Re: Radial class lights detail

I have preserved and restored 2 different pair of DRGW Handlin radial class lamps. One pair was as original with the kerosene chimney, but electrified by the railroad with an approximate 11/2” hole added between the lenses to accommodate an electric socket for a 32 volt light bulb. The kerosene font and burner were no longer in the lantern as they were no longer needed. Since then I have found replacements though not original. This set had the original lenses and while the clear ones were complete, the green ones were perfectly broken in two. Some appropriate adhesive corrected this and you can’t tell they are broken at all. This set of lamps was used on the 1980 “Bill Peters Stock Special” on the re-numbered 484 to 485. They were also on the first revenue D&S passenger train in 1981(476) and the first run of 481, also in 1981.







The second pair was a mismatched set, one with the chimney and the other as the cut down version without the chimney. On the short (cut down) lamp, it was apparent that all the DRGW did was cut the chimney assembly off the lid and then cut the top of the chimney and then brazed to the remaining lid to cover up the hole. This part (at the top of the chimney) is round and marked “Handlin St. Louis” either across the top with “Handlin” over “St. Louis” or the same around the circumference. The short (cut down) conversions that I have seen were pretty primitive. Both had the same 11/2” hole for electrification as modified by the DRGW and described above.

At the time of restoration of this second set, I was working for the D&S and restored them in the old Durango roundhouse after I was off duty. I didn’t really want to cut down the tall lamp to match the short one and Handlin Buck was still in business at the time. Even though they no longer manufactured radial classification lamps, the chimney tops that they produced for the caboose markers were identical. All I did was order a replacement top for the short lamp and replaced the cut down top. Unfortunately, even though I did have lenses for this set, they were all broken in some way or another. I glued them together and did the best I could for a display set. I later gave these lamps to my older brother (DRGW engineer) who later replaced the lenses with plastic reproduction lenses. I believe a small quantity of these replacement lenses was made available by Coronado Scale Models in Arizona, but Earl can confirm.

Regarding what class lamps were used on what locomotives at any given time. These lamps were just re-usable and replaceable parts. I would guess that during major overhauls, the lamps would be removed and placed in the company store room. Once the locomotive returned to service, the storekeeper would grab whatever lamps were on the shelf and those were the ones installed. This would be the same if a lamp was lost or in need of a repair. The round lens “Baldwin” lamps seemed to be common in the early years on the K-36’s, but if you start looking at photos, you will see various locomotives with various class lamp types over the years. I think I have even seen on photo with a mismatched set. As evidence with my first set, the kerosene chimney were never removed, but they were still converted to electric, as I think most were. The brackets around the bottom of the lantern are cast as two halves while the rest of the lamps are of heavy sheet metal construction. The lamp can be rotated inside the bracket. As Earl described, a shield on the lamp interior rotates to cover up either the clear of green lens.

The following post will include some detailed photos of both sets.