What do I have ?

I don't believe that lamp is in any way railroad related.

It looks like an Alladin lamp, made in England. This is the Alladin railroad lantern

Obviously no kind of signaling tool. I was perhaps thinking of dining table, card game table. By provenance and/or historical testimony, it came from L & N (????).

Alladin???

reminds me of a joke.

A Texan and an Iranian were stuck in the dessert. They came across a lamp.

rubbing it to clean the dirt and sand off a genie appeared. You each get one wish.

the Iranian piped up first.

I want a wall around our fair city. 16 ft tall, 16 ft thick and it must encircle the

city to keep the Infidels OUT! POOF! its done said the genie.

The Texan lites up a cigar and asks the genie. That wall, its 16 ft high??

yes says the genie. and its 16 ft thick??

yes says the genie. and it encircles the entire city??

yes says the genie.

Good says the Texan, fill it with water!

Popi's here all week folks, try the veal

Again, I highly doubt that a free-standing lamp would be used in what was no doubt a wooden passenger car or caboose. If this did come from the L&N perhaps it came from a corporate office. Again--there is no way to tell. Even if it did come from an office, in my mind that definitely wouldn't qualify it as a "railroad lamp." It most certainly wasn't used in a train car.

Invariably, passenger car or caboose oil lamps were mounted to the wall or ceiling.

You have a neat Victorian oil lamp from someone's home or office that you can probably get working again.

Thanks,

It could've very well come from an operator's desk, depot, shop, who knows...Just because someone worked for L & N doesn't mean that these lamps were actually used in a "moving train" environment.

Anyway, I have two of them, exactly alike and the existing oral history.

Thanks again for everybody's input...

There is lettering around the wick, under the glass globe.

Would you post what it says please?

In circular order:

-  No. 2 -  Queen  Anne -  No. 2    -22-

Yep  this one definitely   appears to be a railroad caboose lantern.. Burned  coal oil and had a very delicate' mantel' that  would glow . If not attended they would burn with a very black smoke. Takes me back to the rear end brakeman's duties when he first arrived in the caboose....  Clean & fill all the lamps including the markers, Sweep floor, Check out flagging kit and other supplies. Hammer, Chisel, knuckles, hose bags, pipe wrench, Brass, wedge, cooling grease, hose bags etc.,  . Wipe the grab   irons so the crusty old conductor wouldn't get his hands dirty. Made sure there was a block of ice and water and oil  tanks were filled.

I wonder if the top lamp could have come out a private car or station?

Ah.  A quick search of Ebay indicates that as the burner number.

It is used on lots of different lamps. No help in identifying the lamp.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html...39168&mfe=search

Here's proof that the L&N had table lamps.

There might have been a brass top to in with the Logo.

http://ancientpoint.com/inf/10...920s_deco_style.html

History of Aladdin Mantle Lamp Company

www.aladdinlamps.com/history-of-aladdin-lamps.aspx   - Similarto History of Aladdin Mantle Lamp Company

Agents were recruited to sell lamps throughout the country and farm land. ... The  early lamps (Models 1 throught 12) were made primarily of brass and nickel ...

Additional info:

The actual burner top part has RAYO  imprinted on it.

Does that help with ID ?

Um...that's an "electric" lamp. You would not find a freestanding open-flame lamp in a passenger car.

The simple fact is that it is a lamp made for use in a home or office. I'll grant that it may have been used at a station. That is as close to being associated with a railroad as it ever is going to be. And unfortunately, aside from a second- or third-person statement that it came from a railroad, there is absolutely nothing connecting it to any railroad, L&N or otherwise.

The Rayo lamps company was a sub of Standard Oil, I believe. The lamps had a rep as oil guzzlers, so excellently served Standard Oil!

Are there any markings cast into the bottom of the base?

Does it feel heavy like it has a cast iron base?

No markings underneath visible.

Heavy ? Yes, VERY heavy cast iron base.

Also, as stated, there are two identical lamps.

I really do appreciate the interest of all.

Note: I honestly don't think my wife's mother would "create" a railroad story of the lamps, while she awaited any news of her husband at Normandy in June of 1944. She knew exactly who gave them to her and where they came from.

I looked on a few RAYO sites, and didn't see this model. If it was for the L&N, it may have been a special order specific to the RR.

Don

It's a standard oil lamp for lighting a room.  It could burn Kerosene or Whale Oil depending on the era.  If it was L&N, it probably lit a station.

Jon

I'm not disparaging your mother in law. I'm just saying unless the lamp is marked (embossing would be better than a stamp--much harder to fake), or we have other documentary evidence (a photo of the same model lamp lighting a station; a purchase order for the exact same model lamp on RR stationary, etc.) there simply is no hard evidence or provenance that can definitely prove the lamp came from a railroad. This isn't meant to be personal; it's just a fact.

I sent your photo to a lamp expert that I know. These are his objective comments, not mine.

The cast bases without markings could be generic that many lamp companies purchased rather than make their own.

The tank is most likely brass and may provide some clues. Be careful. The tank may be fitted to the base with plaster. A typical method used.

The burner did not look original. Rayo made burners for many lamp companies. The queen anne no.2 is a style. Check for a name on the wick knob.

Now, for the clues from the tank. Look carefully on the fill cap for a name. Sometimes, if you unscrew the burner from the tank, there may be a name around the inside of the lip.

It would have had a chimney originally, no shade.

Without any rr markings it is a vintage oil lamp. Before electric there were millions of them. This was a standard lamp. Not real expensive in it's day.

Searching historical societies and rr historical groups for an interior picture of the offices or stations, you may spot your lamp.

estimated value with no rr markings or photo tie in-$50 each. RR markings or photo tie-in depends on the collector, but in the hundreds.

Personal value because of the provenance, priceless. Put 'em in the train room. Thanks for the fun researching them and sharing your find!

Carl,

Now that's really KOOL. Thank you so very much for your research and informative reply.

These lamps weren't given as a "cute gift" back in 1944. My M/L needed additional lighting (no electricity) in their rural Alabama home while my F/L was thousands of miles away in a "killing zone" on Omaha Beach.

Actually, quite a story, in and of itself.

Truly; "The Greatest Generation"

Thanks to all...........

Jeff

You are welcome, Jeff. let us know if you find any markings.

I have two in the collection, very similar to that one, and both have large cast letters "Handlan, St. Louis, Mo" in raised letters around the cast iron part. Handlan made RR signal lamps & hand lanterns, switch locks & keys, and table or desk lamps like yours. The tanks are different on each one that I have seen, and don't worry about the correct burner, none lasted, and somebody just screwed in whatever would fit.