Caboose marker lamp colors.

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I'm curious about the large marker lamps with 3 amber and 1 red lenses - were these marker lamps (used on cabooses) painted yellow?

-- Ed Knight (carolina_express@go.com), November 01, 1999

Answers

Ed--there is a nice photo of a Southern cab the Southern Colro book vol 1 showing the rear end. The markers are there and they clearly are black not yellow--Larry

-- Larry Puckett (ljpuckett@msn.com), December 12, 1999.

While the photo in the book may show a black one, you should know that Southern DID also use yellow ones. I have one of each. From the early 1900's until both markers and class lamps were electrified (the round diver helmet style), Southern used mostly lamps made by ARMSPEAR (also lots of the tall handlanterns). Most of these were not marked, but earlier ones were tagged with a stamped metal plate S.Ry., which was the same marking used on the handlanterns by Armspear. They originally were not "painted black" per se, but the metal was darkened by a process called "Japanning." Armspear went out of business circa 1925-1930. The lamps and switchlamps were often repaired and refurbished, often with black paint and in later days also with yellow.

-- Matt Bumgarner (stealthnfo@aol.com), December 13, 1999.

ED:

ON THE OLD ACLRR THE CABOOSE MARKERS WERE A BRIGHT YELLOW AND WERE MARKED A C L. I QUESS A RAILROAD COULD PAINT THEM WHATEVER COLOR THEY WANTED. I GOT MINE FROM A RETIRED CSX EMPLOYEE WHO WAS HIRED OUT ON ACL DURING WORLD WAR II AND WHEN THE CABOOSES HAD GENERATORS INSTALLED, HE GOT THEM FOR LITTLE OR NOTHING.

-- JIM FISHER (NEWCENTURY96916@KNOLOGY.NET), July 08, 2004.


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