Help with Railway lamps

[RoddyMcLaren]

Hi , i have all over the net to find these lamps i got at auction, can anybody help me, cheers

 

[gazthomas]

Is there any lettering on the lamps? To me they don't look like rail lamps but I'm sure someone will prove me wrong

 

[RoddyMcLaren]

i cant find any manufacture marks, looked all over the net, they were originally parafin,

 

[big all]

level crossing lamps with added brackets ??

 

[30907]

Can't work out from the pictures exactly - do they have 3 lenses or 4, and what colour glass (red and white/yellow visible)?
I can't work out what function they wiuld have had on the railway ATM.

 

[mailbyrail]

They look like horse-drawn carriage lanterns to me with those fixed brackets

 

[John Webb]

I believe these are modified level-crossing gate lamps - here's one we have at St Albans South Signal Box:

The red lights shine out at right-angles to the gate and the clear lights along the gate, thus making clear to approaching traffic on road or rail which way the gates are set.
The brackets look like modern additions to enable them to be wall-mounted - in original form there would have been a spike/socket arrangement on the top of the gate which would take the lamp but allow it to be removed for servicing.

 

[Ken H]

I believe these are modified level-crossing gate lamps - here's one we have at St Albans South Signal Box:

The red lights shine out at right-angles to the gate and the clear lights along the gate, thus making clear to approaching traffic on road or rail which way the gates are set.
The brackets look like modern additions to enable them to be wall-mounted - in original form there would have been a spike/socket arrangement on the top of the gate which would take the lamp but allow it to be removed for servicing.

would they shine white along the direction the gates were open and red to where they were closed. Opening and shutting the gates would change the colour of the light displayed to road vehicles and trains.
but why would you shine a white light in the open direction?

 

[krus_aragon]

Shining a light in the open direction lets the (train) driver know that the gate really is open, and it's not the case that the (red) lamp has gone out on a closed gate. It's positive confirmation that it's clear to proceed.

Compare it to the rule to treat a colour signal with a blown bulb as if it were at danger.

 

[Ken H]

Shining a light in the open direction lets the (train) driver know that the gate really is open, and it's not the case that the (red) lamp has gone out on a closed gate. It's positive confirmation that it's clear to proceed.

Compare it to the rule to treat a colour signal with a blown bulb as if it were at danger.

Shirley a white lamp could be confused with any old light. would green not be better? Or could that be confused with a signal lamp?

 

[big all]

Shirley a white lamp could be confused with any old light. would green not be better? Or could that be confused with a signal lamp?

its more a red=stop and a white=working properly so ignore

 

[RoddyMcLaren]

The lamp are 4 glasses 2 red and 2 white, i beleive they were originally parafin, i see your point about them being level crossing lamps. thats great it gets me closer to finding a matching pic. They are a restoration project and will be for sale at some point. cheers

 

[mp01]

Being green, might they be army lamps? Just a thought.

 

[John Webb]

Shirley a white lamp could be confused with any old light. would green not be better? Or could that be confused with a signal lamp?

Don't forget that at the time these lights were first used there were very few lights out of doors they might be confused with. It was only as gas lighting and the like spread that the railways moved from using white lights for 'Clear' to using green for signals and the like to avoid the confusion that had started to occur.

Being green, might they be army lamps? Just a thought.

All level crossing lamps I've seen have either been black or red. I think these lights have been repainted as part of the adding of the wall mounting brackets. I would suggest a careful rub with say 400 grit wet and dry paper on the underside or somewhere not too conspicuous and see if traces of the original paint are lying under the green paint. (Green paint is highly unlikely to have been used by anyone connected to railway operations due to its association with a 'Clear' aspect/signal, I would have thought.)

 

[RoddyMcLaren]

I will look into the green being repainted, if original green i will send some pics to army railway signal website. The level crossing makes sense but how were the lamps mounted in a basket? as they have handles and probable modified either by the railway when electric came in or for a decorative pupose later in life.
Thanks for all the info

Being green, might they be army lamps? Just a thought.

Don't forget that at the time these lights were first used there were very few lights out of doors they might be confused with. It was only as gas lighting and the like spread that the railways moved from using white lights for 'Clear' to using green for signals and the like to avoid the confusion that had started to occur.


All level crossing lamps I've seen have either been black or red. I think these lights have been repainted as part of the adding of the wall mounting brackets. I would suggest a careful rub with say 400 grit wet and dry paper on the underside or somewhere not too conspicuous and see if traces of the original paint are lying under the green paint. (Green paint is highly unlikely to have been used by anyone connected to railway operations due to its association with a 'Clear' aspect/signal, I would have thought.)

 

[John Webb]

The lamps would have been mounted probably by a spigot on the top of the gate and a socket fitted to the base of the lamp. They had to be removable so that they could be lifted off the gate in the daytime, taken to a nearby lamp hut and be serviced - ie be refilled and the wick trimmed as required. These are jobs that couldn't be done safely at the side of the road or easily on a windy day!

Thought: If the modern brackets are bolted to the base of the lamps rather than being welded or brazed, taking the lamps off the brackets might just reveal their original colour?