Joe,here is my R.R.lantern

[Wangan]

This is my C.P.R. AdLake railroad lantern (with wooden grip)
The globe colors mean:
Clear = regular hand signals
Red = Stop/Danger
Blue = Do not move/Men at work
Green = Proceed
Yellow/Amber = Proceed at reduced speed/Prepare to stop

I will attempt to add a short history after this picture.The pic. on the left didnt show good in this collage and just shows where it says CPR for Canadian Pacific Railroad.

 

[Wangan]

[size="+3"]A[/size][size="+2"]dams & Westlake (Adlake)[/size]
John McGregor Adams was born in Londonderry, New Hampshire on March 11, 1834. At the age of 19, Adams went to New York and got a job on the sales staff of Clark and Jesup. Adams was so successful he was sent to Chicago to run the sales office there. Adams was soon the head of his own company.

William Westlake was born in Cornwall, England on July 23, 1831. Westlake was a tinsmith for the LaCrosse & Milwaukee Railroad. In 1862 he invented the removable globe lantern, which he then manufactured in Chicago. The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 destroyed Westlake's factory but it was rebuilt.

On October 21, 1874, Mr. Adams and Mr. Westlake's companies joined forces to create the Adams and Westlake Company (Adlake). The resulting organization became the most successful railroad lantern company ever. Adlake merged with the Forsyth Brothers Company in 1899 to form the Curtain Supply Company which moved to Elkhart, Indiana in 1923. Adlake manufacturing moved from Chicago to Elkhart in 1927 where they continue to make railroad equipment today. In 1966, Adlake acquired another well known railroad lantern maker, the Lovell-Dressel Company.

 

[Steve/sewell]

Neat item Tim,my 85 year old neighbor has a train switching hut in his yard which he uses as a tool shed.It is probably 6x6 feet in size.I will post a picture of it later as I have a job I am already late for.

 

[Wangan]

Why a Railroad lantern post?Well,I had seen that Joe the Crow had one when he posted a reply to the License plate/tag post and it looked just like mine,which it is.The only difference being that his says 1-51 and mine says 3-51 on the bottom which I think is the manufacturing date,but I dont know for sure,yet.Mine also has a wooden grip on the handle which may have been to keep their gloves from sticking to the metal "wire" handle in the winter,but that is just a guess of mine.Winters in Maine get almost and sometimes worse than winters in Alaska.

 

[mr.fred]

Very interesting Tim[8|]----------show us your other Lanterns []------hey its Glass[]

 

[Wangan]

Thanks,thats cool Steve.We had one in our "double blinking light" village,(na,na,nun,na,na we have one more than you Joe [sm=rolleyes.gif][]).But of course it got taken out after they put in the auto crossing guards.I remember my Dad and others used to stop and talk to the switcher and "have a snort" to get warm.[] I wonder now what ever became of that little building.It would be neat to have since they are all gone now.

 

[Wangan]

I collect everything old Fred and this was given to me by a friend so whatever I have is this and that and not a lot of anything.I do have an old kerosene hurricane lamp I posted for Joe once when he found his.We had a smaller one with a fingerhole in it but I think my sister has that one.This is with a ruler to show how tall it is.The original chimney broke,so I made due with this Eagle stickered one.

 

[Wangan]

Hopefully Joe will post his Kero R.R. lantern for us to see when he comes on.This is a by gone piece of Americana since they all use electric ones now.

 

[JOETHECROW]

Hey Tim!....Thanks for starting this post,...I'm interested in railroad history, and think having one of these parts of it is cool.. Mine is almost identical, minus the wooden grip and slightly newer....I might have typed 51, but I went back and looked, so 52 is what mine says.....[]

 

[JOETHECROW]

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