L is for… LAMPS

fortunately for collectors, the railway companies were very keen to mark most of their items of hardware with at least their initials and sometimes their full title; often the location is denoted, too.

Good examples of this are the handlamps that can be found in profusion at railwayana auctions ‑ either in the sales themselves or on the supporting stalls ‑ from pre‑Grouping companies, the Big four and BR. As with most items, rarity rules and a cherished company or unusual location can command a premium.

some handlamps led double lives, being transferred from one signal box or station to help out at another (what a story some of these once‑everyday items could tell!) so you might find a Great Eastern sliding knob‑style lamp had been reallocated to a Great northern outpost. some location names will be stamped on the lamp, while others will be found on steel or, best of all, brass plates.

one of my personal favourites often catches visitors out as the plate reads: “2241 TWENTY” and I’m asked: ‘Why does it start in numbers and end in letters?’ That’s because the number represents the lamp’s status, while ‘TWENTY’ was the location ‑ the first station east of Bourne, Lincolnshire, on the former Midland & Great northern Joint Railway, where the rural railhead took its name from the nearby Twenty foot river.

signal inner lamps or outer cases are usually a more economic option. Because of their very nature, they have often had a hard life, as can be reflected by their condition.

Locomotive headlamps are an evocative and not‑too‑big or expensive item. station lamps can be very ornate or very simple, and if you don’t have the requisite space for the full job, complete with hefty post outside your home, you might get away with just the top indoors. Let there be light!