Posted 5 years ago
CORY444
(1 item)
It's a railroad sign with jeweled glass lettering. Looking to date it....
Found today in a ditch behind my house there is an old railroad rideaway | ||
| Rattletrap's loves162 of 873 |  |  |
Found today in a ditch behind my house there is an old railroad rideaway | ||
| Rattletrap's loves162 of 873 | | |
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Posted 5 years ago
CORY444
(1 item)
It's a railroad sign with jeweled glass lettering. Looking to date it....
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Prolly roughly 1940's at the latest, quite possibly a good bit older. The GRS logo shows it was made by General Railway Supply, maybe that'll help you research it furhter. GREAT FIND -- I wish I had that particular ditch behind *my* house...?!!
<lol>
It is nearly 5 foot across and is in pretty rough shape as far as the porcelain goes.... I'm hoping to find some glass jewels to replace the ones that are missing.... Any help would be great!
Aww crap, just rechecked and I got that name wrong, it's actually "GENERAL RAILWAY SIGNAL"... <headdesk>
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Railway_Signal
FWIW, my favorite old timey brand of RxR equipment is WRRS because they had an even funner logo -- but I've got a couple of GRS crossing lights somewhere downstairs too along with all the WRRS stuff... <lolol>
CORY444, it isn't impossible to locate replacements, nor even to 'replicate' them yourself. I'd suggest starting by searching for "catseyes" or 'catseye sign", that's generally the term for these in the sign/RxR collectors worlds and should get you a lot of good info rather quickly, I'd think... :-) :-) :-)
By a decade or three after your sign was probably made, signage with reflectorized legends/borders like that started to be more known as "buttoncopy" instead -- the differing terminology basically indicating changes in the general (less expensive) manufacturing processes of the signs themselves that involved using reflectors made of plastic instead of glass. (also the subsequent beginnings of the entire US Interstate Highway System...) By then the porcelain enamel surfaces (and base metals used) had also transitioned more into aluminum (vs. steel, which yours no doubt is) with various sorts of colored plastic 'sheeting' surface coatings to provide the actual lettering.
For myself, at this instant, I've got 2 pair of 8" crossing signal lights, nearly all the proper hardware to bolt 'em all together, a nice (and incredibly LOUD -- anyone ever really heard one of those things 'go' inside a house vs on a post 12' above a real RxR crossing outside somewhere?? <lol>) mechanical crossing bell, and most of the assorted electrissical claptrap that I'd need to get 'em all hooked up together and actually working again...all I'm lacking is that 10-12' pole and its base (which will likely really require a small crane of some sort if I ever do find one of those (I had the base part once too not so long ago but the scrappers got it... <banghead>) and the crossbucks (yours would be perfect <giggle>) and I might to very well get my own RxR crossing signal bolted to the patio outside somewhere, to either entertain or annoy the h*ll outta my neighbors.........??
<LOLOLOLOL>
Sure would love to add those cross bars to our Museum collection at Lakeside Museum in Provo if u ever decide to part with em. Rough but pretty cool.