Railroadiana Items In Your Collection

I found a large box of my fathers "railroad papers."  Two items jumped out at me, a 1971 Southern Crescent schedule, and a 1950 Schedule of Wages for locomotive engineers.

I have two: a fireman’s badge from the Lackawanna (which I had since I was a kid, but don’t know it’s source, and a “2 tracks” sign that came off a removed crossing sign in the Erie Lackawanna from a town outside of Scranton.

Got a pair of PRR railing stanchions.

A small old timetable rack.

And a shot of the station master's desk.

Spikes, so what?

The outside two were taken from the standard gauge tracks in Elizabethton, TN from the East Tennessee & Western North Carolina RR, and were so badly pitted I could only assume they were there when steam was still running (as the last steam engine left there in 1967). I painted them because there wasn't a good reason to think they were used by the arrow gauge line.

The middle one was recently recovered from the right of way before milepost 13 on the 3-foot gauge line, before the covered truss bridge over the Doe River between Valley Forge and Hampton, TN. Very few identified pieces of the NG line have been found over the years as the track crews clearing those tracks in 1951 did such a complete job. I just got the middle spike, which to me is worth its weight in gold! I for sure won't be painting this one, and will be mounting it on something to hang on the wall of the train room.

Back in the 80's when I lived in the Pocono Mts of PA, I placed an ad in the Pocono Record wanting to buy RR stuff.  Got a call and eventually bought an assortment of items from a retired agent from East Stroudsburg, PA.   This wax sealer is one of my favorites from that group.

Got a new Pennsy cross-buck up.

My daughter got me the pot as a gift. The watch was my other half's grandfather who worked for the PRR. If the documentation is right the watch was made in 1922 it is a leverset. I have these on my shelf in the mancave so I see them all the time. john

Added to my collection is a Nathan old cast P3 air horn with dark green(C&NW maybe) paint and a Wabco AA2 horn of suspected South Shore vintage.  AD

@Radioman77 posted:

The watch was my other half's grandfather who worked for the PRR. If the documentation is right the watch was made in 1922 it is a leverset.

I was also lucky enough to inherit a pocket watch - this is a 1919 Illinois Watch Co. Bunn Special. I've been told that it belonged to my great grandfather when he worked in the MKT roundhouse in Franklin, MO.

By the way - I believe all railroad pocket watches from this period were lever set (to prevent accidentally changing the time), so that makes sense.

Gee, I wonder where you got the crossbucks, stantions  & station  wire schedule rack came from?

Just rolled into Charlotte N.C. at 6:30. What a busy area. Plus, the Stones are in town!

Everything looks great!!! The house is closed on as of today.

And missed my chance at going to the N&W RR museum, while having lunch in ROANOAKE. Mom & wife weren't interested in going there. ROAD TRIP!!!

Steam Forever

John

Once upon a time I sold nearly every railroad item I owned. This included my old grip and all its contents, and my Conger brakemans’ lantern.  Then I got reminiscent about my train service days, and started looking at lanterns on an auction site.  When I saw this pretty blue lantern I could not resist buying it.  It gets plenty of use, but not for passing signals or reading switch lists at night (heavy sigh).

I recently picked up an adlake lantern with a blue frenel lens, not a common one.

And I just scored this off eBay, a Ww2 Army Railway unit badge. Never saw an "agent" marked one before, I only have a matching conductor one:

Here's a photo of badges of this type being worn stateside:

@Odenville Bill posted:

I found a large box of my fathers "railroad papers."  Two items jumped out at me, a 1971 Southern Crescent schedule, and a 1950 Schedule of Wages for locomotive engineers. ...snip...

Nice Drake.

Here's an old matchbox holder for the kitchen wall with Lackawanna & D&H logos

We have found more of my Father's railroad goodies.  Can anyone identify the railroad  and yards burned into this coal shovel?  Do the WMW Yards still exist?  What railroad is this from?

Bill

There no railroad with the abbreviation WMW that I could find...

I doubt it was made for railroad use.

Lee,  It says "WMW YARD."   Maybe Western Maryland West Yards or something like that.

Bill

I found this on Google...Bill, This seems to be from a line that operated in Texas.

Tom

@Odenville Bill posted:

Lee,  It says "WMW YARD."   Maybe Western Maryland West Yards or something like that.

Bill

Yes, I can read.

But the acronym itself still doesn't come up as any railroad I could find in any timeframe.

Anybody have anything new to share?

@NJCJOE posted:

Anybody have anything new to share?

Thank you for bumping this thread along. This is great! I hadn’t seen this before. This stuff really strikes a chord with me. I collect train build prints, photographs, timetables, railroad correspondence and well…..a lot of mostly flat stuff. Thank goodness for the map cabinet. This weekend I’ll share some of my things.

Sure thing NJCJOE....How about

The Case of the Disappearing Passengers

One area of railroadiana which doesn't get much attention is postcards from the past focused on various aspects of the real railroads.

  I discovered some time ago that Fred Harvey of Harvey House fame had a series of postcards featuring things like Santa Fe railroad stations associated with the Harvey Houses.  With one exception I've managed to get a period postcard for each of the stations that had an associated Harvey House. In most cases the cards have printed on the back "Fred Harvey trademark" or something similar.

  Based on what I've found a company named Phostint did a lot of the Harvey cards and also turned out cards with what I think are Fred Harvey numeric identifiers on the front but without a Fred Harvey trademark on the back.

  In the course of looking for a Harvey/Phostint card of the old Los Angeles Station complex I found the following card.

Card #1

  It is a Phostint card and it has a numeric identifier in the lower left hand corner but it does not have a Fred Harvey trademark on the back.  The price was right and the card was in good shape so I went ahead and bought it - if I ever find this card (or one featuring the same station) with the Fred Harvey trademark I'll get that as well.

  A couple of weeks ago the following card showed up and I bought it. It is obviously the same picture but as you can see the passengers had gone into the station .... or had they?

Card #2

  Detail of card #1 - passengers on their way

Detail of card #2 - the ghosts of passengers past

Obviously, Phostint wanted to keep selling the Los Angeles station but time had passed and the passengers gave the picture a dated look ...so I guess it was the 1920's version of Photoshop to the rescue.

Picked these up around last Christmas. These are aluminum repros, but beautiful nonetheless. I have a real Lima builder's plate from a Nickel Plate switcher and anyone would say they look identical in terms of the quality of the casting and the colors.

If interested, here is the website...they make repro builder's plates, number plates and other signs. http://leroyslocomotiveworks.com/ (and they are affordable for most!)

Ask for Jon if you are interested.

Tom

Hey Joe,

How can anybody have anything to share when you've cornered the market on ALL railroadiana! Geez!

Wise Guy from Huntersville N.C.

@N&WY6b posted:

Hey Joe,

How can anybody have anything to share when you've cornered the market on ALL railroadiana! Geez!

Wise Guy from Huntersville N.C.

😁😁😁!

@Robert S. Butler posted:

Sure thing NJCJOE....How about

The Case of the Disappearing Passengers

One area of railroadiana which doesn't get much attention is postcards from the past focused on various aspects of the real railroads.

  I discovered some time ago that Fred Harvey of Harvey House fame had a series of postcards featuring things like Santa Fe railroad stations associated with the Harvey Houses.  With one exception I've managed to get a period postcard for each of the stations that had an associated Harvey House. In most cases the cards have printed on the back "Fred Harvey trademark" or something similar.

  Based on what I've found a company named Phostint did a lot of the Harvey cards and also turned out cards with what I think are Fred Harvey numeric identifiers on the front but without a Fred Harvey trademark on the back.

  In the course of looking for a Harvey/Phostint card of the old Los Angeles Station complex I found the following card.

Card #1

  It is a Phostint card and it has a numeric identifier in the lower left hand corner but it does not have a Fred Harvey trademark on the back.  The price was right and the card was in good shape so I went ahead and bought it - if I ever find this card (or one featuring the same station) with the Fred Harvey trademark I'll get that as well.

  A couple of weeks ago the following card showed up and I bought it. It is obviously the same picture but as you can see the passengers had gone into the station .... or had they?

Card #2

  Detail of card #1 - passengers on their way

Detail of card #2 - the ghosts of passengers past

Obviously, Phostint wanted to keep selling the Los Angeles station but time had passed and the passengers gave the picture a dated look ...so I guess it was the 1920's version of Photoshop to the rescue.

Am I allowed to share rail post cards and the like? I know we have some pretty appropriately strict copyright concerns on this forum. Powers to be, what say you?

WRW - I don't think it is an issue - a postcard is a purchased artifact not some picture abstracted from some other site or reference source. I suppose if you cropped the image so it didn't look like a postcard it might be a problem but otherwise I don't see that it is any different than showing an image of a railroad time table or an antique railroad calendar.

@Robert S. Butler posted:

The Case of the Disappearing Passengers

  Detail of card #1 - passengers on their way

Detail of card #2 - the ghosts of passengers past

Back then, you painted these things. "Airbrushing out" was a phrase you clearly don't hear anymore.

Just go look at all the Soviet changes to official photos when certain people came out of favor back in Stalin's time.

I've had this so long I forget where I bought it !   

It & I are getting old !

Rich in SD

p51 I agree - elsewhere Phostint made mention of hand colored photographs.  Given the effort it would have taken to hand tint the original it would have been much cheaper to just do a touch up as opposed to going out, taking a new picture and hand tinting a new one. What I do wonder about is the aspect of "re-tinting" that would result in ghosts as opposed to outright elimination of the figures.

@trestleking posted:

I've had this so long I forget where I bought it !   

It & I are getting old !

Rich in SD

Awesome piece Rich.

Lackawanna stuff is a favorite,   this, of course, will hang in my basement bathroom.

I have been enjoying all the Railroadiana items people have been sharing.
We have several railroad collectibles I have gotten over the years. Among my favorites are two metal Western Pacific signs. I think one is of the type used on the tenders of steam locomotives and the other is of the type used on the cabs of diesel engines. I have one at each end of the inside of our train shed where we have built our layout.

@WP posted:

I have been enjoying all the Railroadiana items people have been sharing.
We have several railroad collectibles I have gotten over the years. Among my favorites are two metal Western Pacific signs. I think one is of the type used on the tenders of steam locomotives and the other is of the type used on the cabs of diesel engines. I have one at each end of the inside of our train shed where we have built our layout.

Nice train shed, the artifacts set the stage for your RR

Some night time railroadiana photos.

Ahhhh! I remember those days Joe. Always went out of my way, going home, to see what was new in "Z" land. Just a suggestion, you might want to show that "earthen" (rock) mile marker that you have. Might be one of the oldest pieces that you have. I know that I was impressed!!! Always good to see your knick knacks of railroadiana.

     Steam Forever

            John

Yes, the stone mile marker may be the oldest piece I own. This came from the Belvidere and Delaware Railroad which was constructed between 1850 and 1855, so this piece is right in there age wise. This became part of the Pennsy's Bel-Del line around 1871. The mile marker is about 4' long and it is heavy!

@trestleking posted:

Nice train shed, the artifacts set the stage for your RR

Thank you Trestleking!!!

this was my grandad’s. He worked for UP for 48 years.  After my grandfather died, my uncle gave it to me. Someday  I’ll pass down to my eldest

.  

I really don't collect anything along those lines but with a recent train purchase I got a bucket.  Even has a lid.  I do use it so I will hang onto it. 

Since reading the thread I decided to check out a lantern I have had hanging up in the rafters for the last 20 years.  Where and how I got it is unknown.  I know I did not buy it.  Well it is railroad related because on the glass is molded in P & RRy that stands for Pennsylvania and Reading Railroad. I cleaned the glass but thats it.  I left the soot inside the top. Anyway I looked around and one of the last ones to sell went for $210.00 with a cracked glass.  I think it is time to part with it as it only hangs around. 

Jersey Central Adlake Tender Marker marked CRRofNJ.  Restored from a dented rusty hulk.

@jrose609 posted:

this was my grandad’s. He worked for UP for 48 years.  After my grandfather died, my uncle gave it to me. Someday  I’ll pass down to my eldest

.  

Jrose609, please reload the image as it is not visible.

@Allegheny posted:

Jrose609, please reload the image as it is not visible.

I think it’s working.  Thanks for the heads up!

WW1 medals presented to employees who served

My first 2 RR lanterns, a gift from my Pappy when I was 10 yrs old.  He said he got them from the town "junk man".

Nice set of CNJ lanterns.

I don't have much, but my son does home restorations and found these tearing out a porch on a fire damaged house built 1875. I'm going to try to find a space to hang them. They are old dimensional lumber actually 1 inch thick not 3/4 like modern lumber. The top one has some soot from the fire, and I doubt they're as old as the house but it's old and cool.

A new one to me this Winter / Spring is our Hutchinson Train Indicator from Lasalle Street station in Chicago. This thing just oozes history and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to add it to our collection. This gate was home to the famous 20th Century Limited, Rock Island Rocket, and host of other high profile trains over the years. We were lucky enough to find a photo of it in 1948. It has been a pleasure to light this up again and enjoy it.

With the exception of a few items of wall-art (prints of some of the masters...like Howard Fogg) I'm not really into "Railroadiana" as a collectable.  That said, I do have this item...

...which embodies both my favorite railroad as well as a pair of treasured friends...long since deceased...Jerry and Terry Drake of Bay City, Michigan.  There might be a few folks who remember Jerry and Terry and their very famous Italian restaurant downtown in that city, O Sole Mio.  But Jerry  was quite the model railroader, incorporating whimsy and humor into his HO layout, The Bent Spaghetti Lines, (the BS Lines, as he declared with a wink!) in a large room as part of their living quarters above the restaurant.  He was a devoted NMRA member, published in many of that organization's periodicals, as I seem to recall.  I have, in fact, two boxcars from NMRA's commemorative series honoring Jerry's BSL; one by Athearn in HO, the other by Weaver in O scale.  One of Jerry's most memorable projects was an HO articulated, a 2-4-6-8.  He also created a complete 'campus' on his layout for Wasamatta U.

Jerry and Terry were special friends, besides incredibly gracious hosts and chefs.  One of the things Jerry liked to do from time to time was invite his railroad buddies to the restaurant on the night the restaurant was closed to the public.  He would make his own version of 'Hobo Stew' in a huge pot in the kitchen, complemented with homemade breads, all of which was, as they say, 'To die for!'.  Of course, going upstairs to run trains was part of the evening's fun.

The cancelled stock certificate is monetarily worthless.  The memories and friendship it represents for me are priceless.

RIP, Terry and Jerry.

KD

New addition to my collection fathers day gift!

Cleaning up my collection, I thought I would add to the list. The "3 Track" sign with glass reflectors was from the CB&Q mainline between Chicago and Aurora - I think it came from a crossing in either Lisle or Naperville. The Suburban announcement sign came from the Chicago Union Station and was used from mid 1940 to late 1950.

RAY

I do not collect Railroadiana.  From time to time though I will stumble onto something.   While cleaning out my parent's papers I stumbled on a Pennsy New York World's Fair Form 2 timetable effective Jan. 31, 1965.

400 switch keys, a bunch of locks, 7 steam engine bells, 30 locomotive whistles, over 100 conductor or presentation lanterns,  2-color globes, about 50 good tall globe lanterns, short globe lanterns, spare globes, RR library, 60 RR & Express wax sealers, a Soo Line 2-8-0 headlight, several builder & number plates, step stools, clocks, marker lamps, rear end markers, O-scale brass models, ticket daters & dies, Signs, etc. & on & on & on.

@locopilot750 posted:

400 switch keys, a bunch of locks, 7 steam engine bells, 30 locomotive whistles, over 100 conductor or presentation lanterns,  2-color globes, about 50 good tall globe lanterns, short globe lanterns, spare globes, RR library, 60 RR & Express wax sealers, a Soo Line 2-8-0 headlight, several builder & number plates, step stools, clocks, marker lamps, rear end markers, O-scale brass models, ticket daters & dies, Signs, etc. & on & on & on.

Awesome! We need to see some pictures.

Some shots of the current train room.

I have one lantern and a swag 'switch lamp' made by the same company that was making lamps for the railroads.  It is my understanding that the shift to commercial decorating was because of a decline in RR business.  I will attach a few photos and here's the website for the story behind it. http://www.railroadiana.org/li...Cat_HandlanFinal.php.   Very nice thread, nice to see other collectors stuff.  Chuck

@NJCJOE posted:

Some shots of the current train room.

You are KILLEN ME JOE!

Oh my ...

Too much Fairbanks Morse stuff to show ..  a few pics ...

Here is part of the collection, I'm trying to quit. Really,  it's easy, I've done it hundreds of times.

@locopilot750 --You certainly have some beautiful lanterns there!

Tom

Here is some B&O stuff.

The chair is a later dining car chair.  Still has the weights on the back legs.  Came from car #1080.

The signal is a dwarf CPL, still operational and has most of its glass lenses.

This box was used to carry food through the trains.  It was repainted by the B&O at sometime in the past.  The original color is the red that is showing through and it is lettered " Baltimore and Ohio  Dining car dept.

Grandfather used it as a kindling box!

I have seen two others and one was also repainted blue and gray without the dome and the other was still red but had cursive lettering.

locopilot750,

Awesome collection. Thanks for sharing.

A Jersey Central mail/ballot box. Not sure where this was used.

A salesman sample of a harp switch stand.

Evening y'all,

I'm still finding stuff my Father collected.  I found two boxes of Southern Railway glassware and ceramics.  I do not know the story behind the 1948 Safety Award.  I hung it in my train room today.

This is a rail pass from when my Dad worked in the Burlington shops in Aurora Illinois. One of my sons found this in a book after he passed 2007.

Railroad Postcards and Harvey Girls

  Picture postcards have been part of the sent/received mail landscape for decades and during the years of railroad passenger travel one could purchase a picture postcard of just about anything railroad at the railroad station. 

  One feature of the Santa Fe railroad stations as well as many of those big Union stations where the Santa Fe called were the Harvey House Dining Halls. At those stations, in addition to railroad pictures, one could also purchase pictures of the associated Harvey houses. 

  From time to time either a postcard with a "Made for Fred Harvey" mark on the back or just a postcard for a particular railroad station would feature, in addition to a picture of the station itself, people coming and going and, once in awhile, the Harvey House staff.  Below are two railroad postcards with this combination of station and Harvey House staff.

Station Arkansas City, Kansas

Detail

  Station Chanute, Kansas

Detail

   The Harvey Houses and the Harvey Girls were an integral part of the Santa Fe railroad for many decades.  If you should be interested in learning more about them I would recommend the book The Harvey Girls.

How did I not see this thread up until now ?

Some amazing collectibles folks !

I have but a few from far flung places ...

From Ukraine , a soviet era pocket signalling light , battery operated with internal lens shade to change colours

A London and North Eastern Railway interior signal lamp from pre-electrification times

And some paperweights ... one from the CNR at the London Exhibition of 1928

And another one I am not sure that would have proudly stood on anyones desk for a while ... A thank you one from the North Eastern Railway  for volunteer service given during the Great National Railway Strike in 1919 ... Basically announcing to the world you kept the rails running while the Union was on strike !

I bought this Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh Ry Dietz Vesta online recently.  It looked like it had been in a shed somewhere for 50+ years.  Anyway after I cleaned the dirt off it, I was pleased to see the globe is also marked with BR&P RR, which is curious, as it's the former corporate name that went away in the 1880's reorganization.  Lantern patent date 1925.

That globe etching doesn't seem to be the most professional looking...

Per Wikipedia, the B R & P was bought out by the B & O RR in 1932.

An American Association of Private Railroad Car Owners charger from a meeting of the organization in Baltimore 20 years ago. It's sort of an oddball piece in a larger B&O Blue China collection. And let me clarify, the only private rail cars I own are in O, HO, and G Scale!

Recently purchased a steam locomotive bell. I decided to clean and paint the yoke and cradle. The bell was also cleaned and polished. The bell was sanded with four grades of sandpaper, 220, 320, 500 and 1000. It was then polished with three grades of polishing compound.

Gorgeous restoration on that bell! The finial looks like the condenser from a hydrostatic lubricator.

@NJCJOE posted:

Recently purchased a steam locomotive bell. I decided to clean and paint the yoke and cradle. The bell was also cleaned and polished. The bell was sanded with four grades of sandpaper, 220, 320, 500 and 1000. It was then polished with three grades of polishing compound.

Joe,

  Beautiful! Is that the bell from the PRR B6 that you mentioned earlier? What does it weigh if you know?

Tom

Tom,

No, this is another bell. I still have the B6 bell as well. My guess, it's around 300 lbs.

@smd4 posted:

Gorgeous restoration on that bell! The finial looks like the condenser from a hydrostatic lubricator.

Steve,

You maybe right about that. The finial did not come with the bell. I found it at another vendor's table at the railroadiana show. He didn't know what it is from. It fit the threads on the bell clapper so I decided to add it to the bell for a more finished look. Good eye.

@PRR8976 posted:

What does it weigh if you know?

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.

Yeah, I moved mine to the basement piece by piece.

Bells are a pain, with yoke, cradle, bell and clapper, 275-300 lbs is about right. The last ones I've bought, I got them out of the truck with my Cat skid loader and a big tow strap. I set them down in the garage, and that's where they stayed !

Well at least you have some bells, unlike many of us, me included.

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

Picked this up as part of an impressive collection.  Any information as to what it is and if it’s likely some kind of reproduction.

Searching online it may be a brake line chart for a rail car.  Found something similar that identified as a baggage car chart.  It’s die cast and if original may have been repainted.

Any input appreciated.

It is a brake line diagram for a freight car. It is real.

A nice view of my crossing sign against a deep blue sky. Also my Reading station bench that I redid with polywood so I don't have to replace it every other year.

@NJCJOE posted:

It is a brake line diagram for a freight car. It is real.

Thanks for the information, really appreciate it.  I’ll be posting more of the interesting items.  It’s a collection my son picked up and he can’t keep it all.

It's great to see such a variety of railroad-related items. Thanks to everybody for sharing. My railroadiana consists of two vintage timetables, and four ashtrays and matchbooks for the four roads I run on my layout. These are inexpensive, and are easily found in antique malls and at train shows. It's a bygone era where most people smoked, so the railroads put their names on smoking-related ephemera. If I had more room, I'd probably fill it all up with more railroad-related items.

My daughter knew I had to have this B&M sign when she saw it in an antique shop.  It’s in remarkably good condition for a glass sign.  I had a custom frame made for it and my wife let me hang it in the den!

John

More odds & ends, hundreds of keys, locks, wax sealers, etc. 7 Santa Fe and U.P. bells, I mostly collect locomotive whistles and lanterns now, specifically presentation types.

@locopilot750 Boy, that is some collection of whistles and beautiful lanterns. The only place I saw cleaner lanterns was at the Depot Attic store in Dobbs Ferry, NY (long ago closed).

Congrats on a first class assortment.

Tom

@Steam Crazy posted:

My daughter knew I had to have this B&M sign when she saw it in an antique shop.  It’s in remarkably good condition for a glass sign.  I had a custom frame made for it and my wife let me hang it in the den!

John

That is an interesting sign. I have the same glass sign that says Hiawatha Railroad Tickets. I wonder who was making these? Any one know?

@locopilot750 posted:

More odds & ends, hundreds of keys, locks, wax sealers, etc. 7 Santa Fe and U.P. bells, I mostly collect locomotive whistles and lanterns now, specifically presentation types.

What a great collection of whistles! Do you know what engines they came off of? Anything from the DM&IR? Look familiar

@leapinlarry posted:

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

Is that C&NW brass lock from Wilson Bohannon?

Got this sign and switch stand from a friend of mine. The switch stand is currently being painted and should be put in place in the next week.

I have 4, a track side junction box, a day target for a switch stand, a badly damaged 2 aspect signal, and a railroaders flashlight from the 1920's.  When I was working down in FLA 36 years ago, I had the option of taking a dirt road to a microwave site that paralleled the Southern RR from US HWY 301 at the Crawford intersection where the SOU and SCL crossed, to Moniac Ga.  I found the day target and the junction box stuck in the mud in the ditch that ran along side the Southern tracks.  I cleaned up both, but the junction box got some fancy paint, and mounted to a wood base using 4 cut off RR spikes, again from the SOU line, that I drilled so screws could hold it down from the bottom.  I had hoped to put a lamp in the target, but the inside of the lenses is coated with silver to make them reflect at night  and you only get a couple pixel size holes of  light though them.  The SCL took down a massive set of block signals near the Crawford diamond and just left them in the woods along the right of way, where they lain for years, with pine trees and underbrush intertwined amongst all that steel and cast iron.   So, retrieved this badly damaged by vandals signal, the door latches were broken off, and the lens and lamp holders broken out.  It is all cast iron and weighs a ton.  Before I had a 4WD, I used to put it in the bed of my 2WD pickup in the winter so I could get traction in the snow, NC not FLA.   It is under my shed next to my 3 pt tractor crane and log tongs with a 4X6 used in the bottom to hold it up.  Has a birds nest in it right now.   I have a new set of lenses for it and hope make new lamp holders and restore it one day.  The flashlight my wife got me for a present of few years ago.  A standard 6 volt lantern battery fit in it just fine, like they did years ago, and I still use it.

I forgot one, the fifth one was another gift from my son.  A Russian candle lit lantern.  I don't know if it had colored lenses or clear, from the movie 'The Train'  I saw one very close to the same design that had clear lenses so put in some clear glass.  It has a small latch wire you move up to open the front to light or change the candle.  What is interesting is the date stamped in the vent cap, '1954'.  So, in 1954, the Russian apparently were still using candle powered lanterns.