General Information

Serial #

N/A

Part Number

1

Total Parts

1

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

ferrous metal casing, handle, parts/ glass globe/ textile wick

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

20.5 cm

Width

16.5 cm

Height

37.0 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Lighting Technology

Category

Lighting devices

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Wright

Country

Canada

State/Province

Ontario

City

Hamilton

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Unknown

Period

this example: between 1908 and 1923 +

Canada

A Canadian made railway lantern made for the Grand Trunk Railway, the first large railway company in Canada. E.T. and Harry Wright were born in Pennsylvania and moved with their parents to Hamilton, ON at the start of the American Civil War. In 1882 they started the E.T. Wright Co. and produced various metallic objects, even stoves. In October 1927 Wright merged with four other companies (McClary Manufacturing Co., London, Ont.; Sheet Metal Products Co. of Canada Ltd., Toronto; Thomas Davidson Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Montreal; and A. Aubrey et fils Ltrr, Montreal. Incorporated in 1852, the Grand Truck Railway became the major railway in eastern Canada though a combination of rail line construction and takeover of other railways. By the 1880's it stretched from Sarnia through Toronto and Montreal to the New Brunswick border, where it met the Intercolonial which serviced the Maritime provinces. The GTR's connection to Portland, Maine via the St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad gave it year round access to an ice-free port. The building of the Grand Trunk Pacific line to British Columbia led to GTR's bankruptcy in 1919. The federal government took it over and in 1923 GTR was amalgamated with Canadian National Railways, which became Canadian National (Refs. 2 & 3).

Function

A portable light source used by railway workers to communicate operational instructions using an established system of hand signals. The white (uncoloured) light was used to indicate safety and was a signal to go on.

Technical

A railrway oil lantern with a single guard, a wire bottom and a removable 5 3/8 inch globe. Lanterns were first made by local tinsmiths for general use on the railways and had a fixed globe. During the 1860's, the first removable globe lantern was patented, Improvements were made to lantern design over time and as new needs emerged. First sperm whale oil was used as fuel, but later that was replaced by kerosene. Removable globe lanterns were first patented in the 1860's. 5 3/8 inch globes began appearing in that decade as well and were developed to utilize the No. 39 globe which was developed for the use of signal oil. This type of globe was in common use until World War I when the U.S. government asked railroads to reduce their use of edible oil (Ref. 1).

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

top stamped 'E.T. WRIGHT & CO. MFRS. HAMILTON,-ONT./ shade stamped 'G.T.R.' and 'PAT'D 1908'/ raised lettering on globe reads 'GTR' and 'E.T.W. & Co.'

Missing

None apparent

Finish

metal finish obscured by corrosion/ colourless transparent glass

Decoration

N/A