Wabash Railroad
Item: 3-W Price: $100.00 $90.00
Remarks: ca. 1921-30
Forged by Fraim/Slaymaker Co.
Superb serif stamp marks and gold patina.
History
The Wabash Railroad was a Class I railroad that operated in the mid-central United States. It served a large area, including track in the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, and Missouri and the province of Ontario.
The name Wabash Railroad or Wabash Railway may refer to various corporate entities formed over the years using one or the other of these two names. The first railroad to use only Wabash and no other city in its name was the Wabash Railway in January 1877 which was a rename of the Toledo, Wabash and Western Railway formed on July 1, 1865. The earliest predecessor of the Wabash System was the Northern Cross Railroad, which was the first railroad built in Illinois.
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Wabash Railroad
Item: 4-W Price: $125.00 $115.00
Remarks: post 1930
Forged by the Fraim Co.
Nice bold stamp marks and superb patina.
This key stamped "RR" + key below
stamped "RY" = nice set.
80 year + octogenarian beauty!
History - continued from above
Governor Joseph Duncan, in 1834, succeeded in forcing approval of a steam engine railroad to be built between Quincy, on the Mississippi River, via Clayton, Mt. Sterling, Meredosia, Jacksonville, Springfield, and Decatur to Danville and the Illinois-Indiana State Line and the new railroad was to be built with State funds. This new railroad was known as the "Northern Cross," a name chosen according to some historians, because of the line surveyed for the railroad closely paralleled a well-known trail known as the "Northern Crossing" of Illinois and often called "Northern Cross" although it was actually in the south central part of the state.
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Wabash Railway
Item: 5-W Price: $125.00 $115.00
Remarks: post 1930
Forged by the Fraim Co.
Nice bold stamp marks and copper patina.
This key stamped "RY" + key above
stamped "RR" = nice set.
80 year + octogenarian beauty!
History - continued from above
The Wabash Railroad's history, like that of many large U.S. railroads, is one of mergers, consolidations, and leases, though it seems to have gone through more reorganizations and name changes than most railroads its size. The oldest part of the Wabash was the Northern Cross Railroad, chartered in 1837 to run from Quincy, Illinois, east to the Indiana state line. The line, completed in 1858, required a ferry crossing of the Missouri River at St. Charles, 19 miles from St. Louis, until a bridge was completed in 1871. In the 1860s the railroad acquired a branch to Brunswick; the town of Moberly was established at the junction and became the location of the railroad's shops. The Brunswick line was extended to Kansas City in 1868.
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Wabash Railroad
Item: 6-W Price: $75.00
Remarks: ca. early 1900s
Forged by the Adams & Westlake Co.
Nice stamp marks and silver patina.
100 year + centenarian!
History - continued from above
In 1898 Wabash acquired trackage rights from Detroit through southern Ontario to Buffalo, New York, over the rails of the Grand Trunk Railway. The Canadian portion of the Wabash was connected with the rest of the system by ferries across the Detroit River between Detroit and Windsor. A line from Butler to New Haven, Indiana, east of Fort Wayne, was opened in 1902, allowing Detroit-St. Louis trains to be routed through Fort Wayne, Huntington and Wabash, Indiana.
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Wabash Railroad
Item: 7-W New Listing Price: $95.00
Remarks: ca. 1921-30
Fraim/Slaymaker forged.
Great stamp marks and two-tone gold patina.
80 year + octogenarian!
History - continued from above
By March 31, 1970, N&W acquired control from the Pennsylvania Company; by the end of 1980 N&W had almost complete ownership of the Wabash. The N&W and the Southern Railway merged in 1982, although the N&W continued to exist on paper. The Norfolk Southern formally merged the Wabash into the N&W in November 1991.
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Wabash Railroad
Item: 8-W repair track key Price: $120.00
Remarks: ca. post 1930
Forged by the. S. Slaymaker Co.
Excellent stamp marks and gold patina.
80 year + octogenarian!
History - continued from above
The Wabash Cannonball
The name of this legendary train became famous with the 1904 revision of an 1882 song about the "Great Rock Island Route." Yet the name was never borne by a real train until the Wabash Railroad christened its Detroit-St. Louis day train as the Wabash Cannon Ball in 1949. The train survived until the creation of Amtrak in 1971, when it was discontinued.
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Wabash Railroad
Item: 9-W Price: $45.00
Remarks: ca. 1921-30
Forged by Fraim/Slaymaker Co.
Great stamp marks and dark patina.
An anomaly, mis-stamped ampersand (&)
at foundry. S = switch.
80 year + octogenarian!
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Williamson & Pond Creek Railroad
Item: 12-W Price: $95.00
Remarks: ca. early 1900s
12 mile shortline - Virginia to Kentucky.
Letters = W&PO RY - pocket worn but legible.
80 year + octogenarian!
History
The carrier was incorporated March 14, 1912, under the laws of Kentucky. It had the
same general offices as the Norfolk and Western Railway Company.
This short line coal hauler was backed by the Norfolk and Western and eventually absorbed into the N&W.
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Wilkes-Barre Connecting Railroad
SOLD Price: $145.00
Remarks: ca. early 1900s
Superb serif stamp marks and carmel patina.
History
The Wilkes-Barre Connecting Railroad was incorporated at the end of 1912, and construction began in 1913. It was formed for the joint benefit of the D&H and the Pennsylvania Railroads. Norfolk Southern formally took over operations of the line from Schenectady south and west to Sunbury, replacing the Canadian Pacific as operator.
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Wind Gap & Delaware Railroad
Item: 17-W Price: $245.00 $225.00
Remarks: ca. early 1900s
Forged by the Eagle Lock Co.
Superb serif stamp marks and gold patina.
Merged into the Lehigh & Lackawanna in 1905.
100 year + centenarian!
History
The Lehigh and Lackawanna Railroad and its leased Wind Gap and Delaware Railroad were operated by the Central Railroad of New Jersey until February 1, 1905, when the two companies were merged into the L&NE. Around the same time the L&NE acquired the Northampton Railroad. This gave the L&NE a branch to Bethlehem, with a branch off that one to Martins Creek. Part of the main line between Benders Junction (the crossing of the original L&NE and the L&L) and Pen Argyl was abandoned in 1905, with the new route using the L&L and WG&D.
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Wisconsin Central Railroad
Item: 20-W Price: $145.00 $125.00
Remarks: ca. early 1900s
Superb serif stamp marks and copper-gold patina.
100 year + centenarian!
History
The original Wisconsin Central Railroad Company was established by an act of the Wisconsin State Legislature and incorporated in February 1871. It built track throughout Wisconsin, connecting to neighboring states, before being leased to Northern Pacific Railway between 1889-1893. It became the Wisconsin Central Railway Company in 1897, and back to Wisconsin Central Railroad Company in 1954. The railroad was merged into the Soo Line Railroad in 1961.
While under the control of the Northern Pacific, the Wisconsin Central Railroad constructed Solon Spencer Beman's great Romanesque Grand Central Station (Chicago) in 1889 as its southern terminus. When the Northern Pacific defaulted on its lease terms in 1893, the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad acquired the several Chicago properties of the Wisconsin Central including Grand Central Station.
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Wisconsin Central Lines & Fox Valley Western Railroad
Item: 23-W Price: $20.00
Remarks: ca. late 1900s
Keline forged.
Nice stamp marks and gold patina.
History
The Fox River Valley Railroad was a short-lived railroad in eastern Wisconsin from 1988 to 1993 with about 214 miles of track, all of which was former Chicago & North Western Railway trackage. The line ran from Green Bay, Wisconsin to the north side of Milwaukee. Owned by the Itel Rail Corporation, FRV had problems already at start-up, plagued with big debt and little revenue. It was eventually absorbed by the Wisconsin Central along with sister railroad Green Bay & Western on August 28, 1993, as a subsidiary, Fox Valley & Western Ltd.
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Wichita & Western Railroad
Item: 25-W Price: $125.00
Remarks: Operated 1889-98
Santa Fe subsidiary.
Superb block lettering and patina.
Key listed in the
"American Railway's Switch Key Directory."
100 year + centenarian!
History
A subsidary line of the Santa Fe Railroad. With the arrival of the Iron Horse, railroad barons would often merge or purchase outright smaller lines along their routes. The Atchison-Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad was no exception. This was a practice that just about every railroad utilized with their own expansions.
Chartered in 1889, the Wichita & Western Railroad was absorbed into the Santa Fe in 1898.
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Willacoochee & DuPont Railroad
Item: 28-W Price: $55.00
Remarks: ca. mid-1900s
Forged by the Adlake Co.
Nice stamp marks and patina.
History
The Willacoochee & DuPont Railroad of Georgia, was a 10 mile short line that ran from Willacoochee to Shaw's Still. When exactly this railroad was chartered is unclear.
In 1915, when the Henderson Lumber Company acquired the Ocilla, Pinebloom, & Valdosta Railway, it ran from Gladys to Shaw's Still. In 1918, the Willacoochee & DuPont Railroad purchased the line and reportedly abandoned the tracks between Gladys and Willacoochee the following year (or used them only for logging or hauling naval stores and turpentine). It continued to operate the eastern and southern section of track from Willacoochee to Shaws Still, but apparently was not able to extend the line past Shaws Still to DuPont, a town on the Atlantic Coast Line in Clinch County. In 1922, this track too was abandoned.
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West Jersey & Seashore Railroad
Item: 30-W Price: $175.00 $160.00
Remarks: ca. early 1900s
Superb serif stamp marks and gold patina.
100 year + centenarian!
History
The West Jersey and Seashore Railroad was a Pennsylvania Railroad subsidiary
that became part of Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines in 1933.
On November 2, 1932, the PRR and Reading Company (RDG) merged their southern New Jersey railroad lines into one company, the Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines (PRSL). Duplicative lines were abandoned as part of the consolidation.
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Western Maryland Railroad
Item: 33-W Price: $100.00
Remarks: ca. early 1900s
Forged by the Adams & Westlake Co.
Very nice stamp marks and two-tone patina.
100 year + centenarian!
History
Chartered in 1852, the Western Maryland Railway was an American Class I railroad which operated in Maryland, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. It was primarily a coal hauling and freight railroad, with a small passenger train operation. The WM became part of the Chessie System in 1973, although it continued independent operations until May 1975 after which time many of its lines were abandoned in favor of parallel Baltimore & Ohio Railroad lines. In 1983 it was fully merged into the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.
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Western Maryland Railroad
Item: 34-W Price: $65.00
Remarks: ca. early-mid 1900s
Nice stamp marks and dark patina.
This key stamped "RR" + key
below stamped "RY" = nice set.
History - continued from above
In 1931, the Pittsburgh and West Virginia Railway (P&WV) reached Connellsville to connect with the WM. The connection enabled the formation of the Alphabet Route, a partnership involving the WM, P&WV and six other railroads that provided competition with larger railroads including the PRR. Today the P&WV is leased by the Wheeling and Lake Erie Railway.
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Western Maryland Railway
Item: 35-W Price: $65.00
Remarks: ca. mid-1900s
Forged by the Adlake Co.
This key stamped "RY" + key
above stamped "RR" = nice set.
History - continued from above
The major rail yards on the WM were Jamison Yard at Hagerstown, capacity 3,000 cars, mainly for west-bound traffic; and Knobmount Yard, capacity 1,600 cars, south of Ridgeley, West Virginia, mainly for east-bound traffic.
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Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad
Item: 38-W Price: $75.00
Remarks: ca. early 1900s
Forged by the Adams & Westlake Co.
Nice stamp marks and two-tone patina.
The original W&LE operated 1877-1949
100 year + centenarian!
History
The Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway was a Class I railroad mostly within the U.S. state of Ohio. It was leased to the New York-Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (NKP) in 1949, and merged into the Norfolk & Western Railway in 1988. A new regional railroad reused the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway name in 1990 when it acquired most of the former W&LE from the N&W.
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Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad
Item: 39-W Price: $85.00
Remarks: ca. pre-1927
Forged by the Wilson Bohannan Co.
Superb serif stamp marks and patina.
100 year + centenarian!
History - continued from above
With investment by railroad financier Jay Gould in 1880 and financial reorganization, the line was converted to standard gauge and construction began again. Service from Huron to Massillon, Ohio, was opened on January 9, 1882, and new lines were constructed that eventually reached the Ohio River and Toledo. The W&LE also developed new docks on Lake Erie at Huron that opened May 21, 1884, when the first cargo of iron ore was received.
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Western New York & Pennsylvania Railroad
Item: 41-W Price: $145.00
Remarks: ca. late 1800s
Very nice stamp marks and bright
gold patina. Not to be associated
with today's WNY&P Railroad.
100 year + centenarian!
History
The Western New York & Pennsylvania Railway was a railroad in the U.S. states of New York and Pennsylvania. Incorporated in 1887 as the Western New York & Pennsylvania Railroad from the reorganization of the Buffalo-New York & Philadelphia, and reorganized in 1895 as the Western New York & Pennsylvania Railway, it was acquired and leased by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1900 and merged into the Penndel Company in 1955.
The 1895 to 1899 period saw revenue inadequate to pay the bond interest, and this was contemporaneous with the Pennsylvania's need to expand into western New York. Moreover, this expansion did not raise competitive issues with the Pennsy's principal rival, the New York Central. Thus, on 1 August 1900, the WNY&PRY signed an agreement with the PRR under which the latter operated the former. Although the WNY&PRY did not generate much profit in this arrangement, it did improve matters for the Allegheny Valley and the Philadelphia and Erie roads, so the net result was satisfactory to the Pennsylvania. Eventually, the Western New York & Pennsylvania Railway became the Pennsylvania's Buffalo & Allegheny Valley Division.
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Western Railway of Alabama
Item: 43-W Price: $325.00
Remarks: ca. 1800s
Forged by T. Slaight.
Superb serif stamp marks and patina.
125 year + centenarian!
History
The Western Railway of Alabama (WRA) also seen as "WofA" was created as the Western Railroad of Alabama by the owners of the Montgomery & West Point Railroad (M&WP) in 1860. It was built to further the M&WP's development West from Montgomery, Alabama to Selma, Alabama.
In the 1980s, the line and its sister railroads, the Atlanta & West Point Railroad and the Georgia Railroad, became part of the Family Lines System, along with the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad, the Louisville & Nashville Railroad and the Clinchfield Railroad. The lines were all later renamed Seaboard System Railroad, which in 1986 merged with the Chessie System to become CSX Transportation.
The WRA still sees regular freight service. Passenger service ceased January 7, 1970.
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West Virginia Central & Pittsburg Railway
Item: 45-W Price: $175.00 $165.00
Remarks:ca. late 1800s
Nice serif stamp marks and carmel patina.
Absorbed into the WM in 1905.
100 year + centenarian!
History
The West Virginia Central and Pittsburg Railway (WVC&P) was a railroad in West Virginia and Maryland operating in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It had main lines radiating from Elkins, West Virginia in four principal directions: north to Cumberland, Maryland; west to Belington, WV; south to Huttonsville, WV; and east to Durbin, WV. Some of the routes were constructed through subsidiary companies, the Piedmont and Cumberland Railway and the Coal and Iron Railway.
The WVC&P and subsidiaries were sold to the Fuller Syndicate, led by George Gould, in 1902 and merged into the Western Maryland Railway (WM) in 1905. The newly built WM connected to the WVC&P in Ridgeley, WV. The WM was taken over by the Chessie System in 1973, and the Chessie System in turn was merged out of existence and into CSX Transportation in 1980.
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West Virginia & Pittsburg Railway
Item: 48-W Price: $45.00
Remarks: ca. mid-1900s
Nice stamp marks and dark patina.
History
West Virginia and Pittsburgh Railroad. 1876-1990. In 1899, the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O)
took over the line. In 1990 the WV&P was merged into CSX.
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Winston Salem Southbound Railroad
Item: 50-W Price: $125.00
Remarks: ca. early 1900s
Interesting "B" stamp.
Attractive serif stamp marks and gold patina.
History
The Winston-Salem Southbound Railway (WSS) is a 90-mile short-line railroad jointly owned by CSX Transportation and the Norfolk Southern Railway, which provide it with equipment. It connects with NS at the north end in Winston-Salem, CSX at the south end in Wadesboro, and in between with NS at Lexington and Whitney, the subsidiary High Point, Thomasville and Denton Railroad at High Rock, and the Aberdeen, Carolina and Western Railway at Norwood. Originally owned jointly by the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad and Norfolk and Western Railway, predecessors to CSX and NS, it was completed in November 1910.
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Wilmington & Northern Railroad
Item: 53-W Price: $175.00
Remarks: ca. 1800s
Nice pocket worn serif stamp marks
and gold patina. A very rare key
with a unique style bit.
100 year + centenarian!
History
The Wilmington and Northern Branch is a partially-abandoned railway line in the states of Delaware and Pennsylvania. It was constructed between 1869 and 1870 by the Wilmington and Reading Railroad, a predecessor of the Wilmington and Northern Railroad. At its fullest extent it connected Reading, Pennsylvania, with Wilmington, Delaware. The Philadelphia and Reading Railway leased the line in 1900. With the Reading Company's bankruptcy and the creation of Conrail in 1976 the line's ownership fragmented, and the section between Coatesville, Pennsylvania, and Birdsboro, Pennsylvania, has been abandoned.
The W&N is known for serving steel mills at Reading, Birdsboro and Coatesville. There were numerous smaller industries along the way, including coal dumps, paper mills, scrap yards and quarries. In the Wilmington area was the DuPont Company. The W&N crossed the PRR five times between Birdsboro and Wilmington, with four interchanges. At Wilmington it interchanged with the B&O.
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Western Pacific Railroad
Item: 55-W Price: $75.00
Remarks: ca. mid-1900s
Forged by the Adlake Co.
Great stamp marks and patina.
History
The Western Pacific Railroad was a Class I railroad in the United States. It was formed in 1903 as an attempt to break the near-monopoly the Southern Pacific Railroad had on rail service into northern California. WP's Feather River Route directly competed with SP's portion of the Overland Route for rail traffic between Salt Lake City/Ogden, Utah and Oakland, California for nearly 80 years. The Western Pacific was one of the original operators of the California Zephyr.
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Western Pacific Railroad
Item: 56-W Price: $85.00
Remarks: ca. early 1900s
Forged by the Adlake Co.
Great stamp marks and patina.
History - continued from above
The Western Pacific was acquired in 1983 by Union Pacific Corporation, which in 1996 would purchase its long-time rival, the Southern Pacific Railroad. In July 2005 Union Pacific unveiled a brand new EMD SD70ACe locomotive, Union Pacific 1983, painted as an homage to the Western Pacific.
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Williams Valley Railroad
Item: 55-W Price: $245.00 $225.00
Remarks: ca. late 1800s
Nice tapered ring barrel.
Superb stamp marks and dark chocolate patina.
125 year + centenarian lucky #7
History
The Williams Valley Railroad was an anthracite-hauling railroad that operated in Schuylkill and Dauphin Counties, Pennsylvania from 1892 to 1971. For most of that time, it was a subsidiary of the Reading Railroad. It extended the Reading's Brookside Branch at Brookside 11 miles (18 km) down the Williams Valley to Lykens.
The railroad was originally chartered on September 19, 1891, to connect Brookside (the site of a large colliery served by the Reading) with Lykens. The line was opened on July 1, 1892, from Lykens to a point on the Reading known as Williams Valley Junction. The railroad owned one engine, a Baldwin 2-6-0 named "A.F. Baker." The railroad owned three passenger cars in 1894; these were presumably used to operate "miner's trains" for the colliery workers, as was done on the connecting Reading lines.
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Warren Railroad
Item: 57-W New Listing Price: $175.00
Remarks: ca. 1800-1945
Superb stamp marks and carmel patina.
125 year + centenarian!
History
The Warren Railroad was a railroad in Warren County, New Jersey, that served as part of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad's mainline from 1856 to 1911.
The Warren Railroad was chartered on February 12, 1851, by special act of the state of New Jersey, to provide a connection from the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad's (DL&W) terminus at the Delaware River to Hampton, New Jersey, on the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ), in anticipation of a merger between the two railroads. The railroad's date of organization was March 4, 1853, and construction began that June.
In 1945, DL&W officially bought the Warren Railroad. In 1955 revenue freight service ended on the Hampton Branch; the last train to operate on the line was a work train in 1956. The line was officially abandoned in 1958.
Y
Youngstown & Northern Railroad
Item: 1-Y Price: $75.00
Remarks: ca. mid-1900s
Fine pocket wear and superb dark patina.
History
Railroad's played a important part with the steel mills during the "Industrial Age," hauling the coal and ore to the mills and the finished product to market. The Youngstown & Northern Railroad, a shortline, was most likely owned by one of Ohio's steel mills. There is no information out there on the Y&N's demise. With the decline of the steel industry in the 1970's, it was either abandoned or merged into the Genesee & Wyoming.
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Youngstown & & Southern Railway
Item: 2-Y Price: $75.00
Remarks: ca. mid-1900s
Nice deep stamp marks and dark patina.
History
This road started as a steam road and ended as a diesel freight road. The Y&S built from Youngstown to Columbiana (16 miles) in 1904. In 1907 it built another 3 miles to Leetonia where it connected with the Youngstown & Ohio River. At this time it was electrified. From the very beginning, the Y&S was in the freight business, and interchanged with the Y&OR and the Pittsburgh Lisbon & Western (a steam road). In 1916, after reorganization, the Y&S was the Youngstown & Suburban. In 1928, the Y&S came under the control of the Montour RR who wanted to use the line for an entry into Youngstown. In 1944 the name was changed back to Youngstown & Southern, and the next year the Y&S took over the PL&W, which was also controlled by the Montour.
Passenger service lasted until 1948, the last Ohio interurban. The Leetonia extension was abandoned later that year, and the line was dieselized before long. Later it became part of the Montour, which was the plan in 1928.
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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 06/28/2023
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