consumables, plasma and oxy-fuel cutting equipment and robotic welding systems. The company is ...

5 horsepower

induction motors An induction motor or asynchronous motor is an AC electric motor in which the electric current in the rotor needed to produce torque is obtained by electromagnetic induction from the magnetic field of the stator winding. An induction mot ...

. This model of CLM is the most well-known and recognizable warning siren made by CLM. The CLM Model 92730DP siren (another rotational CLM) is presumably a similar siren to the 92729DP. There is not much info on this particular model. The CLM "Mailbox" siren series. These sirens are omni-directional 10/12 or 20/24 port electromechanical sirens with a design similar to the

WW2 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Carter siren. They are housed inside of a mailbox-style housing, earning its name. These sirens use unknown

motors. The decibel rating on these model is unknown, as nobody has done a decibel rating test or nobody has heard one on full power. Most of these have been decommissioned or removed. Known model numbers of these sirens are the 5563, 5263, 5223, and 5261. The CLM omni-directional siren. The model number on this is 92763CP. It is a oddly designed 10/12 port omnidirectional electromechanical siren. The decibel ratings on these sirens are unknown, as nobody has heard one on full power. All of these have been decommissioned or removed.

National distribution of sirens installed

Other Mentions

The Bluesmobile is a 1974 Dodge Monaco from the film ''The Blues Brothers''. The

Loudspeaker A loudspeaker (commonly referred to as a speaker or speaker driver) is an electroacoustic transducer that converts an electrical audio signal into a corresponding sound. A ''speaker system'', also often simply referred to as a "speaker" or ...

mounted atop the vehicle as a public warning siren was modelled after a CLM Model 92729DP. This specific model of siren was requested by the co-writer, Dan Aykrod.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Rotational CLM siren soundingVandalized Rotational CLM siren rotatingCLM 20/24 siren with a custom housing soundingAir Raid Sirens - Fallen CLM sirenRotational CLM siren sounding and rotating in distance
Civil defense Emergency population warning systems in Canada Sirens