JeffPo's New York Central Lines Lantern Page
Last update: 10/29/09
This is a Handlan lantern from the New York Central Railroad. The lid is stamped with NYCL, which stood for New York Central Lines.
The 4 ½ inch tall red globe is etched with NYCLINES. The red globe means that it was used as a stop signal. The main reason I bought this lantern was because I liked the tall, pear shaped globe.
The burner on this lantern has a different shape than my other ones. The burner adjustment knob even says Handlan, so they must have been proud of their workmanship.
You may have noticed that the lanterns belonging to the New
York Central Railroad had some variety in the markings on them.
Some were simply marked NYC (for New York Central) while others were NYC
Service or NYC Lines. The Lines
moniker originally referred to NYC-affiliated railroad lines west of
New York Central Railroad
A shrouded New York Central steam locomotive.
The New York Central Railroad was founded in 1853 by a merger of ten railroads. Headquartered in New York, it served a large portion of the area with extensive tracks in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Massachusetts, and New England. The New York Central was known as a “water level route”, which meant most of its routes followed rivers and didn’t have significant grade. The steam locomotives of this railroad were built for speed. Financial failings in the 1960’s eventually meant it became a “fallen flag” (i.e. a railroad that no longer exists) in 1968 when it joined the Pennsylvania Railroad in a merger that produced the Penn Central Railroad. Penn Central was merged into Conrail in 1976, which was purchased jointly by CSX and Norfolk & Southern in 1999.