Railroadiana Items In Your Collection

I found this lantern in a filthy condition at a train meet about ten years ago.  Knowing the "Charge of Quarters" enjoyed having candles or tea lights lit while she enjoyed our back porch in the evening, I gave the dealer $40 for the lantern and took it home.  When I put it on the kitchen counter, Sylvia was surprised, but got out some cleaner and a rag.  Inside of 15 minutes, she had it clean and pointed out where "NY Central System" was embossed in the top metal part of the lantern.   It works fine, burning plain old lamp oil you buy in Walmart or Target.

Lanterns are fun because you can actually use them.

@smd4 posted:

We moved last year, and I had movers move my bell, down a flight of stairs from the old house, and up a flight of stairs to the new house. They were not happy. 300 lbs. may be about right.

Not anywhere as fun for the movers as my wood phone booth!

@Jeff B. Haertlein posted:

With all this discussion and the great artifacts shown, does anyone out there have a Great Northern Ry. caboose marker made by Dressel? I am looking to pair mine off for display purposes in my GN wood caboose located on display in North Freedom at the Mid-Continent Ry. Museum. Thanks.

wbg pete, Is there any significance to the picture of the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom in your pictures?  I served as an F-4 Fire control troop at Seymour Johnson AFB in Goldsboro N.C. from 1967 to 1970.

Above is the builder plate for an ALCO S2, which was used by the US Army during WW2.

Below is the government acceptance plate for a postwar Plymouth 4-wheel "DDT" series diesel switcher. The ALCO plate was made from cast iron, and I think the Plymouth plate is steel.

Railroadiana and other types of memorabilia are very interesting pieces of history and have different meanings to model railroad buffs as well as those folks that just love Railroading. From riding the rails, to watching fun videos, and those that take great pictures, it’s all Fun, and this is a great thread to review. I do not have much to show, but I like what others are offering for our pleasure. Happy Railroading Everyone

@Bill Park posted:

wbg pete, Is there any significance to the picture of the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom in your pictures?  I served as an F-4 Fire control troop at Seymour Johnson AFB in Goldsboro N.C. from 1967 to 1970.

Ooops, my bad. Did not mean to include that photo. Homecoming picture after a 7 month deployment in the mid-70’s.

I've been meaning to post these for a bit, so here they are. A whole case of B&O water bottles used on their dining cars and the lexan holder to serve the water. The B&O bottled them from the Boiling spring at their Deer Park Hotel resort in Maryland.

Happy Holidays,

Scott

That is an awesome piece Scott. Thanks for sharing.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Received this original B&M map of Cape Ann, Massachusetts (a small peninsula off the Atlantic Ocean on Boston's "North Shore" - about 3/4 of the way between Boston and the New Hampshire/Maine border) as a holiday gift.

Shows the branch lines serving Swampscott and Marblehead in the south; Gloucester and Rockport towards the east; Ipswich to the north; and several towns in between.

These were maybe lines originally of the Eastern Railroad which B&M acquired in the late 1880's. The map says it was issued by the B&M passenger department and is not dated, but my guess is turn of the century.

Items from the East Tennessee and Western North Carolina railroad:

RPO marked for their final day of RPO operations, mailed by Robert Richardson to himself:

Pieces of two ET&WNC cars, framed on my layout room wall:

Some of the previous stuff is framed on the wall, along with a 1940 timtable:

Original spike, recently recovered near the first Doe River bridge near Hampton, TN

Drewery tickets; I have a few of these:

Was looking for a coal stove to stage next to the station agent's desk. Got this potbelly stove from my daughter-in-law's father. Added some coal to the coal bucket and a flickering flame led light inside.

Joe,

  Very nice. I have a very heavy PRR caboose stove buried in my basement. I like your coal bucket, too!

Tom

Here is one set of a few I still possess from the 1989 Electro Motive Division (EMD) open house, La Grange,IL plant, if I recall correctly my Father (RIP) told me they were stamped from blank forged piston stock as I rember one could take as many as you wanted from the bins in the tour isles, he would bring blue prints for the locomotives he would be working on and tell me to study them, he was a welder/ fitter, not to mention the Locomotive builder plates he would give me, all in the garbage, very sad, if I only knew better back then, as a kid I went to the open houses as well as the Christmas open houses for employees and their families, miss that period of lost history,

@oldpirate posted:

Here is one set of a few I still possess from the 1989 Electro Motive Division (EMD) open house, La Grange,IL plant, if I recall correctly my Father (RIP) told me they were stamped from blank forged piston stock as I rember one could take as many as you wanted from the bins in the tour isles, he would bring blue prints for the locomotives he would be working on and tell me to study them, he was a welder/ fitter, not to mention the Locomotive builder plates he would give me, all in the garbage, very sad, if I only knew better back then, as a kid I went to the open houses as well as the Christmas open houses for employees and their families, miss that period of lost history,

I assume you've looked up what even those type of plates are going for now?

Reminds me of a guy I knew in Maryland, his Dad worked for the PRR and came home with dozens of steam builder plates, so many that they used them as 'stepping stones' to their front door. He showed me a blurry photo clearly showing them. He was off to college when his mother decided to get rid of them and she made his Dad throw them all into the trash bins. Not long before she passed, he told her how much they were going for by then and his mother said, "That was the dumbest thing I ever did, bar none!"

@p51 posted:

I assume you've looked up what even those type of plates are going for now?

Reminds me of a guy I knew in Maryland, his Dad worked for the PRR and came home with dozens of steam builder plates, so many that they used them as 'stepping stones' to their front door. He showed me a blurry photo clearly showing them. He was off to college when his mother decided to get rid of them and she made his Dad throw them all into the trash bins. Not long before she passed, he told her how much they were going for by then and his mother said, "That was the dumbest thing I ever did, bar none!"

p51, I agree, at one time I just started to clean up and pitch in the trash items, saying to myself, what am I needing these for, Pops would of been ****ed off, but at the time I knew no better, pretty sad.

Only 2 items of Railroadiana I have are a train station bench and a kerosene lantern from a caboose.  I bought the bench this past summer in upstate NY.  I was told it is in original condition never having been restored or worked on.  I was told it could have come from a trolley since the back can be flipped so you can sit on the other side...it is very cool and sits in our dining room.

The caboose lantern I got from my father when he passed away.  He painted it chevy orange about 40 years ago.  One day I need to replace the top/cap as we never had it.  I remember my dad lighting it when I was young and it was so bright...I loved it!

@oldpirate posted:

Here is one set of a few I still possess from the 1989 Electro Motive Division (EMD) open house, La Grange,IL plant, if I recall correctly my Father (RIP) told me they were stamped from blank forged piston stock

No. Those "coins" were made of powdered metal, which was an in-house process where the "powder" was pressed into the desired shape and then run through the heat-treating oven. Once cooled, they are nice and smooth and required no machining. That process was used to produce precession small engine top-deck "jewelry" parts.

as I rember one could take as many as you wanted from the bins in the tour isles, he would bring blue prints for the locomotives he would be working on and tell me to study them, he was a welder/ fitter, not to mention the Locomotive builder plates he would give me, all in the garbage, very sad, if I only knew better back then, as a kid I went to the open houses as well as the Christmas open houses for employees and their families, miss that period of lost history,

@Hot Water posted:

Hot Water, Thank You for the clarification, Frank,

Here are a few things from my collection of WW2 military railroad stuff.

My Lackawanna explosives sign is 100 years old apparently.  Don’t know the age of the LV Anthracite sign, but I’ve had both a long time.  It’s cool to find stuff after a move !

Rich in SD

I picked this up at an antique store this weekend.   I like the colors!

It's about 3 ft long.

@Train Nut posted:

I picked this up at an antique store this weekend.   I like the colors!

It's about 3 ft long.

That may have been mine at one time! A guy to cleaned out my basement a few years ago when I moved to another house. One of those went in the deal.

I think this is a RR piece since the DL&W had a nice station in Hallstead, PA.  Who else would have bothered to mention the state unless it was for traveler’s info ?  The glass is pretty thick & the letters are cut into the glass.  If anyone has any opinions or knowledge on Lackawanna signage - I’d love to hear from them.

Rich in SD

I love seeing the railroad items people have collected in these posts. This all adds to the enjoyment of the hobby. My son and I have added some railroad items to our railroad shed. Here are a couple of photos.

Some odds and ends today.

Here are two Dietz Vesta lanterns I recently restored. The one on the left is from the CRR of NJ and the one on the right is from the NYNH&H.

Here are a bunch of Disney railroad pins.

A porcelain close clearance sign from the Reading Railroad.

One of the railroadiana display cases in the train room.

Some night time photos.

Here is my shorty crossing signal.  Yes it was this tall when in service due to be up on a tall concrete foundation and a crossing on a hill.  But had different lamps.  I have the relays to make this all work, hunting a small relay cabinet to put it all in.   

Stumbled into a flea market in Iowa, and this nickel plated 5 chime Star was just being set out on the table. It's polished and nickel plated presentation piece. It's almost exactly like one I bought a few years in Council Bluffs, both no doubt from Union Pacific.

@locopilot750 Nice find on the whistle.

Got this from a vendor at the Great Train Show in Ventura, CA earlier this year.  It's 32" x 24" and was homemade out of plywood and 1" x 2" lumber by someone likely years ago based on the yellowing of the varnish.  Needs a little tidy up and the clock needs a new motor, but it only cost me six bucks.

Matt

In so many, many ways...a different world.

How about something different? A stretcher marked for the Reading.

And a conductor's lantern I just picked up from the Gaithersburg railroadiana show, manufactured by Meyrose.

I picked up a couple of items a few years back.

An 1884 pocket calendar from the CB&Q and a canvas suburban train announcement used by the Burlington at the Chicago Union Depot from 1944 to 1955.

RAY