Transportation

Americans have always been a people on the move—on rails, roads, and waterways (for travel through the air, visit the National Air and Space Museum). In the transportation collections, railroad objects range from tools, tracks, and many train models to the massive 1401, a 280-ton locomotive built in 1926. Road vehicles include coaches, buggies, wagons, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles, and automobiles—from the days before the Model T to modern race cars. The accessories of travel are part of the collections, too, from streetlights, gas pumps, and traffic signals to goggles and overcoats.

In the maritime collections, more than 7,000 design plans and scores of ship models show the evolution of sailing ships and other vessels. Other items range from scrimshaw, photographs, and marine paintings to life jackets from the Titanic.

Dick’s improvement in “Signal-Lights for Locomotives” included a combination of a stationary and a moveable headlight which could also identify the train name or number.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Dick’s improvement in “Signal-Lights for Locomotives” included a combination of a stationary and a moveable headlight which could also identify the train name or number.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1871
patent date
1872-07-23
inventor
Dick, Andrew
ID Number
DL.331332
catalog number
331332
patent number
129,797
accession number
88881
Colored print of a railroad engine and tender, exhibited behind a brass railing. The engine is labeled "General" and the tender is labeled W & A. R.R.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Colored print of a railroad engine and tender, exhibited behind a brass railing. The engine is labeled "General" and the tender is labeled W & A. R.R.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
n.d.
maker
unknown
ID Number
DL.60.2892
catalog number
60.2892
accession number
228146
This model was filed with the application to the U.S. Patent Office for Patent Number 184,029 issued to John M. Ayer on November 7, 1876.
Description
This model was filed with the application to the U.S. Patent Office for Patent Number 184,029 issued to John M. Ayer on November 7, 1876. Ayer’s invention was a design for a railroad refrigerator car that would have improved insulation properties while also being lighter than other cars of the time. The ultimate goal of the improved design was to allow longer shipments of perishable goods without the cost and delay of ice replenishment. Ayer claimed that these goals were achieved without sacrifice in the strength or durability of the car. The basic idea of the patent was to create a double-walled car in which the inner and outer walls of the car were separated by air chambers. The roof of the car also had an air chamber between it and the inner ceiling. The air chambers were interconnected and vented to the outside air so as to permit circulation. This reduced the heating of the insulating air by prolonged contact with the exterior walls and roof when exposed to direct sun. The outer wall and roof were constructed of wood. The inner walls and ceiling were made from a layer of pasteboard (or similar paper product) and a layer of rubber . Both of these materials provided additional insulation, and the inner walls and ceiling were intended to be nearly air tight. The patent provided for double entry doors, and these were constructed of an outer layer of wood with an inner layer of the same pasteboard and rubber. The doors had beveled edges with the inner surfaces being smaller than the outer. The inner rubber surfaces were shaped to form a seal when the doors were secured thus adding to the airtightness of the car. Cars of Ayer’s design were constructed and used on railroads and were documented as still being used in 1903.
The patent model is constructed of wood. There are two cut away sections, one on the side of the car and one on the roof. These show the essential elements of the patent - the air chambers and the inner wall and ceiling of the car. Double doors mounted in the side of the car are shown open to illustrate the seals and beveled edges.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1876
patent date
1876-11-07
inventor
Ayer, John M.
ID Number
ER.325597
accession number
249602
catalog number
325597
patent number
184,029
The cap is has a stiff crown and flat circular top with a short visor. A black braid stretches across the visor and is attached to the hat by buttons on each side of the hat.
Description
The cap is has a stiff crown and flat circular top with a short visor. A black braid stretches across the visor and is attached to the hat by buttons on each side of the hat. It has a badge on the front with the Louisville and Nashville Railroad logo, L&N and the words TRIAN PORTER. On each side is a button with the initials L&N.
This particular porter's cap was owned by Mr. Henry Taylor, a porter for the Louisville & Nashville Railroad from the 1940s through the 1960s. Mr. Taylor worked aboard the L&N Railroad's coaches on overnight trains, assisting passengers. Sleeping cars assigned to L&N overnight trains were operated by Pullman, and so the porters on those cars worked for Pullman, not for the Louisvile and Nashville Railroad.
Location
Currently not on view
associated institution
Louisville and Nashville Railroad
maker
Becker Tailoring Co.
ID Number
1985.0552.01
accession number
1985.0552
catalog number
1985.0552.01
85.0552.01
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1964
maker
Plowden, David
ID Number
1986.0711.0697
accession number
1986.0711
catalog number
1986.0711.0697
This “Conger” model battery-powered signal lantern was manufactured by the Conger Lantern Company of Honeoye Falls, New York in 1989.
Description
This “Conger” model battery-powered signal lantern was manufactured by the Conger Lantern Company of Honeoye Falls, New York in 1989. The Conger Lantern Company originally operated in Portland, Oregon until it was purchased by the Star Headlight & Lantern Company of Honeoye Falls, New York in 1982. The lantern was incredibly popular due to its lightweight, rust-proof stainless steel body and rubber coated handle. The lantern has sockets for two bulbs; the bare bulb with reflector below the lantern body was used for signaling while the smaller adjacent bulb makes a focused beam that could be used as a flashlight. This particular lantern was witnessed to be the last Conger from the Star Company's assembly line, as the company changed to producing their line of plastic lanterns in 1989.
Before the advent of portable two way radios, train crews communicated via hand signals during the day, and lantern signals during periods of low visibility or at night. Hand lantern signals are still used in situations when radio intercommunication is impractical. Specific motions of the lantern convey precise instructions such as “Clear to Depart;" "Move the train Forward;" "Move the train Backward;" "Slow Down;" "Slow Down Further;" or "Stop and Remain Stopped."
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1989-06-22
ca. 1989
ca. 1954 - 1989
1989
maker
Star Headlight & Lantern Company
ID Number
1989.0610.01
accession number
1989.0610
catalog number
1989.0610.01
This battery-powered signal lantern was manufactured by the Star Headlight & Lantern Company of Honeoye Falls, New York beginning in the 1950s.
Description
This battery-powered signal lantern was manufactured by the Star Headlight & Lantern Company of Honeoye Falls, New York beginning in the 1950s. The lantern has a metal body with a fixed rubber-coated handle, allowing for better grip during signaling as well as a insulating the handle from electricity. The lantern has sockets for two bulbs; one equipped with a reflector used for signaling and a smaller adjacent socket that makes a focused beam that could be used as a flashlight.
Before the advent of portable two way radios, train crews communicated via hand signals during the day, and lantern signals during periods of low visibility or at night. Hand lantern signals are still used in situations when radio intercommunication is impractical. Specific motions of the lantern convey precise instructions such as “Clear to Depart;" "Move the train Forward;" "Move the train Backward;" "Slow Down;" "Slow Down Further;" or "Stop and Remain Stopped."
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1950-1959
associated institution
Louisville and Nashville Railroad
maker
Star Headlight & Lantern Company
ID Number
1985.0552.03
accession number
1985.0552
catalog number
1985.0552.03
85.0552.03
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1964
maker
Plowden, David
ID Number
1986.0711.0721
accession number
1986.0711
catalog number
1986.0711.0721
This Starlight 222 model lantern was manufactured by the Star Headlight & Lantern Company of Honeoye Falls, New York in 1989. The Star Company replaced their metal lanterns with acrylic plastic lanterns like this one beginning in 1989.
Description
This Starlight 222 model lantern was manufactured by the Star Headlight & Lantern Company of Honeoye Falls, New York in 1989. The Star Company replaced their metal lanterns with acrylic plastic lanterns like this one beginning in 1989. This side of this lantern is stamped with the text “PRODUCED IN OUR 100th Year 1889-1989” surrounding the Star Company logo. The lantern has sockets for two bulbs; the bare bulb with reflector below the lantern body was used for signaling while the smaller adjacent bulb makes a focused beam that could be used as a flashlight. The Starlight model was available in several colors with a choice of railroad logos on the side.
Before the advent of portable two way radios, train crews communicated via hand signals during the day, and lantern signals during periods of low visibility or at night. Hand lantern signals are still used in situations when radio intercommunication is impractical. Specific motions of the lantern convey precise instructions such as “Clear to Depart;" "Move the train Forward;" "Move the train Backward;" "Slow Down;" "Slow Down Further;" or "Stop and Remain Stopped."
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1989
maker
Star Headlight & Lantern Company
ID Number
1989.0610.02
accession number
1989.0610
catalog number
1989.0610.02
This large, kerosene-fueled switch lamp, ca. 1900s-1940s, was placed immediately adjacent to the manual operating lever that controlled the position of a switch in a railroad track.
Description
This large, kerosene-fueled switch lamp, ca. 1900s-1940s, was placed immediately adjacent to the manual operating lever that controlled the position of a switch in a railroad track. The lever, operated by a brakeman or switchman, changed the position of the movable rails of the switch, aligning the switch for a train's movement from one route to another, or from a main track to a siding track.
This lamp has fresnel lenses - two blue and two red. The crenelated top allows heat to escape from the burner. The body is embossed with the initials, "M.C.R.R.", showing that it was made for and used on the Michigan Central Railroad, a major part of the New York Central System.
A switch lamp's position was mechanically interlinked with the position of the switch, so that the lamp automatically indicated which way the switch was aligned. When aligned for a main route or normal path ("normal" as specified in the railroad's employee timetable and/or standing instructions for that particular switch's milepost location), the lamp's green (or blue) lenses showed fore and aft; when the switch was changed to a diverging route or siding, the lamp rotated 90 degrees so that the red lenses showed fore and aft.
Clearly, the safety of passing trains was dependent on the accurate indication of the lamp, if a derailment due to a misaligned switch was to be prevented.
This large-size lamp is of a type typically used on principal tracks in railroad yards or on main routes in the vicinity of junctions or stations. The kerosene fuel for the lamp had to be replenished regularly by nearby employees. Electric lighting for such lamps became common in the 1890s-1900s along heavily used routes. But kerosene lamps were common into the 1950s along lightly used routes and in many rail yards.
Location
Currently not on view
user
Michigan Central Railroad
maker
Peter Gray & Sons
ID Number
1989.0687.01
catalog number
1989.0687.01
accession number
1989.0687
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1919
Circa 1919
ca 1919
associated date
1917 - 1918
associated person
Stanley-Brown, Rudolph
Stanley-Brown, Katharine
artist
Stanley-Brown, Rudolph
ID Number
AF.59728M
catalog number
59728M
accession number
216896
This kerosene hand lantern was manufactured by the Manufacturing Company of New York, New York during the early 20th century. The lamp has a metal body has a blue glass bulb surrounded by a protective wire frame.
Description
This kerosene hand lantern was manufactured by the Manufacturing Company of New York, New York during the early 20th century. The lamp has a metal body has a blue glass bulb surrounded by a protective wire frame. The bottom of the lamp contained the oil font, with the wick protruding from the font into the bulb. The top of the lantern is stamped with the text “ARMSPEAR MANFG CO./“1925”/New York” while the lower metal portions reads “B.&O. R.R.” This lantern was used on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.
Before the advent of portable two way radios train crews communicated via hand signals during the day, and lantern signals during periods of low visibility or at night. This lantern with the blue globe was used by station agents to signal a train to pick up train orders, or to mark equipment that was being worked on and wasn’t to be moved.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1920-1949
maker
Armspear Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1989.0745.42
catalog number
1989.0745.42
accession number
1989.0745
This is a 1/2" scale four-wheel model of Peter Cooper’s Tom Thumb, which operated on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1830. Few contemporary details about the locomotive’s construction have survived.
Description
This is a 1/2" scale four-wheel model of Peter Cooper’s Tom Thumb, which operated on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1830. Few contemporary details about the locomotive’s construction have survived. The model is based on Peter Cooper's recollection printed in the an 1875 issue of the American Railway Master Mechanics Association. The model shows a verticle boiler, a verticle cylinder and piston and a stack.
After making a modest fortune in glue manufacturing in New York City, Peter Cooper purchased property in Baltimore on which he constructed the Canton Iron Works. He was therefore anxious about the future of the newly opened Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, since only a successful line would increase the value of his land holdings. In England, where the railway was first developed, companies operated steam locomotives over farely straight lines. B&O officials believed that their route’s sharp curves were unsuitable for locomotives, and operated trains hauled by horses instead. Cooper, by contrast, insisted that steam locomotives were not only practical but necessary if the line was to make a profit. To argue his position, he constructed a small locomotive that hauled trains carrying B&O Railroad officials during the summer of 1830. The Tom Thumb’s ability to traverse the sharp curves of the line with a speed of 18 mph proved Cooper’s point, and steam locomotives were adopted on the B&O the following year.
Location
Currently on loan
date made
1960
ca. "t1960
ca. 1830
Tom Thumb locomotive constructed
1830
ID Number
TR.318210
catalog number
318210
accession number
233853
The Pioneer is a steam locomotive made in 1851 by Seth Wilmarth, owner of a large machine shop in Boston who made few locomotives. Pioneer is an early type of steam locomotive on U.S. railroads and used only on a very few of them.
Description
The Pioneer is a steam locomotive made in 1851 by Seth Wilmarth, owner of a large machine shop in Boston who made few locomotives. Pioneer is an early type of steam locomotive on U.S. railroads and used only on a very few of them. This locomotive is significant only because of that rarity. Its age is also unusual among preserved locomotives; Pioneer was built just two decades after America’s first domestically made locomotive. Its general type was obsolete on almost all railroads in the U.S. by 1850.
Pioneer served the Cumberland Valley RR, connecting Harrisburg, Pa. with Hagerstown, Md. and Winchester, Va. The locomotive was designed specifically to pull two-car passenger trains. Pioneer was one of several locomotives badly damaged by fire during the Civil War, during a Confederate raid on the CVRR roundhouse at Chambersburg, Pa. The CVRR rebuilt the engine, operated it on light, one- and two-car passenger trains till the mid 1880s, and then saved and exhibited it as an historic relic. The Pennsylvania RR (then one of the nation’s largest) absorbed the CVRR soon after. The PRR entirely repainted Pioneer in 1947 for the 1947-48 Chicago Railroad Fair. The lettering on the fenders, “PIONEER,” is inauthentic. A replica headlight was added by NMAH (then NMHT) in Dec 1965.
In the standard type nomenclature for steam locomotives, Pioneer is a “2-2-2T” type, meaning that it has an unpowered leading pair of wheels; a single powered axle (the larger-diameter wheels, driven by the steam cylinders via connecting (or “main”) rods; and another unpowered pair of wheels at the rear. The “T” stands for “tank engine,” meaning one that has no separate tender for carrying its fuel (wood) and water for the boiler; fuel and water is carried on the same single chassis as the boiler, cab, and running gear.
Location
Currently on loan
date made
1851
ca. 1851
used date
1851-1948
maker
Seth Wilmarth
Union Works
ID Number
TR.317547.01
accession number
230385
catalog number
317547.01
This railroad hand-signal battery-powered lantern was manufactured by the Economy Electric Lantern Company during the middle of the 20th century. This lantern was used by an employee of the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad.
Description
This railroad hand-signal battery-powered lantern was manufactured by the Economy Electric Lantern Company during the middle of the 20th century. This lantern was used by an employee of the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad. The lantern has a stainless steel body to avoid rust, and a rubber coated handle allowing for better grip during signaling.
Before the advent of portable two way radios, train crews communicated via hand signals during the day, and lantern signals during periods of low visibility or at night. Specific motions of the lantern convey precise instructions such as “Clear to Depart;" "Move the train Forward;" "Move the train Backward;" "Slow Down;" "Slow Down Further;" or "Stop and Remain Stopped."
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Economy Lantern Company
ID Number
TR.335323
catalog number
335323
accession number
321812
This railroad hand signal oil lantern was used on the United States Military Railroad by the Union Army during the Civil War from 1862 until 1865. The base of the lamp held the oil font; the wick is inside the glass globe which is protected by the wire frame.
Description
This railroad hand signal oil lantern was used on the United States Military Railroad by the Union Army during the Civil War from 1862 until 1865. The base of the lamp held the oil font; the wick is inside the glass globe which is protected by the wire frame. The glass globe has the initials “USMRR” stamped into the side.
Before the advent of portable two way radios train crews communicated via hand signals during the day, and lantern signals during periods of low visibility or at night. Specific motions of the lantern convey precise instructions from the train's conductor to the train’s engineer or brakeman such as “Clear to Depart;" "Move the train Forward;" "Move the train Backward;" "Slow Down;" "Slow Down Further;" or "Stop and Remain Stopped."
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca. 1862-1865
ID Number
TR.315875
accession number
222961
catalog number
315875
The small stiff cap is black with a flat circular top and a short visor. A gold braid stretches across the top of the brim attached around a brass button on both sides of the hat. A badge stamped with C&EI Conductor is attached to the front of the cap.
Description
The small stiff cap is black with a flat circular top and a short visor. A gold braid stretches across the top of the brim attached around a brass button on both sides of the hat. A badge stamped with C&EI Conductor is attached to the front of the cap. Another thin gold trim is attached at the seam just above the badge. The cap is typical of those used on may US railroads in the 1930s through the 1960s. The conductor had—and still has today—overall charge of the train and its management, the safety of its passengers, and the accounting of fares.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
TR.335322.05
catalog number
335322.05
accession number
321812
This cap, ca. the 1950s, is characteristic of such caps seen at railroad stations throughout North America from the 1920s till about the 1980s.
Description
This cap, ca. the 1950s, is characteristic of such caps seen at railroad stations throughout North America from the 1920s till about the 1980s. The cloth appears to be silk, which gives a sheen to the cap's fabric; silk was not unusual for red caps.
This cap was used by an employee of the Canadian National Railway, a fact that in no way detracts from the cap's relevance to U.S. railroad history or to African American history. U.S. and Canadian railroads in fact have operated as a seamless, interchangeable rail network from the late 1890s to the present day, and the Canadian National, in particular, historically owned rail lines operating in Michigan. The Canadian Pacific Railway historically owned lines across Maine. Employment conditions for "red caps" at Canadian terminals were identical to such conditions at U.S. depots.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
TR.335443
catalog number
335443
accession number
321737
The 4-6-2 "Pacific" type steam locomotive for passenger trains was introduced late in the 19th century and perfected after 1910. It was among the most numerous type of steam locomotive for passenger trains operated in the United States from about 1910 to 1955.
Description
The 4-6-2 "Pacific" type steam locomotive for passenger trains was introduced late in the 19th century and perfected after 1910. It was among the most numerous type of steam locomotive for passenger trains operated in the United States from about 1910 to 1955. This type was characterized by four leading or "pilot" wheels, arranged in a "truck" to guide the locomotive in curves; 6 large-diameter driving wheels for power and speed; and a pair of "trailing wheels" in a "trailing truck" under the rear of the engine to help support its great weight.
Far from ordinary, the Class Ps-4-type steam locomotives of the Southern Railway were inspired by handsomely painted British locomotives. The Ps-4's green and gold livery set these locomotives apart from the funereal black associated with most American steam locomotives in the 20th century. The distinctive green was exclusive to locomotives on the Southern Railway that were assigned to the company's principal passenger trains, such as the Crescent Limited, the Piedmont Limited, and others.
The Charlotte Division was part of the Southern's Washington–Atlanta mainline, with extension of the mainline to Birmingham and New Orleans on track leased by Southern. The Charlotte Division included the line between Greenville, S.C., and Salisbury/Spencer, N.C. Thus the 1401 rarely, if ever, ran north of Spencer, home of the Southern's vast Spencer Shops for the heavy repair of locomotives from throughout the system.
A Ps-4 was capable of hauling 12–15 steel passenger cars, about 700–1000 tons, at 80 mph on level track. (The hill-and-dale profile of the Charlotte Division, however, kept average speeds to about 50–60 mph.) The 14,000 gallons of water in the tender permitted runs of about 150 miles—the full length of the Division—between water stops, although there would be one intermediate water stop normally scheduled. Fuel (16 tons of bituminous coal) in the tender was good for the full 150 miles.
Date made
1926
user
Southern Railway
maker
American Locomotive Company. Richmond Works
ID Number
TR.320000
accession number
196330
catalog number
320000.01
accession number
196330
Knowing the best locomotives were made in England, Robert Stevens ordered one from Robert Stevenson & Company of New Castle for the Camden and Amboy Railroad which ran across central New Jersey.
Description
Knowing the best locomotives were made in England, Robert Stevens ordered one from Robert Stevenson & Company of New Castle for the Camden and Amboy Railroad which ran across central New Jersey. The "John Bull," named later for the mythical gentleman who symbolized England, was the result.
The locomotive was built as a standard 0-4-0 Planet class. Never seeing a locomotive before, Isaac Dripps, a young steamboat mechanic, assembled the engine from the parts that arrived in New Jersey in September 1831. It was tested that same month. The locomotive proved vulnerable to derailment. Dripps installed an extra pair of wheels, carried in a frame out front. Stevens called them "guide wheels"; they helped to steer the locomotive in curves and over uneven rails. The innovation worked so well that the Camden and Amboy bought 15 American copies of "John Bull" with the added wheels. By the end of the 1830s, American manufacturers were building locomotives and exporting to Russia and other countries that had vast terrain much like America.
The steam locomotive "John Bull" ran for 35 years, pulling trains of passengers and cargo between the two largest cities of the time, Philadelphia and New York. A short ferry ride connected Camden with Philadelphia and a longer ferry run connected South Amboy with New York. The locomotive propelled trains at 25 to 30 miles per hour.
Date made
1831
user
Camden and Amboy Railroad
Stevens, Robert
assembled by
Dripps, Isaac
maker
Robert Stephenson and Company
ID Number
TR.180001
accession number
15804
catalog number
180001
This kerosene railroad hand-signal lantern was made by the Armspear Manufacturing Company around 1920–1940. The lantern has a metal body with a glass globe, surrounded by a protective wire frame, with a wire handle.
Description
This kerosene railroad hand-signal lantern was made by the Armspear Manufacturing Company around 1920–1940. The lantern has a metal body with a glass globe, surrounded by a protective wire frame, with a wire handle. The top of the lantern is stamped with the text “ARMSPEAR MANFG CO./“1925”/New York” while the lower metal portions reads “Erie R.R.” The globe is stamped with the initials “DL&W” which stands for the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad. The Erie Railroad merged with the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad in 1960, perhaps explaining this lamp’s representation of both railways.
Before the advent of portable two way radios, train crews communicated via hand signals during the day, and lantern signals during periods of low visibility or at night. Specific motions of the lantern convey precise instructions such as “Clear to Depart;" "Move the train Forward;" "Move the train Backward;" "Slow Down;" "Slow Down Further;" or "Stop and Remain Stopped."
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
TR.335004
accession number
315303
catalog number
335004
This is a 1/2" scale model of the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad’s Lancaster. Steam locomotives are often classified by wheel arrangement, in the order of leading, driving, and trailing wheels.
Description
This is a 1/2" scale model of the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad’s Lancaster. Steam locomotives are often classified by wheel arrangement, in the order of leading, driving, and trailing wheels. This locomotive had four leading wheels, two driving wheels, and no trailing wheels. It is therefore classified as a 4-2-0 locomotive.
Built in 1834, the Lancaster was the third locomotive constructed by M. W. Baldwin of Philadelphia. A jeweler turned machinist, Baldwin completed his first locomotive in 1832. The proliferation of new railroads encouraged many small machine shops, like Baldwin’s, to enter the locomotive business. Most of these firms built only a few machines and went out of business. Baldwin’s shop, however, became the largest steam locomotive builder in the world. By 1868, the firm had produced 2000 engines and employed over 1,600 workers. When the company closed its doors in 1956, it had produced over 70,000 locomotives for North American railroads and lines overseas.
On the Lancaster, Baldwin employed the four-wheel leading truck devised by John B. Jervis, which allowed the engine to negotiate sharp curves with ease. Designed for both passenger and freight service, the Lancaster performed well; on one occasion, the locomotive pulled a 75-ton, sixteen-car train at an average speed of 12 to 14 miles per hour. The engine proved so successful that Baldwin built over one hundred locomotives on the same general design from 1834 to 1842. After operating for sixteen years, the Lancaster was retired in 1850, and dismantled the following year.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1834
Lancaster locomotive constructed
1834
ID Number
TR.325994
catalog number
325994
accession number
257974
This silver metal cap badge bears the engraving “M.C.R.R./CONDUCTOR” filled with black paint. This badge would have been worn by a conductor for the Michigan Central Railroad, which began operating between Detroit and Chicago in 1846.
Description
This silver metal cap badge bears the engraving “M.C.R.R./CONDUCTOR” filled with black paint. This badge would have been worn by a conductor for the Michigan Central Railroad, which began operating between Detroit and Chicago in 1846. The MCR was consolidated into the New York Central system during the 1930s. The conductor was—and is today—the sole on-board supervisor of the whole crew, responsible for the movement of the train, the safety of passengers, and the security and accounting of cargo on board.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
TR.334932
catalog number
334932
accession number
315321
This metal cap badge reads “BRAKEMAN” in silver-colored skeleton letters. The badge has two posts protruding from the back that allowed it to be affixed to the uniform cap of a railroad employee who served aboard passenger trains.
Description
This metal cap badge reads “BRAKEMAN” in silver-colored skeleton letters. The badge has two posts protruding from the back that allowed it to be affixed to the uniform cap of a railroad employee who served aboard passenger trains. This badge identified the wearer as a brakeman on the Southern Pacific Railroad. The Southern Pacific Railroad ran throughout the southwest United States, opening in 1865 and operating until 1996 when it was taken over by the Union Pacific Railroad. The brakeman’s duties included moving from car to car to trigger the brakes and slow the train, dropping cars at stations, lining switches, and signaling to crew members about train operations.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
TR.333722
catalog number
333722
accession number
304341

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