JeffPo's New York Central Signal Green Globe Lantern Page
Last update: 10/29/09
This Dietz Vesta lantern was used by the New York Central Railroad. The frame of the lantern is stamped N.Y.C.S. That stands for New York Central System. The aqua blue globe is also etched with N.Y.C.S. This color globe is harder to find than the clear or red ones.
However, as you can see from this image with the lantern lit, the "blue" globe actually shines as a green signal because of the yellow kerosene flame (i.e. just like my switch lamps that have the blue colored lenses). The green globe means it was used as a "proceed with caution" tower signal, or by those tending the switches, or by a wreck master.
Can't you just imagine a huffing steam locomotive, approaching the train depot in the dead of night. A piercing whistle sounds, driven by hot steam created within the belly of its boiler. Up ahead, a green signal lets the engineer of the mechanical beast know that the track is clear.
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.