Railroad Lantern Styles

Fixed Globe Lantern

• Mostly found in the northeastern U.S., fixed globe lanterns are immovable. The globes in these lamps are cemented into the surrounding metal casing. In production primarily during the Civil War and through the expansion of the railways into the northeast, these lanterns tend to be found solely in the northeast area. As there was no set standard to their design, many of these lanterns are collected by regional specialists due to the variety of the makers, styles and features. The markings of regional railways appear on the lanterns.

Tall-Globe Lantern

• Tall-globe lanterns gradually replaced the fixed globe lanterns for two reasons. These lanterns not only burned signal fuel, highly used at the time, but also provided a removable globe. The globe size ranged from 5 3/9 to 6 inches in height and was surrounded by the metal casing. Used up to World War I, these lamps carry the names of railroad lines no longer in existence. The lanterns are highly sought after by collectors based on the ornateness of the lantern, the variety of designs with no set standard and the height.

Short-Globe Lantern

• As the fuel to power the lanterns changed to kerosene, the size of the globe became smaller. The reduced size of the globe ranged from 3 1/4 to 4 1/2 inches; however, the advantage of a smaller globe was that it made the lanterns lighter and easier to carry. The lamps began production after World War I and continued in production up to the 1970s. As these lamps are relatively new and more abundant, they are not as collectible as the older lamps.

Conductor Lantern

• The conductor lantern is the most ornate of the railroad lanterns and is also known as a presentation lantern as it might be given by the railroad as an award or as a presentation gift to the conductor. The conductor lantern was also the lantern most visible to the passengers. These two reasons may be the reason the conductor lantern became the most elaborate of all the railroad lamps receiving delicate designs in precious nickel or brass in the casing while the globe itself received lettering, such as the conductors' name.

Inspector Lantern

• The inspector lantern varied greatly from the conductor lantern as the inspector lantern reflected a utilitarian design without the ornateness found in the conductor lantern. The sheet metal exterior of the inspector lantern housed the globe inside it with a reflective surface of metal or glass. The primary function of this type of lantern was to focus the light in one direction to conduct inspections. Although these lanterns may vary in size, the appearance remains the same.