Dietz Railroad Lantern

Manufacturer / Maker Dietz and Co. (founded 1855)

Dateca. 1925

Mediumembossed metal, glass, wire

ClassificationsTools, Implements & Weights

Credit LineAlbuquerque Museum, gift of the John Keleher Family

Object numberPC2012.13.1

Description1920s Dietz inspector's silver-painted lantern that has a red glass around the bulb, and two handles with a blue turning switch on the base. Railroad inspectors, sometimes called trackwalkers, had bright lanterns designed with a reflective case and lens, made to focus as much light as possible in a small area. They had to check the trains for cracked wheels or axles, damaged couplers, and ensure proper lubrication and maintenance activities were performed on locomotives and rolling stock. The bright light of the Dietz Acme hot blast lantern and the Dietz Ideal cold blast lantern served railroad inspectors for decades.A change in innovation during this time allowed for globe lanterns to have red, cobalt blue, green, amber, and clear colors.

The different colors were used for signaling and to mark the end of a train, or a train that was stopped because it was being worked on. Different arm motions and color combinations could allow a switch operator or ground man to tell the engineer of a train to stop, slow down, proceed with caution, or could alert him that the train had parted. Track switches and train yards had signal lamps that were designed with lenses to direct different colors of light in different directions, analogous to modern day automobile traffic lights.

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