JeffPo's New York Central (bell bottom) Lantern Page #2
Last update: 10/29/09
This is a second Dietz #6 lantern that I own, that was used by the New York Central Railroad. It's pretty much identical to my other one except that it's in better shape. The frame of the lantern is stamped NEW YORK CENTRAL.
The globe is embossed/cast
with 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.
Here's what the lantern looks
like when lit. It makes a great centerpiece for the table during the
evening meal.
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.