Triple Aspect LMS Railway Hand Lantern.

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Wayland

Hárbarðr
LMS-Lamp-Lit.jpg


I like a good lantern. There is an atmosphere created by the light of an unpressurised paraffin lamp that is gentle on the eyes.

I can appreciate that if I was in a medical tent undergoing surgery of some kind then I would much prefer it done under bright lighting, but for normal use around camp I think softer light is far better than that which blazes out from modern gas or electric lamps.

The-Steam-Tent-Co-operative---Robs-Tent.jpg


At the recent Steam Tent Co-operative Photo Shoot I saw Rob using a Railway hand lamp like this and immediately liked it.

When he showed me how the filter system inside worked, I simply fell in love with it.
Fred-Waidson-and-Loco.jpg


My Grandfather worked on the London Midland and Scottish Railway driving one of the banking engines that assisted trains climbing Shap Bank out of Tebay Junction.

Sadly he died before I was born so I only knew him through a few scattered photographs and the stories told by those that knew him.

When Rob told me he had a couple of these lanterns available for purchase I asked if any of them were from the LMS. Fortunately for me he had this example which was in good general condition but in need of a bit of fettling up.

LMS-Lamp-Open.jpg


What you find inside is a set of three coloured filters that rotate in front of the burner unit to change the light colour for signalling.

In this lantern, the front glass and all the filters were intact, there was a little surface rust in places but the biggest job would be stripping the naff silver paint that some previous owner had covered the removable burner and reflector with.

The rust was stabilised with a wire brush and a coat of Waxoyl and some paint stripper and wire wool shifted the paint. I polished up the glassware and revealed the brass fittings by removing a little of the black paint as well.

The reflector appeared to be brass or brassed so a light touch on a buffing wheel soon brought that back to a decent polish.

LMS-Lamp-Lit-Blue.jpg


LMS-Lamp-Lit-Red.jpg


The filters are actually Blue, Red and clear but the visual effect is Green, Red and White in use and were obviously intended for signalling..

Anyone used to outdoor life will know that red light is very useful a night because it does not destroy human night vision.

As you may know, the retina of the eye is made up of two types of cell, rods and cones.
Broadly speaking, cones are sensitive to colour and fine detail but only work well in good light, rods on the other hand don't see in colour but do need less light to see.

The rods can see in lower light because they produce a substance called Rhodopsin, sometimes called "visual purple" which is odd because it is actually red in colour.

Rhodopsin is extremely sensitive to light, so much so that white light actually bleaches the pigment from it and it takes about 30 minutes to regenerate fully. Much of it is actually replaced within the first five or ten minutes in the dark but while it is depleted the rods do not function nearly as well in low light.

The useful thing to know is that Rhodopsin is relatively insensitive to the longer, red wavelengths of light so using a low powered red light will preserve your night vision as it will not reduce the retina’s Rhodopsin supply in the rods but it will allow the less sensitive cones to become active and give more detail.

Another related fact is that the cones are most sensitive to the “green” wavelengths of light so the Blue\Green filter is also useful because the cones can function under very little green light, which because it is relatively weak, does little to deplete the Rhodopsin.
 
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Jaeger

Full Member
Dec 3, 2014
670
24
United Kingdom
Aye Up,

Interesting post Wayland, those are nice lamps.

My grandfather worked for LMS too. Too young to be called up for WW1 and too old for WW2 (but by then in a reserved occupation I believe) he began as an engine fireman.

Apparently he was so good at shoveling coal that he was sought after for the express trains running the length of the country when they were trying to set records.
At some point he was on the Flying Scotsman but I don't know exactly when.

I can still recall him taking me down to the engine sheds when I only came up to his knee height - those smoke and steam hissing dragons scared the living daylights out of me!

He eventually became an engine driver on those expresses and had a reputation for pushing them to their limits, earning him the nickname 'spadge'.

He retired in the mid 1960's around the time that diesels took over and I can recall his opinion of it - something along the lines of - "they're all doolally tap', there'll be no jobs for blokes to go to soon".

We only learned what my grandfather's nickname meant a few years back just before his oldest son (one of my uncles) died in his mid 90s.

Do you know what it meant? It is relevant to your post.:)
 

Wayland

Hárbarðr
Aye Up,

Interesting post Wayland, those are nice lamps.

My grandfather worked for LMS too. Too young to be called up for WW1 and too old for WW2 (but by then in a reserved occupation I believe) he began as an engine fireman.

Apparently he was so good at shoveling coal that he was sought after for the express trains running the length of the country when they were trying to set records.
At some point he was on the Flying Scotsman but I don't know exactly when.

I can still recall him taking me down to the engine sheds when I only came up to his knee height - those smoke and steam hissing dragons scared the living daylights out of me!

He eventually became an engine driver on those expresses and had a reputation for pushing them to their limits, earning him the nickname 'spadge'.

He retired in the mid 1960's around the time that diesels took over and I can recall his opinion of it - something along the lines of - "they're all doolally tap', there'll be no jobs for blokes to go to soon".

We only learned what my grandfather's nickname meant a few years back just before his oldest son (one of my uncles) died in his mid 90s.

Do you know what it meant? It is relevant to your post.:)

I must confess I do not, but would be interested to know.

I'm guessing that if he drove up over Shap bank before the 1950s he would have met Fred or at least been towed by him at some point.
 

Nice65

Brilliant!
Apr 16, 2009
6,438
2,859
W.Sussex
Beautiful old lamp, and of course very steampunk. I love all that. Have you read The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters? I suspect you'd like it, I sent a copy to Hellize, who produces some wonderful steampunk knives, he was smitten.

I'll not quote the whole post, but there's some more info on red light here. I was of the opinion that red light was better for night vision because it was lower lumens, and I think in the case of modern high lumen red leds this is true to an extent. The interesting point made is about the Fovea which lacks rods but contains red sensitive cones.

https://biology.stackexchange.com/questions/2075/does-red-light-preserve-your-night-vision
 

Muddypaws

Full Member
Jan 23, 2009
1,094
313
Southampton
Beautiful lamp! I really like those old railway lamps, they are really well made and fit purpose. Your restoration has been very sympathetic.
 
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Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,937
4,570
S. Lanarkshire
As a child of the 1960's and Dr.Beeching's cuts, when railway stuff was suddenly widely available, these lanterns were familiar to us. We played with them outdoors in the dark at my Grandparent's house. One was used as a Christmas lantern for years.
Pith helmets, old army uniforms, kukris and lanterns, wooden boxes and brass finished hand tools :D A lot of my childhood is showing up in your kit Gary :oops:

M
 

Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,937
4,570
S. Lanarkshire
I think you would love what we are doing with the Steam Tent Co-op Mary.

I suspect that I might indeed :) I'm just not up for the work sorting, setting up and taking down and storing.
Folks think it looks easy; it is most emphatically not a simple thing to do to make it all work and look really good too.
Lovely to see, and I'm sure that everybody who comes will thoroughly enjoy themselves.

M
 
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Wayland

Hárbarðr
Beautiful old lamp, and of course very steampunk. I love all that. Have you read The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters? I suspect you'd like it, I sent a copy to Hellize, who produces some wonderful steampunk knives, he was smitten.

I'll not quote the whole post, but there's some more info on red light here. I was of the opinion that red light was better for night vision because it was lower lumens, and I think in the case of modern high lumen red leds this is true to an extent. The interesting point made is about the Fovea which lacks rods but contains red sensitive cones.

https://biology.stackexchange.com/questions/2075/does-red-light-preserve-your-night-vision

Fascinating article, I didn't have time to read it all earlier but it would appear that the whole issue of night vision is far more complex that I thought.

One thing I can still say with certainty though... If you shine a bright light in my direction when my eyes are dark adapted, the most colourful thing around will be the language pointed in your direction.
 
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Jaeger

Full Member
Dec 3, 2014
670
24
United Kingdom
Aye Up Wayland,

Yes I suspect that they may well have met up as I recall my grandfather mentioning Shap when I started my adventures in the Lake District back in the early 70s.

'Spadge' was a morphing of - Signal Passed at Danger!

It was no doubt with reference to those records! He'd probably have got locked up these days!!!

Yes, that will look good outside your tent.
 

Wayland

Hárbarðr
Shap Bank was a difficult climb for a loco back then. The banking engines were the only thing making it possible for some of the trains, not just up the Bank but braking on the way down too.

Your grandad sounds like quite a character, bet he had a few good tales to tell.
 

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