JeffPo's Dressel Slow Order Lamp 2 Page
Last update: 12/12/11
This is an order lamp made by the Dressel company. It is referred to as a slow order lamp, which will be explained shortly. I also have a Handlan brand slow order lamp. It stands about 10 inches tall (not including the handle). You can see the rectangular mounting sleeve on the left side. It's basically a duplicate of another lamp I have but I couldn't resist getting this one and cleaning it up.
With the sliding doors raised, you can see the fuel fount and burner inside. The door is stamped with the Dressel company information.
To see the what the lamp looks like when lit, visit my other slow order lamps page.
Slow Order Lamps
Track workers on the Pennsylvania Railroad.
Slow order lamps were movable track side signals used by railroad working crews. When work crews were scheduled to work on a section of track or bridge, the dispatcher would issue a Train Order for all trains operating on that section of track. The order let the train crew know that they needed to proceed with caution and be prepared to stop as they encountered men and machinery. While the dispatcher knew exactly the starting and stopping points on the section of track that was being worked on, the work crews could be at various points along this section. There could even be multiple crews working along this section of track. The train engineer didn't know exactly where he might encounter the work crews along that section. As an added precaution for safety, a single lens yellow lamp would be placed on a stake driven into the ground beside of the railroad track, one mile before the current location of the work crew. A single lens green signal would be placed at the end of the last work area. This let train engineer know that he could now safely resume speed because there were no other workers ahead of him. As the work crews moved along the section of track during the day, they would move the signal lamps accordingly.
NOTE: Thanks and credit to Red Beard the Railroad Raider for providing information on how these lamps were used.