The Home Machinist!

I've been doing some clean up trying to make room to buy a new lathe , found this guy in a pile of stuff . I know where it came from , my dad worked for the rail road back in the day .
But with bad blood and not haven spoken to him in 30 years or so I have no clue how it ended up in my junk pile .

Santa fe rail road lantern ... I dont think its all that old even being an oil burner .
Maybe 1950's ?

Think I'll give it to my mom and let her have the satisfaction of selling it at a yard sale this summer

could be worth something.

It reminds me of old ship's navigation lights.
I saw one on a wall here in Portugal; Dutch lady told me it was a memento from a houseboat she once owned.
It turned out I knew that boat, and the guy who sold it to her in Amsterdam 20 years ago.
She didn't believe me at first.
Funny world...

stephenc:
I sent your photo to a friend that collects railroad stuff. Maybe he might be interested.
He already has a diesel horn and a locomotive bell attached to his garage.
It is amusing to hear the diesel horn sound miles away from the nearest railroad. I have often wondered what the neighbors thought the first time it blared.
He is in the Wooster, OH area.
--earlgo

Growing up there there was a fellow who lived about 2 miles away that was into steam whistles . the first weekend in June he hosted a meet every year .
The sound of 50 or so various steam whistles sounding off for two days was an odd thing to hear in rural Ohio .

Earlgo.
If he has any interest send along an email and I'd be happy to give him some more pics .
My mom has absolutely no interest in anything to do with it . but living on a fixed income I'm pretty sure she could use a few bucks out of it .

I have a small ship; it's permanently moored, but I keep it legal to navigate, and one of many things required is a signal horn.
I found an old brass fog horn someone had as decoration, and it worked when I connected it to the compressed air from the ship engine (it's an ex-truck engine with compressor for air brakes).

I let the air pump up and pulled the handle; it didn't seem huge inside the wheelhouse, but someone walking 50 yards away nearly jumped out of their skin.
And then the echoes came bouncing back across the harbor.
Yeah, it's kind of loud.

I don't think I could live on a boat . when they are moving it can be rough as heck and it doesn't bother me at all .
Soon as the boat stops moving even the slightest rocking makes me sick within minutes .

stephenc wrote: ↑Mon May 10, 2021 3:28 pm I've been doing some clean up trying to make room to buy a new lathe , found this guy in a pile of stuff . I know where it came from , my dad worked for the rail road back in the day .
But with bad blood and not haven spoken to him in 30 years or so I have no clue how it ended up in my junk pile .

Santa fe rail road lantern ... I dont think its all that old even being an oil burner .
Maybe 1950's ?

Think I'll give it to my mom and let her have the satisfaction of selling it at a yard sale this summer

If you need some rubbish, don't keep it. Otherwise, the garage turns into a dump. Throw away anything unnecessary.

stephenc: My friend who collects the railroad stuff says that the picture shows a "switch lantern" and he already has one. He thanks you anyway.
--earlgo

when we die it all goes in a dumpster anyway...

Thanks for trying . we know what it is now so its a win

I've noticed its a lot easier to say " throw that junk away ". Then it is to actually do it .
As an inveterate tinkerer random junk is handy to have around .

.
when we die it all goes in a dumpster anyway

Not always, I think a lot of it actually ends up in my shop.

After you die?

Is your wife a collector?