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ANTIQUE RAILWAY PADLOCKS – MARKED TO RELATIVELY
SCARCE 19TH CENTURY RAIL COMPANIES:
These locks were used to
secure rail cars and rail line switch control arms.
Both of these locks are stamped with the rail line
initials. These rail lines were regional lines, and
were relatively small in terms of their localized
service areas compared to large nation wide railroad
companies. Likewise their physical assets were far
smaller in number, so their marked equipment such as
these locks appear on the market less often than that of
the larger companies.
The locks are described below with accompanying
photographs.
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NO. 1 SAN ANTONIO & ARANSAS PASS
RAIL ROAD PADLOCK: This heavy steel padlock is
stamped on the key way cover with the logo “MOON” – the
trade name for a line of padlocks made by the U.S. Lock
& Hardware Company of Columbia, Pennsylvania. The
reverse of the body of the lock is stamped “SA & AP RY”,
the owner’s mark for the San Antonio & Aransas Pass Rail
Way Company.
The San
Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway Company was
incorporated in 1884, organized by Uriah Lott and such
to Texas luminaries as Richard King, Mifflin Kenedy,
Augustus Belknap, and William Maverick, who recognized
the need for a direct railway route from San Antonio to
a deep water port on the Texas Gulf coast. This railway
would provide the ranchers, farmers, manufacturers and
merchants of South Central Texas to the world wide
market, especially that of Central and South America.
Initially laying a route by 1889 from San Antonio to
Corpus Christi and then Aransas Pass on the coast, by
1905-1910 the railway had additional spurs connecting
Kerrville in the Texas Hill Country; San Antonio and
Houston; Waco, through Yoakum to San Antonio, Lockhart
to the Waco-Yoakum line; and Skidmore to Falfurrias –
effectively covering the major ranching, farming and
manufacturing communities of South Central Texas at that
time.
The company
enjoyed a fairly successful, albeit brief, run which
ended on January 2, 1890 with a disastrous wreck, when a
wooden bridge over the La Vaca River at Hallettsville
collapsed as a SA & AP freight train was attempting the
crossing. The loss of life and the entire train with
all of its contents - which included alcohol much to the
delight of the crowd that came to see the wreckage –
resulted in many lawsuits, including claims brought due
to the questionable decision to erect a wooden bridge to
span a river well known to flood. The already
financially strained company was forced into
receivership on July 14, 1890. Never to recover, the SA
& AP Railway was acquired by the Southern Pacific
Railroad in 1892.
One of the
more notable events in San Antonio history occurred on
May 30, 1898 when Teddy Roosevelt and his newly
recruited Rough Riders departed from the old SA &AP
Railway Depot on Aransas Street [now South Alamo St.]
en route to Florida and
eventually on to Cuba.
Measuring 5 ½” tall and 3” wide,
this lock weighs 1 pound, 9.6 ounces, and the retention
chain is still riveted to the bottom of the lock. The
key way cover is still present and it swings freely
without binding. Unfortunately this lock is without the
key, but the shackle is open. (0119) $150
  
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NO. 2 DELAWARE,
LACKAWANNA & WESTERN RAIL ROAD PADLOCK: This
heavy brass padlock is stamped on the arc of the shackle
“D L & W”, the owner’s mark for the Delaware, Lackawanna
& Western Rail Road.
The Delaware,
Lackawanna and Western Railroad, also known as the DL&W
or Lackawanna Railroad, was incorporated in Pennsylvania
in 1853, and created primarily to provide a means of
transport of anthracite coal from the Coal Region in
Northeast Pennsylvania to large coal markets in New York
City. Eventually DL&W expanded to link Buffalo, New
York south to Hoboken, New Jersey. The rail road
remained profitable through the first half of the 20TH
Century, but suffered with the decline of Pennsylvania
coal shipments and in 1960 the DL&W merged with rival
Erie Railroad to form the Eire Lackawanna Railroad which
would be absorbed by Conrail in 1976.
The reverse
of the shackle is faintly stamped “FRAIM”, indicating at
least the shackle was manufactured by the E.T. Fraim
Lock Company of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. When I
obtained this lock, it was complete with the matching
key, also stamped “DL&W” on one side and “W. Bohannon,
BROOKLYN, NY”, another large padlock manufacturer which
did a large volume of business with the nation’s rail
lines. In addition to the “D L & W” stamp on the
shackle, it is also stamped “18”, probably an
abbreviation of the Bohannon model number “118”.
Measuring 3
¼” tall and 2 ½” wide, this lock weighs 13 ounces and
the retention chain is still attached to an iron loop
riveted to the bottom of the lock. The key way cover is
fully functional with a strong spring. The key
functions smoothly. (0426) $150
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