R

Reading Co. Railroad

Item: 3-R     Price: $65.00

Remarks: ca. post 1918
Forged by the Fraim Co.
Nice stamp marks and two-tone patina.
Different style bit than key below.

History

The Reading Company, usually called the Reading Railroad, operated in southeast Pennsylvania and neighboring states. Until the decline in anthracite loadings in the Coal Region after World War II, it was one of the most prosperous corporations in the United States. Reduced coal traffic coupled with highway competition and short hauls forced it into bankruptcy in the 1970s. The railroad was merged into Conrail in 1976, but the corporation lasted into 2000, disposing of real estate holdings.

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Reading Co. Railroad

Item: 4-R     Price: $65.00

Remarks: ca. 1904-21
Forged by the S.R. Slaymaker Co.
Nice stamp marks and gold patina. Listed in the
"American Railway's Switch Key Directory."
Different style bit than key above.

History - continued from above

Commonly called the Reading Railroad and logotyped as Reading Lines, the Reading Company was a railroad holding company for the majority of its existence and was a (single) railroad during its later years. It was a successor to the Philadelphia and Reading Railway Company founded in 1833. Until the decline in anthracite loadings in the Coal Region after World War II, it was one of the most prosperous corporations in the United States.

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Reading Co. Railroad

Item: 5-R     Price: $55.00

Remarks: ca. 1904-21
Forged by the S.R. Slaymaker Co.
Superb serif stamp marks and patina.
A nice 1!

History - continued from above

Competition with the modern trucking industry that used the Interstate highway system for short distance transportation of goods, also known as short hauls, compounded the company's problems, forcing it into bankruptcy in the 1970s.

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Reading Co. Railroad

Item: 6-R     F series     Price: $65.00

Remarks: ca. post 1918
Forged by the Fraim Co.
Superb stamp marks and copper patina.
"G" and "H" series keys listed below.

History - continued from above

The Reading Company did not operate extensive long distance passenger train service, but it did field a number of named trains, most famous of which was the streamlined Crusader, which connected Philadelphia and Jersey City.

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Reading Co. Railroad

Item: 7-R     G series     Price: $55.00

Remarks: ca. early-mid 1900s
Superb stamp marks and gold patina.

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Reading Co. Railroad

Item: 8-R     H series     Price: $55.00

Remarks: ca. early-mid 1900s
Nice stamp marks and patina.
"G" and "F" series keys listed above.

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Raleigh & Gaston Railroad

Item: 12-R     Price: $195.00

Remarks: ca. mid-late 1800s
North Carolina line.
Excellent stamp marks and gold patina.

History

The Raleigh & Gaston Railroad was a Raleigh, North Carolina-based railroad opened in April 1840 between Raleigh and the town of Gaston, North Carolina, on the Roanoke River. It was North Carolina's second railroad (the Wilmington & Raleigh Railroad opened one month earlier). The length was 100 miles (160 km) and built with 4 ft 8 in (1,422 mm) gauge.

The Raleigh & Gaston Railroad merged with the Seaboard Air Line Railroad in 1900, eventually becoming part of CSX Transportation. The Raleigh & Gaston's tracks now make up part of CSX's - S Line; the Norlina Subdivision of CSX's Florence Division.

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River Terminal Railway

Item: 14-R     Price: $55.00

Remarks: ca. early 1900s
Nice stamp marks and carmel patina.
This Cleveland "Belt Line" was Chartered in 1909.

History

The River Terminal Railway Co., a class I "switching" or "Belt line," has been a vital link between Cuyahoga River Valley industries and the main-line railroads into Cleveland. The railway was incorporated in 1909 as a subsidiary of the Corrigan-McKinney Steel Co. to service 2 small blast furnaces on the west side of the Cuyahoga river. When Corrigan-McKinney became part of Republic Steel Corp. in 1935, the River Terminal Railway became a subsidiary of that company, with 1.5 mi. of main track connecting Republic's 2 open hearth blast furnaces on east side of the river. It continued to add sidings, locomotives, and freight cars to pick up iron ore from Republic's docks and move it to interchange points with other railroads, which then delivered it to plants in Warren and Youngstown. From these interchange points the railway would transport coal back to the mills. By 1972 it was moving 120 carloads of coal a day and 1.5 million tons of iron ore, as well as molten steel and finished products from one section of Republic's plant to another. The belt line also served chemical plants and other industries along the Cuyahoga River.

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Rochester-Lockport & Buffalo Railroad

Item: 16-R     NYC trolley line     Price: $165.00

Remarks: Operated 1909-31
Forged by the J.W. Climax Co.
Superb stamp marks and patina.

History

The Rochester, Lockport and Buffalo Railroad was an electric interurban railway that was constructed between Rochester, New York, and Lockport, New York, connecting to the International Railway Co. at Lockport for service into Buffalo. Opened in 1909 as the Buffalo, Lockport and Rochester Railway, the route followed the Erie Canal and the New York Central Railroad's Falls Road branch for most of its length. For a brief period of time, the railway was part of the Beebe Syndicate of affiliated interurban railways stretching from Syracuse to Buffalo. Entering receivership in 1917, it was reorganized as the Rochester, Lockport and Buffalo Railroad in 1919. After years of struggling with declining revenue during the Depression years, the railway's last day of service was April 30, 1931.

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Rome-Watertown & Ogdensburg Railroad

SOLD     Price: $225.00

Remarks: Operated 1842-91
Forged by one of the foremost
lockmaster's T. Slaight. Nice pocket worn
serif lettering and gold patina. Key listed in the
"American Railway's Switch Key Directory."
Given the moniker, "Rotten Wood & Old Rusty Rails."

History

The Rome, Watertown & Ogdensburg Railroad (RW&O) began in 1842 as the Watertown & Rome Railroad (W&R) to link Watertown with Rome, New York on the Syracuse & Utica Railroad, later consolidated as part of the New York Central Railroad (NYC). The Potsdam & Watertown Railroad was formed at this time to link Watertown with Potsdam, New York in St. Lawrence County. In 1861 these two railroads merged as the RW&O.

By 1878 the RW&O had been merged into the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad (DL&W). DL&W built the Ontario Secondary in 1882 (Beebee line) from Charlotte, New York (where the Genesee River flows into Lake Ontario) to Rochester, New York. By 1891 RW&O became a subsidiary of NYC. On April 12, 1913 the RW&O was formally merged into the NYC.

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Rutland Railroad

Item: 20-R     Price: $145.00

Remarks: ca. early 1900s
Forged by the Adlake Co.
Superb stamp marks and gold patina.

History

The Rutland Railroad (reporting mark RUT) was a railroad in the northeastern United States, located primarily in the state of Vermont but extending into the state of New York at both its northernmost and southernmost ends. After its closure in 1963 parts of the railroad were taken over by the State of Vermont and are now operated by the Vermont Railway.

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Rutland Railroad

Item: 21-R     Price: $195.00

Remarks: ca. late 1800s
Forged by the Adams & Westlake Co.
Early A&W hex stamp = 1st series.
Superb stamp marks and bright copper patina.
A beauty!

History - continued from above

The earliest ancestor of the Rutland, the Rutland & Burlington Railroad, was chartered in 1843 by the state of Vermont to build between Rutland and Burlington. When the Vermont legislature created the state railroad commission in 1855 to oversee railway construction, maintenance, and operations, the first person appointed to the position was Charles Linsley, the Rutland and Burlington's counsel, and a member of its board of directors. A number of other railroads were formed in the region, and by 1867 the Rutland & Burlington Railroad had changed its name to simply the Rutland Railroad.

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Rutland Railroad

Item: 22-R     Price: $145.00

Remarks: ca. early 1900s
Forged by the Adlake Co.
Superb stamp marks and yellow-gold patina.

History - continued from above

After World War II the decline continued; many branches were closed down. In 1950 the company was reorganized as the Rutland Railway. The year 1953 brought three weeks of employee strike action, which killed off the remaining passenger service on the line.

In 1961 after further strikes the railroad apparently decided it was no longer viable and applied to the Interstate Commerce Commission for complete abandonment. This was approved, and the railroad closed down on May 20, 1963. The strike was brought on by the employees' unwillingness to accept changes that would have moved the center of operations from Rutland to Burlington, requiring them to relocate from Rutland to Burlington. A few years later the national unions agreed to nationwide job changes that allowed this type of change.

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S

Sacramento Northern Railway

Item: 3-S     interurban trolley line     Price: $145.00

Remarks: ca. early-mid 1900s
Superb serif stamp marks and copper patina.
Key listed in the "American Railway's
Switch Key Directory."

History

The Sacramento Northern Railway (reporting mark SN) was an 183-mile electric interurban railway that connected Chico in northern California with Oakland via the California capital, Sacramento. In its operation it ran directly on the streets of Oakland, Sacramento, Yuba City, Chico, and Woodland and ran passenger service until 1941 and freight service into the 1960s.

Both Northern Electric and the Oakland and Antioch line went through a number of corporate reorganizations and name changes. Western Pacific Railroad bought both interurban lines and merged them into the Sacramento Northern Railway at the end of 1928.

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Salt Lake-Garfield & Western Railway

Item: 7-S     Price: $125.00

Remarks: ca. mid 1900s
Superb stamp marks and rustic patina.

History

The Salt Lake-Garfield & Western Railway (SLGW), nicknamed through most of its history as The Saltair Route, is a short line railroad located in Salt Lake City, Utah. Originally incorporated as a dual passenger and freight ailroad, it now provides freight-only railcar switching services to industries in Salt Lake City along its sixteen miles of track.

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San Pedro-Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad

Item: 10-S     Price: $265.00

Remarks: ca. early 1900s
Forged by the Adams & Westlake Co.
Superb stamp marks and gold patina.
Key listed in the "American Railway's Switch Key Directory."
A rare 1!

History

The San Pedro-Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad, the first direct route from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles when it was completed in 1905, was perhaps the single most significant factor in the creation of what would become the city of Las Vegas, and later, Clark County.

Incorporated in Utah in 1901 as the San Pedro-Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad, the line was largely the brainchild of William Andrews Clark, a Montana mining baron and United States Senator. Clark enlisted the help of Utah's U.S. Senator Thomas Kearns, mining magnate and newspaper man, to ensure the success of the line through Utah. Construction of the railroad's main line was completed in 1905. Company shareholders adopted the LA&SL name in 1916. The railway was also known by its official nickname, "The Salt Lake Route," and was sometimes informally referred to as "The Clark Road." The tracks are still in use by the modern Union Pacific Railroad, as the Caliente and Lynndyl subdivisions.

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Santa Fe Railroad

Item: 14-S     Price: $245.00

Remarks: ca. 1800s
Superb deep stamp marks!
Different style bit than SF key below.
Very early and larger than usual foundry stamp
that reads, "Adams & Westlake-Chicago, Philadelphia, USA."
The Philadelphia, USA. stamp mark omitted
on later 1800 keys (see back of key below).

History

The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (reporting mark ATSF), often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February, 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison and Topeka, Kansas, and Santa Fe, New Mexico. The railroad reached the Kansas-Colorado border in 1873 and Pueblo, Colorado in 1876. To create a demand for its services, the railroad set-up real estate offices and sold farmland from the land grants that it was awarded by Congress.

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Santa Fe Railroad

Item: 15-S     Price: $175.00

Remarks: ca. 1800s
Forged by the Adams & Westlake Co.
Superb stamp marks and gold patina.
Different style bit than SF key above and below.

History - continued from above

Despite being chartered to serve the city, the railroad chose to bypass Santa Fe, due to the engineering challenges of the mountainous terrain. Eventually a branch line from Lamy, New Mexico brought the Santa Fe railroad to its namesake city.

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Santa Fe Railroad

Item: 16-S     Price: $100.00

Remarks: ca. late 1800s
Forged by the Adams & Westlake Co.
Early A&W hex stamp = 1st series.
Nice stamp marks and dark patina.

History - continued from above

The Santa Fe was a pioneer in intermodal freight service, an enterprise that (at one time or another) included a tugboat fleet and an airline (the short-lived Santa Fe Skyway). Its bus line extended passenger transportation to areas not accessible by rail, and ferryboats on the San Francisco Bay allowed travelers to complete their westward journeys to the Pacific Ocean.

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Santa Fe Route

Item: 17-S     Price: $195.00

Remarks: ca. late 1800s
Forged by the Adams & Westlake Co
Early A&W hex stamp = 1st series.
Superb stamp marks and bronze patina.

History - continued from above

On September 22, 1995, AT&SF merged with Burlington Northern Railroad to form the Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway (BNSF). Some of the challenges resulting from the joining of the two companies included the establishment of a common dispatching system, the unionization of AT&SF's non-union dispatchers, and incorporating AT&SF's train identification codes throughout. The two lines maintained separate operations until December 31, 1996, when it officially became BNSF.

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Santa Fe Route

Item: 18-S     Price: $175.00

Remarks: ca. late 1800s
Forged by the Adams & Westlake Co
Early A&W hex stamp = 1st series.
Superb stamp marks and carmel patina.

History - continued from above

AT&SF was widely known for its passenger train service in the first half of the 20th century. AT&SF introduced many innovations in passenger rail travel, among these the "Pleasure Domes" of the Super Chief (billed as the "...only dome car[s] between Chicago and Los Angeles" when they were introduced in 1951) and the "Big Dome" Lounge cars and double-decker Hi-Level cars of the El Capitan, which entered revenue service in 1954.

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Santa Fe Railroad

Item: 19-S     New     car key     Listing     Price: $225.00

Remarks: ca. late 1800s
Forged by the Adams & Westlake Co.
Early A&W hex stamp = 1st series.
Nice stamp marks and gold patina.

History - continued from above

The Santa Fe was a pioneer in intermodal freight service, an enterprise that (at one time or another) included a tugboat fleet and an airline (the short-lived Santa Fe Skyway). Its bus line extended passenger transportation to areas not accessible by rail, and ferryboats on the San Francisco Bay allowed travelers to complete their westward journeys to the Pacific Ocean.

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Santa Fe Route

Item: 20-S     New     tool house key     Listing     Price: $225.00

Remarks: ca. 1800s
Likely forged by the A&W Co.
Nice stamp marks and gold patina
This 1800 tool house key has a different style
bit than a turn of century TH key

History - continued from above

The Santa Fe was the only railroad to run trains from Chicago to California on its own tracks. The railway's extensive network was also home to a number of regional services. These generally couldn't boast of the size or panache of the transcontinental trains, but built up enviable reputations of their own nonetheless. Of these, the Chicago-Texas trains were the most famous and impressive.

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Savannah & Atlantic Railway

Item: 24-S     Price: $125.00

Remarks: ca. early 1900s
Forged by the Adlake Co.
Ex-fine pocket wear and great gold patina. Key listed
in the "American Railway's Switch Key Directory."

History

Popularly referred to as the “Tybee Branch” or “Tybee Railroad,” the Savannah and Atlantic Railroad was built in 1887, extending from Savannah to the main part of Tybee Island, a distance of 17.7 miles.

On July 16, 1917, the Savannah and Atlanta bought the Savannah and Northwestern, and thereafter the entire line of 141 miles became the Savannah and Atlanta. In 1921, the line was thrown into receivership, and in 1929 was bought by Robert M. Nelson. Mr. Nelson sold it to the Central in 1951 for $3,500,000.

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Savannah & Atlantic Railway

Item: 25-S     Price: $175.00

Remarks: ca. early 1900s
Forged by the Adlake Co.
Keys rarely circulate!

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Seaboard Airline Railway

Item: 29-S     Price: $100.00

Remarks: ca. post 1918
Forged by the Fraim Co.
Excellent stamp marks and carmel patina.

History

The Seaboard Air Line Railroad (SAL), which styled itself "The Route of Courteous Service," was an American railroad whose corporate existence extended from April 14, 1900 until July 1, 1967, when it merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, its longtime rival, to form the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad. The company was headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia, until 1958, when its main offices were relocated to Richmond, Virginia. The Seaboard Air Line Railway Building in Norfolk's historic Freemason District still stands and has been converted to luxury apartments.

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Seaboard Airline Railway

Item: 30-S     Price: $100.00

Remarks: ca. post 1918
Forged by the Fraim Co.
Great looking stamp marks and gold patina.

History - continued from above

In the days before air travel, air line was a common term for the shortest distance between two points: a straight line drawn through the air (or on a map), ignoring natural obstacles (i.e. "as the crow flies"). Hence, a number of 19th century railroads used air line in their titles to suggest that their routes were shorter than those of competing roads. The Seaboard never owned an airplane. In 1940 the railroad proposed the creation of "Seaboard Airlines" but this idea was struck down by the Interstate Commerce Commission as violating federal anti-trust legislation.

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Seaboard Coastline Railroad

Item: 32-S     Price: $45.00

Remarks: ca. mid-1900s
Forged by the Adlake Co.
Nice stamp marks and bright gold patina.

History

The Seaboard Coast Line emerged on July 1, 1967, following the merger of the Seaboard Air Line Railroad with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad. The combined system totaled 9,809 miles (15,786 km), the eighth largest in the United States at the time. The railroad had $1.2 billion in assets and revenue with a 54% market share of rail service in the Southeast, facing competition primarily from the Southern.

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Seaboard Coastline Railroad

Item: 33-S     Price: $55.00

Remarks: ca. mid-1900s
Forged by the Adlake Co.
Nice stamp marks and gold patina.

History - continued from above

Prior to the creation of Amtrak on May 1, 1971, the Seaboard Coast Line provided passenger service over much of its system, including local passenger trains on some lines. Local trains ended when the Amtrak era began. Although several named passenger trains survived through the Amtrak era, many were renamed or combined with other services.

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South Georgia Railway

Item: 36-S     Price: $85.00

Remarks: SG chartered in 1897
Superb stamp marks and gold patina. In 1971 the
SG merged with the Live Oak-Perry & Gulf R.R.

History

Incorporated in 1896, the South Georgia Railroad opened its 28-mile railroad between Heartpine and Quitman in March of 1897. A 23-mile extension from Quitman to Greenville, Florida, opened in October of 1901.

In 1971 the South Georgia merged with the Live Oak-Perry & Gulf Railroad to form the Live Oak-Perry & South Georgia Railway, running from Adel to Perry. It was owned and operated by Southern Railway.

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South Buffalo Railway

Item: 38-S     Price: $115.00

Remarks: ca. early 1900s
Most likely Fraim forged.
Superb serif stamp marks and gold patina.

History

The South Buffalo Railway operates more than fifty miles of railway lines along the southeast shore of Lake Erie. South Buffalo connects to CSX, Norfolk Southern, Canadian Pacific, and Canadian National Railway.

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Southern Railroad

Item: 41-S     eastern section key    Price: $125.00

Remarks: ca. 1879-1917
Forged by the E.T. Fraim Co.
Superb serif stamp marks and two-tone patina. This key
stamped "RR" + keys below stamped "RY" = nice set.

History

The Southern Railway (SOU) was a US class 1 railroad that was based in the Southern United States. It was the product of nearly 150 predecessor lines that were combined, reorganized and recombined beginning in the 1830s, formally becoming the Southern Railway in 1894.

Southern Railway came into existence in 1894 through the combination of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, the Richmond and Danville system and the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia Railroad.

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Southern Railway

Item: 42-S     New Listing     Price: $75.00

Remarks: ca. early 1900s
Excellent stamp marks and dark copper-like patina.
A nice 1!

History - continued from above

The company owned two-thirds of the 4,400 miles of line it operated, and the rest was held through leases, operating agreements and stock ownership. Southern also controlled the Alabama Great Southern and the Georgia Southern and Florida, which operated separately, and it had an interest in the Central of Georgia. Additionally, the Southern Railway also agreed to lease the North Carolina Railroad Company, providing a critical connection from Virginia to the rest of the southeast via the Carolinas.

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Southern Railway

Item: 43-S     New Listing     Price: $75.00

Remarks: ca. early 1900s
Superb stamp marks and gold patina.

History - continued from above

Southern and its predecessors were responsible for many firsts in the industry. Starting in 1833, its predecessor, the South Carolina Canal and Rail Road, was the first to carry passengers, U.S. troops and mail on steam-powered trains and experimented with railroad lighting. They had a pine log fire on a flatcar, covered in sand, to provide light at night before inexpensive kerosene was invented for lamps.

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Southern Railway

Item: 45-S     signal box key     Price: $115.00

Remarks: ca. early 1900s. A rare 1!

History - continued from above

In response to the creation of the CSX Corporation in November 1980, the Southern Railway joined forces with the Norfolk and Western Railway and formed the Norfolk Southern Corporation in 1980 which began operations in 1982, further consolidating railroads in the eastern half of the United States.The Southern Railway was renamed Norfolk Southern Railway as the Norfolk and Western Railway became a subsidiary to its system on June 1, 1982. The railroad then acquired more than half of Conrail on June 1, 1999.

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South Omaha Terminal Railway Co.

Item: 48-S     Price: $110.00

Remarks: ca. mid-1900s
Forged by the Adlake Co.
Excellent serif stamp marks and gold patina.
116yr. old stockyard institution closed in 1999.

History

The South Omaha Terminal Railway, a subsidiary of the Union Stock Yards Company of Omaha, was a spur line established to serve the Omaha stockyards, which opened in the 1880s. It was transformed into the South Omaha Terminal Railway in the 1920s. Because of the Stockyards, by the 1880s Omaha was served by every major railroad in the country. Other railroads in the city included the Omaha Road, Omaha, Lincoln and Beatrice Railway, Omaha Southern Railroad, Kansas, Nebraska and Omaha Railway, Omaha and Republican Valley Railway, Omaha and South Western Railroad and Omaha, Abilene and Wichita Railway.

The South Omaha Terminal Railway in Omaha, Nebraska was a subsidiary of the Union Stock Yards Company of Omaha. Until the separate railroad company was created in July 1927, the trackage, about 17 miles (27 km), was owned and operated directly by the Union Stock Yards Company of Omaha. On April 4, 1978, an Interstate Commerce Commission emergency service order was issued at which time the Brandon Corporation took over service.

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Soo Line Railroad

Item: 51-S     New Listing     Price: $185.00

Remarks: ca. late 1800s-early 1900s
Forged by the Adams & Westlake Co.
Superb stamp marks and gold patina.
A great lokking oldie from the turn of the century.

History

The Minneapolis-St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railroad (reporting mark SOO) was a Class I railroad subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway in the Midwest United States. Commonly known as the Soo Line after the phonetic spelling of Sault, it was merged with several other major CP subsidiaries on January 1, 1961 to form the Soo Line Railroad. As time passes, more and more Soo Line equipment is being repainted into the Canadian Pacific's current paint scheme, slowly erasing the Soo's identity as a subsidiary railroad.

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Soo Line Railroad

Item: 52-S     New Listing     Price: $125.00

Remarks: ca. post 1918
Forged by the Fraim Co.
Superb stamp marks and copper patina.
Fraim rarity!

History - continued from above

The present Soo Line Railroad was incorporated in Minnesota on October 19, 1949, as the Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railroad, as part of the plan for reorganizing the Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway (DSA) and subsidiary Mineral Range Railroad. When CP consolidated several subsidiaries on January 1, 1961, it used this company to merge the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad and the Wisconsin Central Railway into, and renamed it to the present name, the Soo Line Railroad.

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Soo Line Railroad

Item: 53-S     Price: $40.00

Remarks: ca. mid 1900s
Keline forged.
Great stamp marks and gold patina.

History - continued from above

In 1984, CP incorporated the Soo Line Corporation in Minnesota as a holding company, exchanging stock in December to give the Soo Line Corporation total control over the railroad. Two months later, on February 19, 1985, the Soo Line purchased the property of the bankrupt Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad and assigned it to a newly created subsidiary, The Milwaukee Road, Inc. This company and the MN&S were both merged into the Soo Line Railroad effective January 1, 1986.

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Soo Line Railroad

Item: 54-S     m = post merger key     Price: $40.00

Remarks: ca. late 1900s
Keline forged.
Nice stamp marks and gold patina.

History - continued from above

The company's main line begins at Portal, North Dakota, on the Canada–U.S. border, and extends southeast along former MStP&SSM trackage to the Twin Cities (Minneapolis–Saint Paul). Ex-Milwaukee Road trackage takes the Soo Line from the Twin Cities to Chicago via Milwaukee. Between Chicago and Detroit, where the CP-owned Detroit River Tunnel connects back into Canada, the Soo Line has trackage rights over the Norfolk Southern Railway and haulage rights over CSX Transportation.

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Soo Line Railroad

Item: 55-S     New Listing     Price: $85.00

Remarks: ca. post 1930
Forged by S. Slaymaker Co.
Nice stamp marks and dark two-tone patina.

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Soo Line Railroad

Item: 56-S     Price: $55.00

Remarks: ca. mid-1900s
Forged by the Adlake Co.
Nice stamp marks and gold patina.

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Soo Line Railroad

Item: 57-S     Price: $40.00

Remarks: ca. mid-1900s
Forged by the Adlake Co.
Nice gold-copper patina.

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South Pacific Railroad

Item: 59-S     Price: $175.00

Remarks: chartered in 1868.
Superb stamp marks and patina. Very early
forged key with a copper alloy mix. Purchased by the
A&P, followed by the A&P being absorbed by the Frisco.
153 year old Western relic.

History

The South Pacific was a subsidiary of the Atlantic and Pacific (A&P) Railroad, a congressionally chartered concern backed by a million potential acres in federal land grants. It put hundreds of men to work building a bridge across the Gasconade and converting track from broad to standard gauge.

The company reached Springfield in 1869 and the western boundary of Missouri by 1870, thereby meeting the requirements of the state’s charter. The A&P bought the South Pacific to make up the eastern division of a transcontinental railway to California.

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South Pacific Coast Railroad

Item: 61-S     New Listing     Price: $245.00

Remarks: chartered in 1868.
Superb stamp marks and dark patina.

History

The SPC Railroad was a 3 ft narrow gauge steam railroad running between Santa Cruz, California and Alameda, with a ferry connection in Alameda to San Francisco.

SPC was incorporated in 1876 to purchase the unfinished Santa Clara Valley Company railroad at Dumbarton Point. Dumbarton Point was then a landing to transfer agricultural produce from the Santa Clara Valley for transport to San Francisco.

The railroad was created as the Santa Clara Valley Railroad, founded by local strawberry growers as a way to get their crops to market in San Francisco and provide an alternative to the Southern Pacific Railroad. In 1876, James Graham Fair, a Comstock Lode silver baron, bought the line and extended it into the Santa Cruz Mountains to capture the significant lumber traffic coming out of the redwood forests. The line was originally laid with 52-pound rail on 8-foot (2.4 m) redwood ties; and was later acquired by the Southern Pacific and converted to standard gauge.

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Southern Pacific Co.

Item: 65-S     CS-4 (switch)     Price: $95.00

Remarks: ca. late 1800s-early 1900s
Forged by the Adams & Westlake Co
Superb stamp marks and carmel patina.
Nice SP oldie!

History

The original Southern Pacific began in 1865 as a land holding company. The last incarnation of the Southern Pacific, the Southern Pacific Transportation Company, was founded in 1969 and assumed control of the Southern Pacific system. The Southern Pacific Transportation Company was acquired in 1996 by the Union Pacific Corporation and merged with their Union Pacific Railroad.

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Southern Pacific Co.

Item: 66-S     CS-4 (switch)     Price: $95.00

Remarks: ca. late 1800s-early 1900s
Forged by the Adams & Westlake Co
Superb stamp marks and patina.

History - continued from above

The railroad was founded as a land holding company in 1865, later acquiring the Central Pacific Railroad by lease. By 1900 the Southern Pacific Company was a major railroad system incorporating many smaller companies, such as the Texas & New Orleans Railroad and Morgan's Louisiana & Texas Railroad. It extended from New Orleans through Texas to El Paso, across New Mexico and through Tucson, to Los Angeles, through most of California, including San Francisco and Sacramento. Central Pacific lines extended east across Nevada to Ogden, Utah, and reached north through Oregon to Portland. Other subsidiaries eventually included the St. Louis Southwestern Railway (Cotton Belt), the Northwestern Pacific Railroad at 328 miles, the 1,331 miles Southern Pacific Railroad of Mexico, and a variety of 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge routes.

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Southern Pacific Co.

Item: 67-S     New     CS-4 (switch)     Listing     Price: $95.00

Remarks: ca. late 1800s-early 1900s
Forged by the Adams & Westlake Co
Superb stamp marks and two-tone patina.

History - continued from above

In 1969, the Southern Pacific Transportation Company was established and took over the Southern Pacific Company; this Southern Pacific railroad is the last incarnation and was at times called "Southern Pacific Industries," though "Southern Pacific Industries" is not the official name of the company.

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Southern Pacific Co.

Item: 68-S     CS-4 (switch)     Price: $60.00

Remarks: ca. mid-1900s
Forged by the Adlake Co.
Superb stamp marks and patina.

History - continued from above

The Southern Pacific legacy founded hospitals in San Francisco, Tucson, Arizona, and elsewhere. In the 1970s, it also founded a telecommunications network with a state-of-the-art microwave and fiber optic backbone. This telecommunications network became part of Sprint, a company whose name came from the acronym for Southern Pacific Railroad Internal Networking Telephony.

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Southern Pacific Co.

Item: 69-S     CS-4 (switch)     Price: $95.00

Remarks: ca. late 1800s-early 1900s
Forged by the Adams & Westlake Co
Superb stamp marks and dark patina.
Looks even better in your hand!

History - continued from above

Early diesel locomotives were also painted black. Yard switchers had diagonal orange stripes on the ends for visibility, earning this scheme the nickname of Tiger Stripe. Road freight units were black with a red band at the bottom of the car body and a silver and orange "winged" nose. "SOUTHERN PACIFIC" was in a large serif font in Lettering Gray (a very light gray). Railfans call this paint scheme Black Widow. An experimental scheme, all-over black with a variety of orange end and side sill treatments was called the Halloween scheme. Over 200 locomotives were so painted between March 1957 and mid-1958.

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Southern Pacific Co.

Item: 70-S     CS-4 (switch)    Price: $65.00

Remarks: ca. mid-1900s
Forged by the Adlake Co.
Nice stamp marks and gold patina.

History - continued from above

Southern Pacific road switcher diesels often had elaborate lighting clusters front and rear, with a large red Mars Light for emergency signaling, and often two pairs of sealed-beam headlamps, one on top of the cab and the other below the Mars Light on the nose. Starting in the 1970s SP had cab air conditioning on all new locomotives and the unit is visible on the cab roof. Southern Pacific placed large snowplows on the pilots of their road switchers for the heavy snowfall on Donner Pass. Many Southern Pacific road switchers had a Nathan-AirChime model P3 or P5 air horn with chords distinct to Southern Pacific locomotives in the western states.

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Southern Pacific Co.

Item: 71-S     New     CS-4     Listing     Price: $150.00

Remarks: ca. 1800s
Legacy Central Pacific style cut.
Forged @CP's Sacramento Shop.
Superb stamp marks and dark patina.
Well preserved key!

History - continued from above

Southern Pacific road switcher diesels often had elaborate lighting clusters front and rear, with a large red Mars Light for emergency signaling, and often two pairs of sealed-beam headlamps, one on top of the cab and the other below the Mars Light on the nose. Starting in the 1970s SP had cab air conditioning on all new locomotives and the unit is visible on the cab roof. Southern Pacific placed large snowplows on the pilots of their road switchers for the heavy snowfall on Donner Pass. Many Southern Pacific road switchers had a Nathan-AirChime model P3 or P5 air horn with chords distinct to Southern Pacific locomotives in the western states.

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Southern Pacific Lines

Item: 73-S     CS-4 (switch)     Price: $75.00

Remarks: ca. mid 1900s
Forged by the Adlake Co.
Nice stamp marks and two-tone patina.

History - continued from above

Well known were the Southern Pacific's unique "cab-forward" steam locomotives. These were 2-8-8-4 locomotives set up to run in reverse, with the tender attached to the smokebox end of the locomotive. Southern Pacific had a number of snow sheds in mountain terrain, and locomotive crews nearly asphyxiated from smoke in the cab. After a number of engineers began running their engines in reverse (pushing the tender), Southern Pacific asked Baldwin Locomotive Works to produce cab-forward designs. No other North American railroad ordered cab-forward locomotives.

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Southern Pacific Lines

SOLD     CS-5 (switch)     Price: $75.00

Remarks: early 1800s
Sacramento shop forged SP key.
Legacy Central Pacific style cut.

History - continued from above

There are many Southern Pacific locomotives still in revenue service with railroads such as the Union Pacific Railroad, and many older and special locomotives have been donated to parks and museums, or continue operating on scenic or tourist railroads. Most of the engines now in use with Union Pacific have been "patched," where the SP logo on the front is replaced by a Union Pacific shield, and new numbers are applied over the old numbers with a Union Pacific sticker, however some engines remain in Southern Pacific's "bloody nose" paint scheme.

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Southern Pacific Lines

Item: 75-S     CS-5 (switch)     Price: $95.00

Remarks: ca. early-mid-1900s
Forged by the Adlake Co.
Nice pocket worn lettering and gold patina.
New series #4

History - continued from above

Southern Pacific road switcher diesels often had elaborate lighting clusters front and rear, with a large red Mars Light for emergency signaling, and often two pairs of sealed-beam headlamps, one on top of the cab and the other below the Mars Light on the nose. Starting in the 1970s SP had cab air conditioning on all new locomotives and the unit is visible on the cab roof. Southern Pacific placed large snowplows on the pilots of their road switchers for the heavy snowfall on Donner Pass. Many Southern Pacific road switchers had a Nathan-AirChime model P3 or P5 air horn with chords distinct to Southern Pacific locomotives in the western states.

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Southern Pacific Co.

Item: 76-S     CS-45 (switch)    Price: $75.00

Remarks: ca. early 1900s
Forged by the S.R. Slaymaker Co.
Superb stamp marks and gold patina.

History - continued from above

In 2006, the Union Pacific Railroad unveiled UP 1996, the sixth and final of its Heritage Series EMD SD70ACe locomotives. Its paint scheme appears to be based on the Daylight and Black Widow schemes. Today there are still locomotives in SP paint, including ten AC4400CWs with original SP numbers as of January 2013.

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Southern Pacific Co.

Item: 77-S     CS-24 (road & bridge)     Price: $125.00

Remarks: ca. late 1800s-early 1900s
Forged by the Adams & Westlake Co.
Superb stamp marks and gold patina.
Nice R&B oldie!

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Southern Pacific Co.

Item: 78-S     CS-24 (road & bridge)     Price: $100.00

Remarks: ca. early-mid 1900s
Forged by the Adlake Co.
Very nice stamp marks and two-tone patina.
Unique "C" stamp.
Another nice R&B oldie!

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Southern Pacific Lines

Item: 79-S     CS-25 (switch)     Price: $225.00

Remarks: ca. early-mid 1900s
Forged by the Adlake Co.
Superb stamp marks and two-tone patina.
A hard key to find and a rare 1!

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Southern Pacific Co.

Item: 80-S     New     CS-44 (MofW)     Listing     Price: $85.00

Remarks: ca. early-mid-1900s
Forged by the Adlake Co.
Superb stamp marks and great patina.
Same key as "Special" key below.
Key will work this style of "SP Special Lock."

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Southern Pacific Co.

Item: 81-S     New     CS-44 (Special)     Listing     Price: $150.00

Remarks: ca. late 1800s-early 1900s
Forged by the Adams & Westlake Co.
Excellent stamp marks and patina.
Key will work this style of "SP Special Lock."
A rare key and a beauty!

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Southern Pacific Co.

Item: 82-S     CS-47   (rip track)     Price: $95.00

Remarks: ca. early-mid 1900s
Forged by the Adlake Co.
Superb stamp marks and patina.

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Southern Pacific Co.

Item: 83-S     SP Co. (No.72)     Price: $195.00

Remarks: ca. late 1800s-early 1900s
Forged by the Adams & Westlake Co.
Superb block lettering and two-tone patina. Key listed
in the "American Railway's Switch Key Directory."
Legacy bit style used during the Central Pacific days.
The SP No.72 is the style-not the serial number.
A very rare SP key!

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Southern Pacific Co.

Item: 84-S     SP Co. (No.72)     Price: $125.00

Remarks: late 1800s
Sacramento Shop forged key.
Key listed in the "American Railway's Switch Key Directory."
The SP No.72 stamp is the style-not the serial number.
Older relic than SP key above.

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Sodus Point & Southern Railroad

Item: 85-S     coal hauling line     Price: $275.00

Remarks: chartered in 1852
Forged by the Adlake Co.
Excellent stamp marks and copper patina.
Absorbed into the Pennsy.
A rare 1!

History

Reorganized in 1875 with the Geneva-Hornellsville & Pine Creek Railroad. In 1882 became the Sodus Bay & Southern Railroad. In 1884 the Northern Central Railroad bought the Sodus Point & Southern Railroad, creating a land-water shipping route from Pennsylvania to Canada.

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Spokane-Portland & Seattle Railroad

Item: 88-S     Price: $85.00

Remarks: ca. mid-1900s
Forged by the Adlake Co.
Nice stamp marks and two-tone gold patina.

History

The Spokane-Portland & Seattle Railway (SP&S) was a United States-based railroad incorporated in 1905. It was a joint venture by the Great Northern Railway and the Northern Pacific Railway to build a railroad along the north bank of the Columbia River. Remnants of the line are currently operated by BNSF Railway.

The railroad was chartered in 1905 by James J. Hill to connect the two transcontinental railroads owned by him, the Northern Pacific (NP) and Great Northern (GN), to Portland, Oregon from Spokane, Washington, to gain a portion of the lumber trade in Oregon, a business then dominated by E.H. Harriman's Union Pacific and Southern Pacific railroads. In January 1908 "Spokane" was added to the railroad's name, making it the Spokane-Portland & Seattle Railway.

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Spokane-Portland & Seattle Railroad

Item: 89-S     Price: $85.00

Remarks: ca. mid-1900s
Forged by the Adlake Co.
Nice stamp marks and two-tone patina.

History - continued from above

During World War II the SP&S carried war materials to the Pacific Theatre; new industries located along the Columbia River, taking advantage of cheap electricity from hydroelectric dams on the river. New industries served by the SP&S included aluminum plants, sawmills, chemical factories and grain elevators.

In 1954 an SP&S train derailed after hitting a rockslide on the route to Bend, Oregon. Part of the train landed in the Deschutes River, including a boxcar, which landed in a rapid that was later named "Boxcar Rapids" after the incident, which killed all crew members.

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Sterling, Dixon & Eastern Railway

Item: 91-S     New     Illinois Interurban     Listing     Price: $175.00

Remarks: ca. pre-1925
Nice stamp marks and bright gold patina.

History

The Sterling Dixon & Eastern Railway was incorporated with $300,000 of capital on August 17, 1902. The company was backed by John I. Beggs, president of the Milwaukee transport company, and Henry C. Higgins, an experienced electric railway promoter. Both men were impressed with the rapid growth of the Sterling-Dixon area, and they felt that a railway could be built and operated profitably. The company intended to operate an interurban between Sterling and Dixon, and local streetcar service in both cities. Although Mr. Higgins was the company's first president, Mr. Beggs soon replaced him and served until 1911.

Freight service on the interurban began operating in June of 1904, which consisted mainly of local merchandise and milk. Platforms were constructed along the line for farmers to load and unload milk bound for the Borden plant at the northwest edge of Dixon. Mail pouches were also handled between the interurban terminals. A spur was constructed to a gravel pit near Central Park, about a mile east of Prairieville; trains operated on the line mainly to obtain ballast for the system.

As with all inter-urbans, the automobile and trucks took over as the mode of transportation. After struggling for years, the railroad was no longer profitable. The company applied to the Illinois Commerce Commission to abandon all service in July of 1925. After a hearing in Dixon, permission was granted on September 17 for the company to end service. All interurban and streetcar service stopped on October 5, with buses of the Northern Illinois Service Corporation taking over between Sterling and Dixon. All trackage and overhead was soon dismantled for scrap, and the equipment scrapped, with the INU retaining the interurban right-of-way for its transmission line to Sterling.

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St. Louis-Brownsville & Mexico Railway

Item: 93-S     Price: $145.00

Remarks: ca. mid-1900s
Forged by the Adlake Co.
Nice stamp marks and gold patina.
Given the moniker, "The Brownie."

History

Chartered on June 6, 1903, the St. Louis, Brownsville & Mexico Railway (also known as the Brownie) was a 200-mile U.S. railroad that operated from Brownsville, Texas, to Gulf Coast Junction in Houston, Texas. It served numerous towns and cities along its routes and operated a rail bridge between Brownsville and Matamoros, Tamaulipas, in junction with the Mexican government. The Brownie connected the citizens of Brownsville to nearby Corpus Christi for the first time on land rather than using water transportation.

After 13 years of trusteeship - the longest of its kind in North American history - the StLB&M (as well as the other Gulf Coast Lines subsidiaries) were reorganized and merged away into the Missouri Pacific (under the presidency of Paul J. Neff) on March 1, 1956, when the United States District Court of St. Louis terminated the trusteeship. Shortly after the merger, the name of 'StLB&M' and Gulf Coast Lines quickly disappeared as various feeder/branch lines were aggressively being abandoned.

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Stony Creek Railroad

Item: 95-S     Price: $145.00

Remarks: ca. late 1800s-early 1900s
Superb serif stamp marks and patina.
Another rare beauty!

History

Information taken from Google Books dated 1901: The Stony Creek Railroad extended from Norristown to the borough of Lansdale, where it connected with the North Pennsylvania Railroad. At Norristown, by means of the Junction road, it connected with the Philadelphia-Germantown & Norristown Railroad, thus forming a continuous line from Philadelphia to Lansdale. All the roads mentioned were once operated by the Philadelphia & Reading Railway Company. A facility for turning the engines was erected on the land of the Stony Creek Railroad Company. The turntable had been in use for upward of thirty years. The news document then stated, the Stony Creek Railroad petioned the state to build a track commencing at a point on their line opposite their turntable to connect with the siding of the Adam Scheidt Brewing Company.

The Stony Creek Railroad ran from Norristown to Lansdale (still used for freight). The primary attraction of this line was service to Merck, which lies right on it; with a busier Bethlehem Branch beyond Lansdale, it would also function as an express cutoff avoiding traffic snarls downstream (particularly in the busy two-track section between Jenkintown and Wayne Jct.). Passenger station was located at Markley and Main streets.

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Strouds Creek & Muddlety Railroad

Item: 97-S     West Virginia short line     Price: $115.00

Remarks: chartered in 1905.
Superb serif stamp marks and copper patina.

History

Located in southeastern West Virginia, the SC&M was incorporated on June 14, 1904, under general laws of West Virginia, for the purpose of building a railroad from Allingdale, in a general northwesterly direction, to Delphi, a distance of 8.437 miles. The carrier also owned 2.474 miles of yard tracks and sidings. Its road thus once embraced 10.911 miles of all tracks owned and used. In addition to its owned property, the carrier leased from The Birch Valley Lumber Company certain shop buildings located at Tioga, W. Va., one motor car and all of its equipment. The SC&M granted trackage rights to The Birch Valley Lumber Company for the operation of log trains between Tioga and Delphi, W. Va., a distance of about 2 miles. The SC&M once shared jointly with the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company the latter's station facilities at Allingdale, W. Va. An industrial railroad, it was controlled by the Tioga Lumber Company. The road principally served as an outlet for the timber of The Birch Valley Lumber Company, a corporation which purchased the timber property formerly owned by the Tioga Lumber Company. Most if not all of the line was abandoned in the late 1900's.

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Strasburg Railroad

Item: 99-S     Price: $95.00

Remarks: ca. early 1900s.
Forged by the S.R. Slaymaker Co.
Superb serif lettering and gold patina.
Listed in the "American Railway's Switch Key Directory."
Same style bit as a Cornwall key.

History

The Strasburg Rail Road is the oldest continuously operating railroad in the western hemisphere and the oldest public utility in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Chartered in 1832, the Strasburg Rail Road continues to operate under its original charter and original name (Strasburg Rail Road Company).

The Strasburg Rail Road is also one of the few railroads in the United States to occasionally use steam locomotives to haul revenue freight trains.

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St. Louis & Southwestern Railroad

Item: 103-S     Price: $75.00

Remarks: ca. mid-1900s
Forged by the Adlake Co.
Nice stamp marks and carmel patina.

History

The Cotton Belt was one of the lines comprising the railroad empire acquired by financier Jay Gould in the last quarter of the 19th century; according to the Handbook of Texas, "By 1890 Gould owned the Missouri Pacific, the Texas and Pacific, the St. Louis Southwestern, and the International-Great Northern, one-half of the mileage in the Southwest.

The railroad was organized on January 15, 1891, although it had its origins in a series of short lines founded in Tyler, Texas, in 1870 that connected northeastern Texas to Arkansas and southeastern Missouri. Construction of the original Tyler Tap Railroad began in the summer of 1875.

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St. Louis & Southwestern Railway Co.

Item: 104-S     Price: $115.00

Remarks: ca. early-mid 1900s
Attractive brass/steel combo.
Superb stamp marks. Listed in the
"American Railway's Switch Key Directory."
Different but nice!

History - continued from above

The Southern Pacific Company gained Interstate Commerce Commission approval to control the Cotton Belt system on April 14, 1932, but continued to operate it as a separate company until 1992, when the SP consolidated the Cotton Belt's operations into the parent company. Cotton Belt diesel locomotives from 1959 on were painted in Southern Pacific's "bloody nose" scheme - dark gray locomotive body with a red "winged" nose. "Cotton Belt" was painted on the sides and in later years the letters "SSW" were painted on the nose.

In 1996 the Union Pacific Railroad finished the acquisition that was effectively begun almost a century before with the purchase of the Southern Pacific by UP in 1901, until divestiture was ordered in 1913. The merged company retains the name "Union Pacific" for all railroad operations.

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St. Louis & Southwestern Railroad

Item: 105-S     Price: $125.00

Remarks: ca. mid-1900s
Superb serif lettering and gold patina.
Same style bit as a Texas Midland key.
A rare 1!

Item of Interest

The Texas Midland was sold to the Southern Pacific Railroad on April 1, 1928. The Southern Pacific leased the Texas Midland to the Texas and New Orleans Railroad for operation. The Texas Midland was dissolved on June 30, 1934 when the Southern Pacific sold it to the Texas and New Orleans Railroad. Not to forget, the Southern Pacific Railroad owned the Cotton Belt (SSW).

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St. Louis & O'Fallon Railway

Item: 107-S     Price: $95.00

Remarks: ca. early 1900s
Nine mile Illinois short line.
Rustic gold patina.

History

St. Louis & O"Fallon, a short line built at the suggestion of the city of St. Louis to provide an additional outlet for freight. The StL&O'F right of way paralleled the present Metrolink eastern extension at St. Clair Avenue. The carrier was incorporated June 1, 1896, under the general laws of Illinois. The owned main line extends eastwardly from East St. Louis to O'Fallon Mine No. 2, a distance of 8.939 miles. The carrier also owns and uses 11.131 miles of yard tracks and sidings. Its road thus embraces 20.070 miles of all tracks owned.

John O'Fallon (1791-December 17, 1865) was a businessman, philanthropist, and military officer. During the 19th century he rose to become the wealthiest person in St. Louis, Missouri. He is the namesake of O'Fallon, Illinois, (incorporated in 1874) as well as O'Fallon, Missouri and the nephew of William Clark.

He was especially active in railroad-building. O'Fallon presided over the 1849 committee which formed the Pacific Railroad (now Missouri Pacific Railroad); was the first president of the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad (now Baltimore and Ohio Railroad) and in 1850 became president of and the North Missouri Railroad (nee - Wabash Railroad).

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St. Louis-San Francisco Railroad

Item: 110-S     Price: $125.00

Remarks: ca. late 1800s-early 1900s
Forged by the Adams & Westlake Co.
Excellent stamp marks and superb copper patina! Unique style key
has a smaller barrel opening than all Frisco keys below.
This key stamped "RR" + key below stamped "RY" = nice set.

History

The St. Louis & San Francisco Railway aka, "Frisco," was a railroad that operated in the Midwest and South Central U.S. from 1876 to April 17, 1980. Incorporated in Missouri on September 7, 1876. It was formed from the Missouri Division and Central Division of the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad. The Acheson-Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, interested in the A & P right of way across the Mojave Desert to California, took the road over until the larger road went bankrupt in 1893; the receivers retained the western right of way but divested the ATSF of the St. Louis-San Francisco mileage on the great plains. The St. Louis-San Francisco Railway had two main lines: St. Louis-Tulsa-Oklahoma City and Kansas City-Memphis-Birmingham. The junction of the two lines was in Springfield, Missouri, home to the company's main shop facility and headquarters.

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St. Louis-San Francisco Railway

Item: 111-S         Price: $125.00

Remarks: ca. early 1900s
Forged by the Adlake Co.
Nice pocket worn lettering and gold patina.
W = passenger train "Will Rogers"
(Wichita Line) Oklahoma City to Wichita.
This key + key below = nice set!

History - continued from above

The Atlantic & Pacific Railroad (A&P) was chartered in 1866 to build west from Springfield, Missouri, along the 35th parallel of latitude (approximately through Amarillo, Texas, and Albuquerque, New Mexico) to a junction with the SP at the Colorado River. The infant A&P had no rail connections. The line that was to become the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway.

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St. Louis-San Francisco Railway

Item: 112-S     Price: $125.00

Remarks: ca. early 1900s
Forged by the Adlake Co.
Nice stamp marks and gold patina.
T = passenger train "Texas Flash"
(Tulsa Line) Tulsa to Dallas.
This key + key above = nice set!

History - continued from above

The city of Frisco,Texas was named after the railroad and uses the former railroad's logo as its own logo. The logo is modeled after a stretched-out raccoon skin (giving rise to Frisco High School's mascot, the Fighting Raccoons). From March, 1917, through January, 1959, Frisco, in a joint venture with the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad, operated the Texas Special. This luxurious train, a streamliner from 1947, ran from St. Louis to Dallas,Texas, Ft. Worth, Texas and San Antonio, Texas. While the Texas Special was the most famous passenger train Frisco ever operated, it also rostered an entire fleet of (11) named trains. Due to the harsh economic conditions of that era, the Frisco merged into the Burlington Northern Railroad on November 21, 1980.

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St. Louis-San Francisco Railway

Item: 113-S     Price: $125.00

Remarks: ca. late 1800s
Forged by the Adams & Westlake Co.
Early A&W hex stamp = 1st series.
Superb stamp marks and gold patina.

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St. Louis-San Francisco Railway

Item: 114-S     Price: $145.00

Remarks: ca. late 1800s
Forged by the Adams & Westlake Co.
Early A&W hex stamp = 1st series.
Superb stamp marks and dark carmel patina.

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St. Louis-San Francisco Railway

Item: 115-S     New Listing     Price: $145.00

Remarks: ca. late 1800s-early 1900s
Forged by the Adams & Westlake Co.
Superb stamp marks and dark gold patina.

A subject of interest:

Copper, one of the two main alloy's in brass (the other being zinc), is the predominant alloy in this Frisco key. Along with the right conditions, as the copper ages, it bleeds off a greenish hue. You will see this green color (light and dark) on many 1800 and very early 1900 era switch keys. I have more than a few "greenies" listed on my website; here's another example: Union Pacific Key It would be my guess, that copper was more available than zinc in that era of time. There is an exception, the Keyline foundry still uses this 60/40 (a guess) formula whereas, the older foundries such as Adlake, evolved to a formula of browns (light and dark), which are the colors of brass were accustomed to seeing today. There is one other switch key color, which is "yellow brass." This is basically a copper alloy that comprises about 60-70% copper, 30-40% of zinc, tin, and tiny amounts of lead. There are key examples of yellow brass, where you will sometimes notice a "silver smudge" on the key. This is the tin or zinc, or both, bleeding through the copper. Whichever formula the foundries used, the process is what gives countless railroad switch keys, the great looking patina on them today.

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St. Louis-San Francisco Railway

Item: 116-S     New Listing     Price: $95.00

Remarks: ca. mid-1900s.
Forged by the Adlake Co.
Superb stamp marks and two-tone patina.

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St. Louis-San Francisco Railroad

Item: 117-S     Price: $75.00

Remarks: ca. mid-1900s
Forged by the Adlake Co.
Very nice stamp marks and two-tone patina.
Ampersand (&) omitted.

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St. Louis National Stock Yards

Item: 120-S     hog house key     Price: $175.00

Remarks: ca. early 1900s
Great stamp marks and carmel patina.

History

National City was a suburb of East St. Louis, Illinois. Incorporated in 1907, it was a company town for the St. Louis National Stockyards Company. In 1996, the company, which owned all residential property in the town, evicted all of its residents. The following year, because it had no residents, National City was dissolved by court order. Its site was subsequently annexed by nearby Fairmont City, Illinois.

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South Side Elevated Railroad

Item: 122-S     car key     Price: $175.00

Remarks: ca. late 1800s-early 1900s
Forged by the Adams & Westlake Co.
Superb stamp marks and copper patina.
A rare beauty!

History

The South Side Elevated Railroad (originally Chicago & South Side Rapid Transit Railroad) was the first elevated rapid transit line in Chicago, Illinois. The line ran from downtown Chicago to Jackson Park, with branches to Englewood, Normal Park, Kenwood, and the Union Stock Yards. The first 3.6 miles of the line opened on June 6, 1892, and much of its route is still used today as part of the Chicago 'L' system.

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South Side Elevated Railroad

Item: 123-S     New     car key     Listing     Price: $165.00

Remarks: ca. late 1800s-early 1900s
Forged by the Adams & Westlake Co.
Superb stamp marks and chocolate patina.
Another beauty!

History - continued from above

Other companies used third rail electrification to power their trains; so the South Side Elevated Railroad enlisted Frank Julian Sprague to convert its rolling stock to electrical power. Sprague used his previously untested system of multiple-unit train control (MU) whereby multiple self-powered cars could be linked together and controlled by a single person, making the South Side Elevated Railroad the first in the world to use MU operation.

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Sunset Railway

Item: 125-S     Price: $150.00

Remarks: ca. early 1900s
Forged by the Sherburne Co.
Nice stamp marks and gold patina.
In later years, Santa Fe subsidiary. Key listed in the
"American Railway's Switch Key Directory."
A rare 1!

History

The carrier was incorporated March 20, 1912, under the laws of the State of California, for a period of 50 years. The purpose of its incorporation was to effect a consolidation of the properties of the Sunset Railroad Company (incorporated March 17, 1900) and the Sunset Western Railway Company (incorporated June 18, 1909).

This railroad was built in three stages from 1901 to 1908 and ran south out of Bakersfield then northwest into Taft. It was originally built to haul oil supplies to and oil from the oil-rich area in the southwestern region of the San Joaquin Valley. Interestingly enough, a portion of the line was built atop the existing right-of-way of a former narrow-guage line, the Buena Vista Reservoir Railroad.

The spur between Pentland to Maricopa was abandoned in 1960; the rest of the line between Shale and San Emidio went dormant in 1976, and the track was finally removed in the first part of this century. The eastern-most section of track, out of Bakersfield, is still in use by the San Joaquin Valley Railroad (SJVR), a subsidiary of RailAmerica.

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Sunbury Hazleton & Wilkesbarre Railway

Item: 127-S     Pennsy coal hauler     Price: $225.00

Remarks: ca. late 1800s
Attractive ring tapered barrel.
Nice stamp marks and patina.
Great serial #99! @143 years young!

History

The Danville-Hazleton & Wilkes-Barre Railroad began in April 1859 as the Wilkes-Barre & Pittston Railroad. Their plan was to build a railroad along the east side of the Susquehanna River from above Pittston to Danville or Sunbury. It was renamed the Danville-Hazleton & Wilkes-Barre Railroad in 1867. Railroad construction began in late 1867 or early 1868. Simon P. Kase was a critical force in the building of the railroad. In 1870 an anthracite-burning locomotive was built for the railroad. By 1870, the Danville-Hazleton & Wilkes-Barre Railroad linked Sunbury and Danville. By 1871, the railroad extended 43 miles from Sunbury to Tomhicken. In 1872, the Philadelphia & Erie Railroad started to operate the Danville-Hazleton & Wilkes-Barre tracks. In 1878, the railroad was sold under foreclosure and the name was changed to the Sunbury Hazleton & Wilkesbarre Railroad.

The Sunbury Line was once owned by the Pennsylvania Railroad connecting its core system with the other anthracite rail lines in and around Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. It is presently owned and operated by Norfolk Southern Railway.

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Sumpter Valley Railroad

Item: 129-S     Oregon logging short line     Price: $125.00

Remarks: ca. early 1900s
Nice stamp marks and dark patina. Listed in the
"American Railway's Switch Key Directory."

History

The railway was incorporated in 1890 by David Eccles. The 3 ft (914 mm) narrow gauge railway's purpose was to haul logs to the Oregon Lumber Company sawmill in South Baker City. The sawmill and railroad remained separate corporations of the same owners for the life of the railroad. The builders of the railway also owned the Grande Ronde Lumber Company in Perry, Oregon, and the railway was financed by Mormons in Utah. The line was built over terrain originally considered as part of a railway from Denver, Colorado to the Pacific coast; but the Union Pacific Railroad opted for a different route to avoid bypassing growing communities which might provide an attractive opportunity for competition by the rapidly growing Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company.

Built on a right-of-way used by the original railway of the same name, it carries excursion trains on a roughly 5-mile route between McEwen and Sumpter.

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Susquehanna, Bloomsburg & Berwick Railroad

Item: 103-S     Price: $175.00

Remarks: ca. 1879-1917
Operated 1902-1918
Forged by the E.T. Fraim Co.
Superb serif lettering and carmel patina.
Also given the moniker, "Sweet By and By."

History

The SB&B Railroad or the Weak and Weary Railroad, which referred to the fact that it was not a financial success, was a railroad in northeastern Pennsylvania until 1918. The route ran from Watsontown, Pennsylvania to Berwick, Pennsylvania.

The Susquehanna, Bloomsburg and Berwick began as the Wilkes-Barre and Western Railway, incorporated on June 22, 1886 to build from Watsontown to Shickshinny. It opened 22 miles of line from Watsontown to Millville in 1887, and in 1891, opened an additional 9 miles from Millville Junction, just south of Millville, to Orangeville. What remains of it is currently a subsidiary of the Norfolk Southern Railroad (nee Conrail/PRR).

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Switch Key Directory

American Railway's Switch Key Directory

Price: HC-$25.00 | CD-$35

Whether your just starting out collecting switch key's or you have been a collector for many years, this 44 page switch key directory is a useful tool. Although, it does not list every railroad key there is, the directory has a 3-D diagram for the most common railroad keys in the collectors circle. With a CD, you can copy the directory to your hard drive and view and enlarge the pages on your computer screen. Price does not include shipping fees.

Upon request, I will "three ring" the pages for a book binder.

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Don Stewart's Railroad Switch Keys and Padlocks

Switch Keys and Locks Directory

Price: HC-$65.00 | CD-$55

One of the lesser known railroad directories is Don Stewart's Railroad Switch Keys and Padlocks Directory. The book includes 56 pages of switch key pictures, 12 pages of switch lock pictures, 12 supplemental pages including, 2 Canadian key picture pages and 32 pages of railroad names. It's another handy tool for beginners and even veteran collectors. The book contains 117 pages in all and is a ink jet printed copy of the original book. As noted, the CD copy is less expensive than a hard copy. The reason; printer ink and paper prices. With a CD, you can copy the directory to your hard drive and view and enlarge the pages on your computer screen. Price does not include shipping fees.

Upon request, I will "three ring" the pages for a book binder.

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Dates quoted for keys are approximate dates. Railroad switch keys initials (reporting mark) are assumed to be correct and accurate.
Comments on any railroad initials origin, including (typos), are welcome. Last update 01/20/2023

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