old brass R/R locks

[Potlidboy]

Because we are out here in California....(Sacramento area) we are fortunate to find a few items associated with the Central Pacific & Southern Pacific railroads.....Pictured below are two brass heart shaped locks fom CPRR.....that I have found in the quest for bottles.

The large one in front is debossed C.P.R.R. of CAL with the numerals 11 & 83 stamped on it's side representing November of 1883....The rear lock is also debossed CPRR of CAL on the front and the reverse (shown) H. Ritchie & Co Newark N.J. patent ext d Aug 23 1887.........I've been told that the large lock is a car lock & the smaller one is a switch lock....The larger lock is 4 1/2 inches in length while the smaller one is 4 inches long...

I really like these items....Central Pacific Railroad started for Utah on January 8, 1863 with ground breaking in Sacramento CA....on orders from president Lincoln.

May 10, 1869: The Central Pacific and Union Pacific tracks meet in Promontory, Utah

Travel from coast to coast became 8 days.....

A great piece of history...If you are so inclined...show your railroadiana.

 

[LC]

I haven't found a brass railroad lock in years Mike . The only ones I ever found here in Ohio were from the C&O railroad .

 

[Potlidboy]

L C Here's a few more railroad locks that came from the same little dump.....The three pictured locks are Southern Pacific....the one in the center is a Keene Cutter made lock and pretty scarce....I really like the Southern Pacific logo...a sunset on railroad tracks...too cool. These are newer locks then the CPRR locks but a nice transition in the company.

 

[LC]

Thanks for putting them up Mike , always liked the vintage locks . I think that Keen Kutter one you show is the one that has been reproduced . I can't get over the amount of vintage items that have been reproduced over the years .

 

[Potlidboy]

L C ....I amazed at how many things are reproduced either to fool someone (for money--out & out fraud) or as an art object (Wheaton glass)...The whole Indian artifact world deals with problems so grand that if you didn't find it...it is suspect...and even then people are known to "salt" an area....

I think we are relatively lucky in this hobby....Ok there's the polished out problems & resin filled repairs...but for the most part those are usually declared.

 

[LC]

I always thought there should have been a law produced that if a company wanted to reproduce something from the past that they should have had to put reproduction or facsimile somewhere on the item to protect original productions .

 

[riverdiver]

Hi Mike,

Nice finds, here are my locks to date, the 6 that look alike are all Boston & Maine RR and were found together at 30' under metal truss bridge.

 

[riverdiver]

This bridge to be exact...

 

[LC]

I had quit a few locks back in the late eighties and early nineties , decided to part with them . One lock I really liked was a brass heart shaped railroad lock , kind of wish I had kept that one . I think I still have six or eight C&O railroad locks in a box somewhere , they are not brass though .

 

[Potlidboy]

riverdiver............I once spent time under the Hazel Ave Bridge near Folsom Lake... ( I was younger then) ususually diving for crawfish & salmon lures....20 lbs of crawdads was easy on a tank....and if I was concentrating on salmon lures I could always get between 80 & 100 of them.....I would sell the fishing lures rigth back to the guys who lost them at a buck a pop.....gin clear water....with a bit of a current. In October the crawdads would line up around the dead salmon like the last supper.....nothing old here...just a way to make a little cash, have fun & bring home dinner...LOL.[]