JeffPo's New York Central (bell bottom) Lantern Page
Last update: 10/29/09
This Dietz #6 lantern was used by the New York Central Railroad. The frame of the lantern is stamped NEW YORK CENTRAL. The clear globe is embossed NEW YORK CENTRAL. The Dietz #6 was introduced in the late 1890s and used until the early 1900s. The clear globe indicates that it was used for general rail yard hand signals.
These type of lanterns used a drop down fuel fount that was removed from the bottom of the lantern. However, the wick adjuster was actually inside the globe during use, which meant you had to adjust it before inserting the fount into the lantern. To see more detailed images, see my other Dietz #6 NYC lantern.
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.