My cousin, Treff Earney Jr., is a long serving Frisco, BN, BNSF maintenance of way employee. A few years ago, he found this item lying along the Salem Branch near Steelville. He was gracious enough to give it to me. Until now, I have kept this in my parent's garage in Wesco, but today during a belated Mother's Day visit, I decided to bring it home. Looking inside the base which affixes to the top of the switch stand, I noticed "Stl. & Frisco" in raised letters. I have never heard of our beloved railroad referred to like this and was wondering if anyone else had. When I got home, I sanded it off and painted it with good ol' Krylon BBQ Grill and Stove paint. Someday, I'd like to restore it properly and replace the missing reflectors. Pat Moreland, Union Mo.
Pat, I have seen a few of those, it is for switch stands which you already know. I've never seen that type of embossed logo like that. It may be as early as the 20"s or 30's. I have one, a oil burner from the late 1800's. They are quite collectable. The older ones have lenses about 4 1/2 inches. Later they were bigger say 6 or maybe 7 inches in diameter. It's a nice lantern. Sometimes you can find the lenses and metal rings on e bay. Bill Jackson
The STL & Frisco is an interesting wrinkle. The non-illuminated switch lamp was patented (no 1520774) December 30, 1924, by Charles Scherle of San Antonio. Original "lenses" were glass, and they were prone to vandalism. With the advent of Scotch-Lite, the Frisco began replacing the shot-out reflectors with boilerplate disks to which red or amber, and green Scotch Lite had been applied. The amber reflector is typical of the type used on the Frisco.
Great job, Karl, folks use to love to shoot out the lenses. This particular type of target was welded to a longer than usual staff. The ones that survived was typically out in the middle of nowhere. Bill Jackson
Jim, maybe if you build another nice model of #151 for me to use on the Salem Branch we could talk (hey, it's the engine's rightful home anyway)! I measured the brass rings which hold the lenses in place and they were 5 1/2" in diameter. The top of it says "Dressel". I'm assuming that's the manufacturer's name. It's a neat addition to my modest collection of Frisco memorabilia. Pat Moreland, Union Mo.
Pat, I have a book on lanterns called "lanterns that lit our world". Dressel is listed and say's they are rare, the makers full name is "Lovell-Dressel" the listed lantern was a caboose lantern. Bill Jackson
Dressel lanterns and switch lamps are not rare. Lovell -Dressel is an earlier form and as such is less common. What determines lantern and switch lamp rarity is the markings. If it is an obscure steam era short line then it may be highly collectible."Lanterns that Lit Our World" is not a particularly good reference for railroad items as it covers all types of lanterns. Dressel made railroad lanterns as late as 1968 as examples marked PC (Penn Central) are not uncommon in that railroad's former service area.
Actually, most all Railroad lanterns are rare. Rare does not always mean valuable. Now days most railroad lanterns are in the hands of collectors. Steam era short line, well you might stumble onto one, but that would be your lucky day. Lanterns that lit the world is a very good book to see different types of lanterns. Now days a Dressel marked Penn Central From 1968 is rare, which does not mean impossible to find. Railroad items are not easy to find, so if you run onto something post it. It's most likely rare to someone, but they may not offer much for it. I still have a few lanterns, the last lantern I sold was a red cast Frisco bell bottom. You really do not see many of those, rare yes. Bill Jackson
