Antique Armspear Railroad Classification LampDimensions: 14\"x7\"Weight: 8.5 lbs.
Armspear Lanterns
Among tall-globe lantern manufacturers, ArmspearManufacturing Company made products that were of unusually high quality. Theirlantern designs emphasized durability and solid construction, a factappreciated by collectors who are able to find examples in especially finecondition after decades of use and storage.
Armspear Manufacturing originally began operations as theRailroad Signal Lamp and Lantern Company in the 1880\'s. At some point in theearly 1890\'s, the company began marketing a line of lanterns and otherhigh-quality lighting devices under the name \"Armspear\". In1902, a reorganization led to the corporate name Armspear ManufacturingCompany, which continued to produce a line of lanterns that were substantiallysimilar to original Railroad Signal Lamp and Lantern designs under some of thesame patents (See model comparisons below). After World War I, Armspearentered the short-globe lantern market with its \"1925\" model andcontinued producing these in their own facilities until around 1931. This modelcan be seen onVarious Short Globe Lanterns. After 1931, short-globelanterns with the Armspear name were produced under contract by Adams &Westlake until the 1960\'s, but these had a strong similarity to the Adams &Westlake \"Kero\" short-globe lantern.
Lights and Lamps often bear a passing resemblance toLanterns, but are quite different in their purpose and how they were used.While lanterns were designed to be carried by hand for illumination andsignaling, lamps were usually built from heavier metal and often had lenses andlarge fuel reservoirs. Lamps and lights were usually placed or hung on a postor stand. These were used to mark the front of a train and its type, thecaboose of a train, used to signal trains at switches, stations, and in railyards. These objects hold their value as railroad collectibles even when theydo not have a specific railroad’s name on them, because they were manufacturedsolely for the railroads, and often by the railroads.
Classification Lamps were usually placed on the front of atrain to indicate what the status of the train was based on its color. Thisallowed for safe operation when more trains needed to be run than were listedin official timetables, or when special trains were running that were notlisted.
Common colors and their meanings:
White – “Extra” train not listed in official timetables, white was usually usedby freight trains when a train full of freight occurred more often thanexpected.
Green – Indicates a regularly scheduled train, but that an extra train had beenadded behind, this generally occurred when too many passengers showed up for asingle train, so another would be sent along behind. Green would tell operatorsto wait for the second, or sometimes 3rd, 4th, or 5th trains to clear beforeproceeding.
Red – Indicates the end of a train, this would usually be on the caboosemarker, but occasionally an engine would be at the back of a train and displayred from its classification lamp.
