The development of railroads and the spread of rail lines ushered in a new era in agriculture. From bringing homesteaders and their goods west to transporting the harvested products to the coasts, railroads and agriculture have woven themselves together. The safe use of the rails has always been a concern, especially in the days before modern technology. This weekās Whatās New Wednesday celebrates a piece of safety equipment, the Railroad Switch Lamp. Common from 1900-140, the lamps utilized kerosene, and four lenses, two on either side, two blue and two red. The color of the lens indicated the position of the track. The switch lamp would be near a switch or a place where the rail track would move from one track to another. A lever pulled by a brakeman or switchman operated the switch to change the tracks, and a mechanism would in turn automatically change the light to correspond with which way the track was. Blue lenses meant safe to continue, red meant the track was switched the other way. Engineers and rail workers depended on the switch lamp to avoid collisions and derailments. A misaligned switch lamp could mean disaster, so a switch lamp saved trouble.
SDAHM 1989:156:003 Donated by Kohlmeyerās Antiques