Name/Title
Light, OutdoorEntry/Object ID
2021.016.0001Description
Ralroad four-way switch marker light, green and red. 8' x 8' x 12". Approximately 15 pounds. Found at the end of First Street in Benicia in the water. Heavily encrusted with sediment.
This switch lamp was most likely kerosene-fueled. It 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 green and two red. 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, the lamp's green 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. The kerosene fuel for the lamp had to be replenished regularly by nearby employees.Collection
Benicia Industrial Collection