Lantern Question Of The Day

Why would you want to get an Adlake globe from someplace other than Adlake??

Color's a personal choice. What color do you like? $35 isn't that bad--you can get more than one color at that price.

Steve,

I looked at Adlake's site, but could have sworn they were really high, just looked again and they're the same price.

Thanks for the response, I think I'll get a clear globe being that was common out on the road.

Different colors were used for different purposes, but I believe clear was the common one for signaling at night.  The two lanterns I have in my locker at work are both clear globes.

Bob,

GO SLOW! $35 for a clear 3-1/2" globe is highway robbery!

Watch eBay, even with shipping you're ahead of the game. You should be able to score a clear globe in the $15 range plus maybe $6 or so to ship.

Adlake only sells globes, they don't make them. There were several globe makers in the day.

PLEASE not $35!!!

Rich

LIONEL6457

This is a good point.  I found my complete Lake Shore & Michigan Southern lamp at an antique store for about that much.  It was in terrible shape (somebody had basically brushed on several layers of latex house paint), and I probably overpaid, but it's a fairly rare railroad to find a lantern from.  I also found it interesting due to the fact that NYC bought out the LS&MS in the early 1900's, and this lantern had its globe replaced with a NYC globe somewhere in its lifetime.  I've since stripped it and painted it silver, but eventually I'll probably get it properly tin dipped to restore the original finish.

That being said, you should be able to find a globe cheaper if you watch online auctions and similar things.

Thanks guys, I knew I saw some for $15-$19.  The clear one I have that doesn't fit looks like it has U.S. etched on it, I can see the U but not the S.

Most globes you'll find on Ebay will be marked--and therefore probably more than $35. I didn't see any unmarked clear globes for sale. The time you will spend waiting to get a $20 unmarked one, just to save that $15, is worth at least $35. But that's just me.

The globe you need is 3-1/4" high. A Kopp or Corning globe will work. Here are a few for sale.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CORNIN...;hash=item4d2de9083b

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Short-...;hash=item3cf2746259

http://www.ebay.com/itm/KOPP-C...;hash=item51c9dff46d

I took Steve's advice and went to Adlake to get the globe, along with a fount and burner.

I want to take the burner out of the lantern, but it's rusted/stuck/wedged in there pretty tight.  I figured if I tore it up trying to take it out at least I'd have one to replace it with.  Haven't attempted it yet, any thoughts on what to do?  I don't want to pry around the opening of the lantern and edge of the fount, but that may be the only way.  There's a hole in the bottom of the lantern but if I try to poke the fount from the bottom I may end up with a hole in it.

Try soaking it in "Evaporust". 

Soak the area with some penetrating oil. You may need to let it sit a day or two with repeated applications.

Alternatively, you can use Evapo-Rust. It will only dissolve the rust and not hurt the good metal. It is available at Harbor Freight.

http://www.evapo-rust.com/

DONE!!!

I soaked it in what I had, WD-40.  Then I took a small Xacto chisel blade and worked it around the edge of the fount until the blade felt like it was hitting nothing.  I then gave it a hearty tap thru the hole in the bottom with a piece of round stock and hammer.  There was a 3/8"x1-1/2" rust spot between the fount and the bottom of the lantern that was holding it in and when that gave way it came out.

No bad/permanent damage, it cleaned up pretty good with soap and water and a scotch brite.  I'm letting everything dry now.

Should I take the packing/wadding out of the fount?  Is it a solid piece or pieces packed inside?

I'll have to get some of that Evaporust next time I'm near HF.

The old fount doesn't look bad so I'll clean it up and put it back in, keep the new for "in case".  The wick is only about 2"- 2-1/2" long.

I doubt I'll ever fire it up, but I wouldn't mind seeing how it looks

Big Jim, Do you professional RR guys ever chuckle at us wannabies/modelers?  I can't imagine what you guys think when we salivate over stuff like this.  I can't think of another profession that was as dirty, dangerous, and in nasty weather as much as working on the RR (except maybe miners).

In the lanterns that I have, the wick is so long that it completely fills the reservoir. No sloshing around that way.

Chuckle over an historic lantern, nah.

Jim,

Are you saying there should be a longer wick and no packing material?  The packing material (for lack of a better word) looks like wadded up cotton to me.  The new one doesn't have anything in it (should have bought a couple of wicks).

Bob,

To tell you truth, I don't know how these things came from the factory or what should be in there. I have never studied up on lanterns. I just know that mine have a very long wick that takes up most of the space.

Most lanterns come with wadding in the font to reduce the sloshing of the lamp oil. It could be one piece or a few smaller pieces. The wadding is only necessary if you are going to be swinging the lantern around. New wicks typically start out about 6" to 8".

The lanterns I have just have wicks. You can buy new ones if necessary. 

You should use the lantern! They are fun, and the kero smell is very evocative. I use mine outside on warm summer evenings instead of candles, which tend to blow out. And yes, I do ale use them on the railroad at night (in addition to a strong LED flashlight).

As the burner element is easily removeable, you could always put something battery-powered inside if you're using it indoors and don't want o deal with something flamable inside your home.

I found a lantern at a show last weekend for $40 total with the globe, in excellent shape. The problem was, someone drilled a hole in the bottom to run electric lights into it. That was fine by me as I've bene thinbking of doing just that but would never dream of defacing a lantern by putting the hole there myself. I can't help that this one already had that done but it is in great shape otherwise. No burner was in it. I'm looking into what battery or wall-cord-power light I can put in there.

As for color lenses, clear was used for light and signalling, red was common for signalling as well, blue was often used to mark equipment as not to be moved as men were working on it. I have no idea what amber ones were for, though.

After I posted about the wadding I checked my SAL lantern and it has it too.

I pulled it out of the ACL unit, where would I find cotton wadding/waste?  Anything at a hardware store close?

I wish that I knew where to find "Waste". That is some magical stuff. Used to be that you could find it on the RR very easily. Not any more. Today's RRer's have no idea what the stufff is! I still have one wad that I saved for the express purpose of removing "begger lice" from my jeans.