The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Railroad Lighting, Volume I: The Railroad Lantern (Volume I Only)

x, 389 pp. Volume 1 in this series covers the railroad lantern and the history of over 90 US and Canadian manufacturers, arranged alphabetically, showing the more than 360 lantern models they produced. The book also documents the history of the industry from 1840 when individual tinsmiths beat out lanterns that were fueled with whale oil to the rise of mass production of kerosene lanterns and eventually to the current battery powered lamps. Chapters discuss lantern globes, burners, fuels, distributors and jobbers. The appendices cover patents, a rarity guide, organizations for lantern collectors, the disastrous Steam Gauge and Lantern Co. fire and has three indexes (lantern index, biographical index and business name index). Illustrated throughout with over 600 black and white photos and drawings.