JeffPo's Railroad Lantern Page
Last update: 11/30/09
The very nature of operating a train and a train yard means that you have to have a means of communication. During the days of steam locomotives and early diesel, the noise and distance involved with train operations pretty much rules out speaking or yelling, especially since common radio devices weren't yet available. Any device used would also have to be portable, since those working on the line were constantly on the move. While flags and semaphores might work during the day, how about at night? The most effective means of nighttime communications was the kerosene lantern (oil in the earlier days).
The kerosene lantern was a portable, efficient light source, that could be easily seen. Even after electric flashlights began showing up, some railroad workers still preferred the lantern because it lasted longer (i.e. no batteries), gave better light (i.e. the flashlight was too directional), and I've even read about where multiple lamps were used on cold nights to provide for some warmth. At any rate, lanterns have enjoyed a long history with the railroad and today have become collector items for those fascinated with the railroad as a hobby.
And like others who are spellbound by America's history of railroads, I too have entered the fray of collecting railroad lanterns. I guess I should be a little more descriptive. I'm not a true collector in the sense of looking for value or investment. I just like the fact that these devices were used by hardworking blue collar men, on our nation's railways in the dead of night. When I fire up a lantern I like to imagine that someone else did the same, decades ago, as they reported for work at the rail yard. I thought I would create this webpage to share what I have and how they were used. Enjoy.
Wanted Lantern Items
Signals
Various railroad workers, such as engineers and brakemen, used the lantern to signal instructions to others (such as the locomotive engineer). A rail yard is a busy place. Hooking up and rearranging railroad cars took a lot of coordination and proper communication. The lighted kerosene lantern was just the right tool for use at night. Railroads used four colored globes and one clear for their signaling.
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The white/clear lantern was used by the brakeman to give the general, more common signals around the rail yard. They were swung by hand. A white lantern (or a green lantern) could be used to stop a train at a flag station. A flag station is a location where one would want to ride one or two days a week, but would otherwise be too costly for a train to stop everyday if there weren't any passengers. It could be hung from the building or swung by hand. |
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The red lantern was generally used to signal STOP.
This could be at the tower, a flag station, etc.
Sometimes a red lantern was hung on the rear of the tender. Sometimes a red lantern was hung on the end of a caboose as a rear marker. A red lantern might also be hung outside the tower to indicate the train needs to stop for Form 31 orders. Orders are instructions from the dispatcher, delivered through the operator, to the engineer and conductor of a train which either gives them the authority to operate, as in the case of an extra train, or modifies the schedule which exists in the timetable. Unlike Form 19 orders, Form 31 orders require the train to stop and the engineer and conductor must each sign for the order. |
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The blue lantern was used for marking equipment that wasn't to be moved. It was hung on the various equipment, such as boxcars or locomotives, that were being worked on. |
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The signal green lantern was used as a tower signal
for "proceed with caution".
The green lantern (or amber/yellow lantern) was also used by switch tenders to indicate that the switches were aligned properly. The green lantern was also used by the wreck master (the one in charge at the scene of a wreck cleanup) to signal the wrecker operator and the engineer of the work train positioning the wrecker. The engineer of the wreck train could only act on a green signal given by the wreck master. A green lantern (or a white lantern) could be used to stop a train at a flag station. |
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The amber/yellow lantern was used to mark "camp cars". Camp cars were railroad cars that track repair men or other repair people lived in when many miles from home. They ate and slept in them. Switch tenders (people that manually threw the railroad switches) also used the amber/yellow lantern (or the green lantern) for signaling to indicate that the switches were aligned properly. An amber/yellow lantern could also be hung as a tower signal to indicate that Form 19 orders were to be handed up to conductor and engineer. Form 19 orders are "hooped" (affixed to a stick with a hoop on it that the engineer could put his arm through to grab it) up to the engineer and conductor by the operator once the train is underway. In other words, the train did not have to stop to receive Form 19 orders. |
As mentioned above, a white light was used for hand signaling. Below is a diagram of the various types of signals that would be communicated:
My Railroad Lanterns
Some of my railroad lantern collection is displayed in my living room, along a wall of my cathedral ceiling. I created the railroad crossbuck to give it more visual appeal.
Below is a more detailed look at each lantern in my collection. Click on an image to see a larger picture, more pictures of the lantern, and some information on the associated railroad.
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| Armspear lantern for Erie Railroad. Clear globe. | Hiram Piper lantern for Canadian Pacific Railroad. | Dietz lantern for New Haven Railroad. Clear globe. | Adlake lantern for Penn Central Railroad. |
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| Dietz lantern for New York Central Railroad. Red globe. | Dressel lantern for Pennsylvania Railroad | Adlake lantern for Southern Railway. Clear globe. | Adlake switch lamp. |
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| Dietz lantern for Reading Railroad. Red globe. | Dressel crossing gate lamp. | Adlake lantern for Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. Blue globe. | Dietz #39 lantern. Red globe. |
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| Dietz #6 lantern for New York Central Railroad. Clear globe. | Dressel switch lamp for Maine Central Railroad. | Dietz lantern for New York Central Railroad. Signal green globe. | Dietz lantern for New Haven Railroad. Red globe. |
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| Dietz #6 lantern for New York Central Railroad (more detailed). Clear globe. | Dietz lantern for for Maine Central Railroad. Signal green globe. | Dressel switch lamp for Wabash Railroad. | Adlake lantern. |
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| Dietz #6 lantern for Boston & Albany Railroad. Clear globe. | Dietz #6 lantern for New York Central Railroad. Red globe. | Adlake lantern for Pennsylvania Railroad. Clear globe. | Adlake lantern for Southern Railway. Signal green globe. |
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| Dressel Stainless derail lamp | Dressel Stainless switch lamp | Handlan marker lamp | Adlake Reflex switch lamp |
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| Adlake lantern for Norfolk & Western Railway. Red globe. |
Adlake bellbottom switch lamp. |
Adlake lantern for Baltimore & Ohio railroad. Clear globe. | Adlake lantern for Boston & Maine railroad. Red globe. |
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| Adlake bellbottom switch lamp for Union Pacific Railroad | Adlake bellbottom lantern for Grand Trunk Railway. Clear globe. | Handlan lantern for New York Central Railroad. Red globe. | Dietz lantern for Reading Railroad. Amber globe. |
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| Adlake lantern for Delaware & Hudson railroad. Clear globe. | Armspear lantern for the Louisville & Nashville railroad. Red globe. | Vesta lantern for Boston & Maine railroad. Amber globe. | Hiram L. Piper marker lamp for Canadian National Railways |
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coming soon |
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Vesta lantern for Pittsburg & Lake Erie railroad. Red globe. |
Adlake lantern for Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway |
Pyle marker lamps |
Adlake lantern for Norfolk & Western Railway. Clear globe. |
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Armspear lantern for the Erie railroad. Clear globe. |
JeffPo's Franken-Lamp |
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Lantern Parts
Need a lantern globe or lamp lens? How about a burner or fuel fount? If you're looking for lantern/lamp parts, Larry & Doris Krise should be your first stop. Take a look at their list of parts and prices: Krise Depot.
Restoring and cleaning lanterns
If you’ve ever watched the Antiques Roadshow or similar program, you’ve probably seen an appraisal of a piece of furniture go like this:
Appraiser: “You’ve got a lovely piece here that is in excellent condition.”
Owner: “Thanks. What’s it worth?”
Appraiser: “It would easily bring $2500 at auction.”
Owner: “Wow! I didn’t realize it was worth that much.”
Appraiser: “And if you had not refinished it, it would bring one million dollars!”
I’m exaggerating, but that seems to be the theme. Leave furniture the way it is if you want to maintain its value. Thankfully that is not the case with railroad lanterns. I’ve been watching auctions and sales for years and the cleaned and restored lanterns are the ones that go for more money. So if you have an old lantern don’t hesitate to clean it up, remove the rust, or even repaint it in case of switch lamps. The only exception might be the really old stuff like those older, fixed globe lanterns, or lanterns that had a japanned coating.
Fine steel wool and brillo pads do wonders in cleaning up your basic dirty lantern. Some people are experts at removing rust. I’m not, so if the brillo pad doesn’t do it, that’s as far as I can go. But others use lye, bead blasting, etc. to get a lantern looking like new. You can also protect a lantern by applying an enamel clearcoat to it if you don’t plan on using it. I’ve done that to a few, but now I mostly just wipe them down with a cloth and machine oil. On a couple of my switch lamps I’ve used Rustoleum enamel spray paint to give them a fresh coat.
Using a railroad lantern around the house
I encourage everyone to fire up their lantern. They make great mood lighting and can be used as a centerpiece on the table during the evening meal. And you never know when a train might come by and you'll need it! :) Some folks have asked me what fuel to use in their railroad lantern. The simple answer is fresh kerosene.
Another fuel possibility is ultra pure lamp oil. My wife complained about the scent of kerosene so I started using lamp oil. But a few words of caution. Some have claimed that because lamp oil is paraffin based, it won’t wick properly (i.e. provide enough fuel to the flame) in wider sized wicks. I haven’t had that problem on my short globe or Vesta lanterns, nor my round wick switch lamps. Secondly, lamp oil does not burn as bright as kerosene. There is a notable difference. So if you want to use the lantern as a light source, you might should stick with kerosene. Thirdly, lamp oil still has a scent that some might object to. Even I get tired of it when it’s a concentrated smell. A fellow collector says he uses scented lamp oils. I haven’t tried that yet, but have considered it. Lastly, I’ve heard that once you’ve used a wick with lamp oil, you can’t go back to using it with kerosene because of the paraffin content now in the wick. Don’t know how true that is, but you might want to have some extra wicks on hand if you’re experimenting with kerosene versus lamp oil.
Other Railroad Related Pages On My Site
Railroad Lanterns (current webpage)
Wax sealers, telegraph, whistle
Railroad Lantern Resource and Information
Krise Depot. For railroad lantern and other parts, Larry & Doris Krise should be your first stop.
http://www.railroadiana.org/pgLanterns.shtml Lantern section of the website of Railroadiana Online. It outlines about everything you'd ever want to know about lanterns, from manufacturing details to restoration. Awesome site with awesome information. Lantern and globe surveys. If you only want to consult one railroad lantern site, this is probably it.
http://www.kerosenelantern.net Roger Kessler's collection of old lanterns. If you want to see what the various lanterns look like (railroad and otherwise), go here. He's also been very helpful answering questions I've posed to him about railroad lanterns and their restoration.
http://www.railroadcollectors.org Railroadiana Collectors Association. General information along with stuff on cleaning/restoring lanterns, as well as info on fake and reproduction lanterns/globes.
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/railroadiana/overview The Collectors Weekly. A way to look for your favorite items on Ebay. This link is for railroad stuff.
http://railroadmemories.com Auction site for railroad stuff. Minimum bids seem kind of high for some stuff, but it's a place to go other than Ebay.
ttp://madisonrails.railfan.net Roger Hensley's Railroads of Madison County. Photos, information, and stories about railroading in that region. Check out the articles on the Memory Pages. Contributor Maurice Lewman has given me great information on lantern signals.
Golden Spike Enterprises Lists some of the bigger trains shows and events on the east coast. They also have an auction, but they charge you for the catalog.
http://www.klnl.org Key, Lock & Lantern. Lantern and globe surveys and general information.
http://www.lanternnet.com W.T. Kirkman Oil & Electric Lanterns. Good information on lanterns, some history, etc. Some info on cleaning lanterns. They also sell a nice selection of new lanterns, even a "railroad style" version. They also sell lantern parts.
Below is a list of lanterns or lantern related items I’m in the market for. If someone has these items for sale, let me know.
1) Drop-in fuel fount/tank for Armspear 1925 short globe lantern. I need two founts and one burner.
2) Dietz No. 6 RR lantern globe. This is a tall globe that is cast with DIETZ 6 RR at the top. I’d prefer a red one.
3) Drop-in fuel fount/tank & burner for Dietz No. 39 lantern.
4) Dietz No. 39 lantern globe. This is a tall globe that is cast with DIETZ 39 RR at the top.
5) Dietz N.Y. N.H.&H. Vesta lantern frame/fount. Globe not needed.
6) N&W short globe lantern.
Globe not needed. Got one!
7) PRR short globe lantern/fount. Globe not needed.
8) SOUTHERN RY short globe lantern with marked amber globe.
9) Any lantern with a marked cobalt blue globe.
10) Marker lamp with bracket.
Got one!
11) Drop-in fuel fount/burner for Dietz "Steel Clad" lantern
12) B&O tall globe lantern frame/fount. A Casey would be nice. Globe not needed
13) D&H tall globe lantern frame. Globe not needed. Fount not needed if it's an Adlake Reliable.
14) Marked P&LE RR (Pittsburg & Lake Erie) Vesta globe (ClearCast, RedCast, ClearEtched, or AmberEtched).
15) Any Casey lantern with marked globe.
16) And any other lantern, lamp, globe, or part you may have to sell. If you have something, let me know. I'm also interested in other railroad items such as locks, watches, telegraphs, pins, etc.
