Rail/train lamp?

Question

http://s280.photobucket.com/albums/kk165/clairemumof3/?action=view&current=100_0947.jpg

does anyone know anything about this type of rail/train lamp? i found it in my loft, its wood, dovetail design to hold the sides together, has a sliding back door to put a battery in (battery compartment is marked 'eveready', just wondered if anyone could enlighten me as to age, country etc. thank you

Answer 1

Not a Railroad lamp, although it might have been owned by somebody who worked on a railroad.

I can not find an exact match, but these are fairly close.  

http://www.flashlightmuseum.com/Eveready...

http://www.flashlightmuseum.com/Eveready...

Nice find by the way. I bet if you put batterries in it would still work, but you might need a new bulb.

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Oh, I almost forgot to tell you.

It is a bicycle lamp.

They made them like that in the very late 1800s and early 1900s.

They don't seem to have been made of wood after WWI, and became rounded tin cans and then little boxes that clamped onto the handle bars

Sometimes they will be called house lamps because of the handle.

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Here is another similar example

http://www.wordcraft.net/flashlight.html

Answer 2

I've got a very similar lamp from my Great Grandfather's family. He was a railway ticket collector. I don't think it was railway design. but was a commercial product that was issued to him so he could work after dark. Probably from around 1920. (at this time "railway" lamps were still oil burners)

If the bulb is very flattened in front compared to a modern bulb it may well be the original type. You probably can't get the matching battery any more, but could make something to fit. If it is the original bulb be careful you don't blow it as modern batteries have much more punch that the originals

Answer 3

Not railroad.  I think perhaps either marine or mining application.  Nice looking, though...

Answer 4

I'm gonna go with the above answer, I have never seen anything quite llike that in railroading although I admit there are lots of things I havent seen.

Most old railroad appliances form that era had the companie's name stamped on them which is another thing that makes me think it is probably not railroad related.

What size of batteries does it look like it used?

That might be a clue as to it's origin.