# Found an old railway lantern light in the basement of grandparents house...



## TrevorNasko (Dec 27, 2007)

Ok so this light has been hanging around for as long as I can remember but even in the furious height of my flashlight bug I never gave it a second thought until this year. Thankfully it was still there untouched this year when I went down to claim it as my own. 

I believe it takes the square 6volt lantern cells but don't know much past that. Two bulbs are installed in the bottom and one is running loose inside. There is a stamp on the side that says N&WRY which stands for "Norfolk and Western Railway". My grandfather worked for them once upon a time. 

The top has something on it too but I haven't put much effort into trying to see what it says. If you want me to I will do so. 

I don't expect it's worth much since it's been painted at some point (silver on the body and red on the top- the bottom is still unpainted and chrome). I don't really care about that since its worth more to me as a keepsake and peice of flashlight history (my oldest). I would much rather it ben painted an in good condition as it is now than unpainted and covered in rust or corrosion. Below are pictures. If you know something about this light please chime in. I would love to get it working again too (deoxit!!!!). 

Side shot with the very new REX photonlight. Get along you guys!






Looking straight into the business end. Oh the mighty photons that this beast must emit. I think the partial reflector is kinda cool. Does that other bulb light up too or is it there for quick changes. Throws me off to have the bulbs all exposed like that. Especially since it is a hard use light that would likely have seen all sorts of elements and the like. 





Here she is all opened up. I plan on going over the inside with some deoxit lightly and getting it all cleaned up. It's in surprisingly good condition for how long it has been out of commision. My grandfather took very good care of everything he owned. This is obviously no exception. Note the holes in the metal of the cap. This looks like where spare bulbs could be stored. Smart considering they likely went all the time.





Thanks for looking!


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## Niteowl (Dec 28, 2007)

Very cool to have an item like that from your family past. 

I can imagine someone (your grandfather perhaps?) swinging it off the side of the caboose to signal the engineer many cars ahead.


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## will (Dec 28, 2007)

My Dad had a few of them when he worked on the railroad. The bulb that is is on the flat area was red on his lights. It did take a large square battery, 6 volts if I remember correctly. His were silver in color.

He also had a large pocket watch, 17 jewels for correct time. 
interesting note on the watch. 
It can only be wound, the is no way to set the time without taking it apart. The time was set by some official for the railroad. That way the train crews could not say they were late because their watches were off.


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## TrevorNasko (Dec 28, 2007)

Interesting note on the watch. Something like that never occurred to me. I suppose that doesnt stop them from letting it run down a bit and then rewinding it but again- the issue is always with the user. 

Anyone know the brand or model this light is? I would love to get more information about it.


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## Mockingbird (Dec 28, 2007)

Nice find! My brother still has the kerosene signal lantern that my grandpa used when he worked for Union Pacific. It has a red glass globe and a clear glass globe.


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## Jeritall (Dec 28, 2007)

Your light was made by the Star Headlight and Lantern co..

goto: http://www.railroadiana.org/lanterns/pgLanterns_VariousShorts.php


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## bones_708 (Dec 28, 2007)

Hard to tell which light it might be. It looks like a Conger, but all that I've seen have wing nuts that attach the handle to the body unlike your light. It may be an Adlake or numerous other brands. Star is a strong possibility. Not worth much $15-$20 usually even in the best of condition. Both lights should work. There should be a switch, a long slide switch or leaver, on the body just back from the head. That would select between the two bulbs. One was a "spot" light the other a "signal" light.


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## Hoghead (Dec 28, 2007)

To the best of my knowledge the reason for the two bulbs is so that if primary lamp burns out while you are signaling you can just switch to the secondary bulb.

The primary bulb is the one in the reflector.

I don't know any reason for the use of red bulbs, but yellow bulbs were required for bridge tenders. Trains were not allowed to respond to any color of light except for yellow from the bridge tenders. A bridge tender is the guy that operates bridges that swing, lift or draw.

The bulbs/lamps that we were furnished with was the number 502, but we much prefered the number 427. The 427 was much brighter than the 502, but the batteries had to be replaced daily with the 427 and the bulbs didn't last near as long as the 502. These are screw based bulbs.

Current issue lanters use PR based bulbs.


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## Burgess (Dec 29, 2007)

Wow, what a cool "old" light this is, Trevor. :thumbsup:


Thank you for sharing it with us.



Glad to read the insights and tidbits from others, too.



Old lights certainly have a "charm" of their own, eh ?


If they could only talk. 

_


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## will (Dec 29, 2007)

Hoghead said:


> I don't know any reason for the use of red bulbs, ....




I do not know the usage of the red bulb either. The lantern was last used when my dad was the conductor for passenger service on Long Island.


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## Mockingbird (Dec 29, 2007)

Here is some info from a site I found.
http://www.railroadiana.org/globes/pgGlobes.php

Color Indication 
(a) Red Stop 
(b) Yellow Proceed at reduced speed, and for other uses prescribed by the rules. 
(c) Green Proceed , and for other uses prescribed by the rules. 
(d) White Flag stop (See rule 28) and for other uses prescribed by the rules. 
(e) Blue See Rule 26. 
(f) Purple Stop. (Indication for siding derails) 
Rule 26. A blue signal, displayed at one or both ends of an engine, car, or train, indicates that workmen are under or about it; when thus protected it must not be coupled to or moved. Each class of workmen will display the blue signals and the same workmen alone are authorized to remove them. Other equipment must not be placed on the same track so as to intercept the view of the blue signals, without first notifying the workmen. 
Rule 28. A white signal will be used to stop a train at the flag stations indicated on its schedule or in special instructions. [See discussion below about green globes and flag stops.]


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## Hoghead (Dec 29, 2007)

will said:


> I do not know the usage of the red bulb either. The lantern was last used when my dad was the conductor for passenger service on Long Island.


 

After reading the link Mockingbird provided, it seems that red was used for flaging. Flaging was done by a brakeman walking back from a caboose to a prescribed distance. Then he would place two torpeedos (an exploding signaling device that exploded when a train ran over it) then return half of the distance to the caboose and remain there until recalled. We never used red lights, but we used and still use red fusses (flares) and red flags.

Flagging was done to provide protection from following trains in dark territory. Dark territory is track without signal protection.


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## TrevorNasko (Dec 30, 2007)

Wow! Thanks for the plethora of information guys! I knew that coming here would yeild lots of information but I had no idea I would get this much.

I see now that the faint lettering on the top does indeed say Star Headlamp and Lantern and Rochester, NY. I am silly for not paying more attention to that. 

As I said before i don't care much about the price of resale as i want to keep it as an oddity. It's such a cool light.


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## TrevorNasko (Dec 30, 2007)

*Pictures of restored working light! Beamshots!!!*

First of all the beamshots. For it's age I am actually very impressed at its output.





And here is the light turned on. Both bulbs work and you can select between them as others have stated. Really high technology. Not to mention that the switch STILL WORKS PERFECTLY. They rarely make em like they used to.


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## dieselducy (Jan 4, 2008)

yes, it is an old N&W conductor lantern.. now N&W is Norfolk Southern. I work for Norflok Southern, here is the lanterns we use now. they are made by Starlite, and I believe that one you have might be as well. The reflector on your lantern throws much better than this current issue lantern. the reason being, the [email protected][email protected] managers hide in the bushes trying to write you up, and with the older style lantern, it was easier to spot them. I worked a local with a guy that had one of these older lanterns and it out threw my beam by atleast 100 feet. these new ones only project the beam MAYBEE 20 ft. another proof that the RR could care less about safety.




Image hosted by Flickr.com
http://flickr.com/photos/dieselducy/482217103


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## maxspeeds (Jan 5, 2008)

*I find it very interesting how the design has remained timeless. Awesome pictures. This made my Saturday!*


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## RonaldB (Mar 3, 2008)

Regarding the red bulbs, in Canada they are required to protect public road crossings at night , for example when the gates are malfunctioning. When we still had cabooses, they were supplied as an emegency marker (tailight) if the generator failed. Originally caboose tailights were kerosene, but when they went to generator equipped cabooses, the railways elimiated these and trainman lanterns with red bulbs were supplied. These were much less expensive.

As for the new lanterns being intentionally designed to throw less light to prevent seeing managers hiding in the bushes, this is amusing but more paranoia than realistic. The fact is, star and other companies have redesigned the lanterns to reduce production costs, and I agree that they throw less light, but they are pretty dependable. The new star ones use krypton bulbs which dictated a redesigned reflector.The older metal lanterns had a habit of blacking out in wet weather, these new ones don't seem to be so affected. I've been working as a trainman and conductor for 35 years.


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## Burgess (Mar 3, 2008)

Thank you, RonaldB, for your info and insight.

:twothumbs


Oh, and Welcome to CandlePowerForums !

:welcome:

_


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