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06-21-2014, 10:05 PM
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#1
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 1,525
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What is this?
I need some help in identifying an antique. I haven't seen the object in person, I just have these two photos. Three hours in to my internet search, I'm still stumped.
I used the Google image tricks imoldernu describes here:
http://www.early-retirement.org/foru...his-66338.html
None of the similar images were anywhere in the ballpark.
The vents, what may be soot stains on the inside and the shielded red glass piece suggest it is a lantern of some kind, lit up by a flame. So it either was designed for portable use before batteries were common, or it dates to before it's original home was wired for electricity.
I don't think it's railroad brakeman's lantern, because it has no handle. Unless the handle was originally mounted to the "ears" on the body and is missing...
The pictures I found of a R.R. switch lantern all seem to have both a red and green display at 90-degree angles. Same with caboose lights, I think. This lantern looks like it only points in one direction.
"C. U. R 18 - 6 - 40" is the identifier on the tag.
The two "typewriter key" buttons on the top are very puzzling...
Any help would be appreciated.
__________________
No doubt a continuous prosperity, though spendthrift, is preferable to an economy thriftily moral, though lean. Nevertheless, that prosperity would seem more soundly shored if, by a saving grace, more of us had the grace to save.
Life Magazine editorial, 1956
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06-21-2014, 10:07 PM
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#2
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Sarasota, FL & Vermont
Posts: 36,264
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It looks like a thingamajig to me.
__________________
If something cannot endure laughter.... it cannot endure.
Patience is the art of concealing your impatience.
Slow and steady wins the race.
Retired Jan 2012 at age 56
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06-21-2014, 10:15 PM
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#3
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Conroe, Texas
Posts: 18,645
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Those ears were probably for the handle, like a leather strap. The two levers on top may lift and lower the discs which could be a red and green one.
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06-21-2014, 10:28 PM
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#4
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 1,525
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aja8888
Those ears were probably for the handle, like a leather strap. The two levers on top may lift and lower the discs which could be a red and green one.
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Could be, but doesn't the position of the levers suggests a travel distance less than the diameter of the discs?
__________________
No doubt a continuous prosperity, though spendthrift, is preferable to an economy thriftily moral, though lean. Nevertheless, that prosperity would seem more soundly shored if, by a saving grace, more of us had the grace to save.
Life Magazine editorial, 1956
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06-21-2014, 10:33 PM
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#5
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Conroe, Texas
Posts: 18,645
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Looks like the levers change places in the slot so the movement may be linear and the discs on a pivot.
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06-22-2014, 06:21 AM
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#6
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: In a van down by the river
Posts: 407
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looks like some kind of port side light..
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06-22-2014, 06:25 AM
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#7
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 8,368
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Quote:
Originally Posted by keegs
looks like some kind of port side light..
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Seconded.
__________________
"Exit, pursued by a bear."
The Winter's Tale, William Shakespeare
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06-22-2014, 07:21 AM
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#8
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 1,763
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I "inherited" a rr lantern and did some research on it. Think I remember one like this. There look like there are a few parts missing though, the handle, the len's that would cover that front funnel, the wick plate. Also could it be a miner's lantern?
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06-22-2014, 02:26 PM
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#9
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 1,525
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I'm going with the idea that it's a conductor's signaling lantern with a mechanism that changes the reflector from red to some other color. aja8888's explanation makes sense, although I can't quite picture how the pieces fit together or operate.
It must be an unusual model. I scanned through 2000 eBay pictures and only found one other lantern that had a mechanism for alternating colors through a single lens. It had a simpler design with the color lenses rotating around a vertical axis, using a sliding knob to change the colors.
__________________
No doubt a continuous prosperity, though spendthrift, is preferable to an economy thriftily moral, though lean. Nevertheless, that prosperity would seem more soundly shored if, by a saving grace, more of us had the grace to save.
Life Magazine editorial, 1956
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06-22-2014, 03:23 PM
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#10
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 10,252
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18-6-40 could be 18-June-1940.
C.U.R. could be someone's intitials.
OK, it's a casket lantern … available only in Europe during the WWII and used for burials during blackouts.
j/k
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06-29-2014, 07:03 PM
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#11
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 1,525
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Well, it must be pretty unique, whatever it is. (It's definitely not a stop light as listed.)
It sold today for $110 in a City of Houston online surplus auction.
__________________
No doubt a continuous prosperity, though spendthrift, is preferable to an economy thriftily moral, though lean. Nevertheless, that prosperity would seem more soundly shored if, by a saving grace, more of us had the grace to save.
Life Magazine editorial, 1956
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06-29-2014, 08:12 PM
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#12
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Lake Livingston, Tx
Posts: 4,203
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Looks like a lantern, and the two pedals on the top could change between a red and green reflector when punched down.
__________________
If it is after 5:00 when I post I reserve the right to disavow anything I posted.
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06-29-2014, 08:54 PM
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#13
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Hong Kong
Posts: 1,688
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C.U.R. stands for Central Uruguay Railway: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Uruguay_Railway
(Of course, it could also stand for a lot of other things as well.)
__________________
Budgeting is a skill practised by people who are bad at politics.
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06-29-2014, 09:44 PM
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#14
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Northern IL
Posts: 26,821
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rustic23
Looks like a lantern, and the two pedals on the top could change between a red and green reflector when punched down.
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I think so - my searching found references to 'classification lights' on trains - a single lantern with switchable colored lenses to identify the train (like if it is a 'special' train, running off-schedule or something).
-ERD50
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