Introduction
Fixed globe style lanterns are one of the true mysteries in the Railroadiana collecting hobby. With a little luck, this page may demystify some of the common misconceptions and make some characteristics of these very early lighting pieces more familiar to collectors. These lanterns are often misunderstood and not appreciated for their real beauty. By definition a "Fixed GLobe" lantern is a lantern that has its respective globe sealed within it's frame. Typically the globes are plastered to the frame top and bottom assemblies. There are many examples where plaster was not used and the lantern is made with the globe sealed into the lantern without plaster. This type of lantern will have vertical wire protection.

There are often errors made when attempting to date and identify manufacturers of these lanterns. It is very difficult to date some of these early pieces, so a good place to start is with some factual documentation on how early these lanterns really are. An 1859 John Robbins Catalog for Baggage Checks has a page of lanterns sold by Robbins to his customers. There is no implied original manufacturer of these lanterns.  Robbins bought them wholesale and resold them. By the late 1860s Robbins didn't offer lanterns in his catalog. The image below states that any model can be made of brass or tin. It is generally assumed that brass models are typically "Conductor" models and that tin models are typically "Engine" or "Brakeman" models. The types of lanterns available:

• Brakeman (with vertical wire globe protection)
• Engineer's also commonly referred to as "engine lamp" (defined as a model with a "cup" base)
• Conductor (with vertical and horizontal wire globe protection)
• Railroad ("onion" globe with vertical and horizontal wire globe protection)
• Common (defined as an unprotected fixed globe)
• Conductor (with vertical and horizontal wire globe protection)

Sorry about the baggage tag "ghosting" but this catalog is well over 150 years old.

More details of the terms used follows.

Definition of terms

Globe refers to the glass portion of the lantern.  Globe types:
    Onion - squat and bulbous (generally free blown)
    Free blown - not molded, glass blower is given top and bottom frame dimensions and adjusts ends during glass blowing process.
    Molded or Cast - a globe that is made in a mold and not free blown
    Ring(s) - sometimes there are raised rings of applied glass to the top and sometimes to the bottom of the globe too.
Plaster - used to attach globe to frame
Frame refers to the non-glass portion of the lantern, frames generally consist of::
    Japanning or Creosote - originally used as a manufacturer's coating to help preserve the frame.
    Bail - used as a handle
    Top assembly - has the exhaust vents and bail connects to globe
    Base assembly - connects globe to frame bottom
    Font or Fount - fuel pot
    Burner - holds wick and sometimes connects to collar
    Collar - sometimes holds burner to fount (when glass fount is used) usually plastered to fount
    Springs - mechanism to remove fount/base so that fuel can be added
 

History of the New England Glass Company

New England Glass Company - The easiest company to start with is the New England Glass Company. They operated at a few locations, however, they are best known for their Cambridge, Massachusetts location. They were making various glass products as early as 1818. They operated until 1888. They are better known in the glass collecting field as "Cambridge Glass."   The exact date that New England Glass began making railroad lanterns is not known. The image below is very interesting because it shows "The Cutting Room."  This is where skilled German craftsmen would do ornate artistic patterns, cutting into decorative glass objects. It would be nice to think that railroad "cut" fixed globes were the result of a skilled German craftsman, however, the simple designs required did not necessitate that level of skill. It is more likely that apprentices were assigned to do the cutting of railroad globes. The wood block of the cutting room clearly shows that the copper driven wheels were overhead belt driven (in earliest times by water, later by steam). More detail on the making of railroad fixed globe lanterns follows.
 
 

This 1855 woodcut clearly shows the overhead belt driven cutting wheels. Note the number of "cutting" stations.

3 New England Glass Company Lanterns
Eastern Railroad with "nipple" top, triangular cut letters with no rings on the globe, standard "Brakeman" base and a pewter fount	Atlantic & Saint Lawrence Railroad "engine" style frame with a cast globe and pewter collar. Note the bail is through the top.	Boston & Albany cut globe with applied rings and a "hybrid" 1868 base. Note the bail is under the top.

N. E. Glass basic fixed globe lantern types
New England Glass Co. made various fixed globe lantern styles. They can be identified by many characteristics:

Top Assembly Vents and Bail Retainers

• Dagger with crosshatch vent holes - very easy to spot.
• Nipple top - (sorry for the political incorrectness, but this is how my circle has always referred to these) these tend to have a flat wide tin bail (believed to be the earliest style because of complex construction required).
• Round Wire bail above lid - the bail retaining wire goes through the lid.
• Round Wire bail below lid - the bail retaining wire goes underneath the lid (an improvement over the above).
• Round Wire bail with three parallel rows of round holes - this type of top survived into the removable globe era (see Richard Barrett's book for an example of a Boston & Worcester RR example that is pre 1869).

New England Glass Company Top Vent Hole details
The top image is the standard "dagger with cross-hatch".vent hole assembly The bottom image is the "three parallel rows of round holes". The bottom image is from a removable globe NEGlass lantern, however, this style does exist for fixed globes.

Globes

• Plaster - All NEGlass globes were plastered to their respective top and bottom assemblies. Note that "Engine" lamps were plastered to a retaining ring and not the entire base assembly.
• Cast Lettering - obvious mold lines. Square panel. Note that NEGlass cut fixed globes should NEVER have mold lines.
• Cut Free Blown with applied ring(s) - rings applied after the basic globe is made.
• Cut Free Blown without applied ring - no rings. These are believed to be earlier. The "ring" was an addition that helps to support the plaster point where the globe meets the frame.
• Colors variations for all of the above - Blue, Green and Red boy do I wish I had some! They do exist.
• Weight differences - The cut globes tend to be very heavy. After all, they had to stand up to being cut. The cast globes tend to be much lighter.
• Cut styles - Block and Triangular corner - NEGlass cut globes are either a siimple block lettering or they have a very narrow cut with triangular pieces removed from the corners. The triangular cut style may be unique to the Eastern Railroad.

3 New England Glass Company Cut Globes
Eastern Railroad "triangular cut" globe. Note the narrow horizontal lines	Boston & Albany wide cut "block" style lettering. It's interesting that there is no "RR" marking..

Grand Trunk Railway cast globe

Grand Trunk Railway (post Atlantic & St. Lawrence) cast globe. This image does not show that these letters are in a square panel.

Base Assembly

• Cup or "Engine" - obvious, very small footprint, use of bayonet mount. Globe has a retaining ring plastered to it with 2 rivets at 180 degrees.
• Brakeman - has a more typical "bell" and unique NEGlass spring clips into the intake area rib.
• 1854 Patent - These bases have a glass fount that is plastered to the bell. It is also held in place by a small tin ring that is soldered to the bell.
• 1868 Patent - These bases have a more standard glass fount enclosed in a tin tube.
• Hybrid Cup/Brakman - has small footprint and unique NEGlass spring clips.
• NEGlass unique rounded five point star intake holes - very easy to spot, once you know what to look for.
• NEGlass unique "dagger with crosshatch" vent holes - very easy to spot, once you know what to look for.
• Pewter vs. Brass Collar - the pewter collars are definitely earlier. Pewter is very soft and the threads always seem to wear out quickly.
• Burner - I am sure there is an exception, but every authentic NEGlass lantern that I have ever seen has had a double pick-wick whale oil burner.
• American Glass Company Spring Base - I have one lantern base assembly that interchanges with all NEGlass frames and it is clearly marked "American Glass Company". The spring mounts are slightly different from a NEGlass spring mount. I have no further information on the American Glass Company.

3 New England Glass Company bases			American Glass company base and 1868 NEGlass base
From left to right: (1) A standard 1854 patent bell, (2) "engine" base and (3) "hybrid" base. Detail of "rounded five point star" intake holes on base assembly. This type of intake hole is unique to NEGlass. Also note the bottom ridge that holds the spring loaded bell assembly.			The American Glass (left) is very early (note the pewter collar). The 1868 base (note the tin fount retainer) has the spring extensions clearly visible.

Standard 1854 Patent bottom			American Glass Company bottom and NEGlass 1868 bottom
This is a standard NEGlass fixed globe bell assembly. Note the heavy amount of original creosote still present. That's not rust.			The bell on the left is actually an American Glass Company fixed globe bell. This base easily interchanges with any NEGlass frame. The bell on the right is an 1868 NEGlass bell assembly.

What to watch for if you are buying a NEGlass fixed globe lantern

• Never handle a fixed globe lantern just by the frame. Always keep at least one supporting hand on the globe. The plaster can be 150 years old and may be weak.
• Is the lantern complete with original parts that make sense? If not, do not spend top dollar.
• If the lantern has a cut globe and mold lines... don't buy it. At least one Eastern RR fake is kicking around in New England.
• Look to see if the plaster is original. It should show even discoloration top and bottom. A restored lantern is OK but does not command top dollar.
• If a cut globe lantern has vertical and/or horizontal wires, think twice before buying it. There are NEGlass lanterns with vertical and one horizontal wires. They came with thin molded globes. These globes do not come close in weight to the authentic cut railroad globes.
• Do the springs work? These are next to impossible to fix if it isn't a simple case of lubrication.
• If the lantern has a wire bail, look to see if the bail has lightly scratched or dinged the globe. If there is no scratching where the bail hits the globe, but there are scratches at the same height in a different location, then the lantern top assembly has probably been restored.
• Use a magnifying glass to ensure that block cuts do not cut "cleanly" through scratch marks. When a cut globe is scratched there should be an explosion of glass where the scratch hits a cut recess. If there is no explosion the globe was probably cut after the scratch which would be very suspicious.
• Amber is not an appropriate color for a fixed globe lantern. The amber color was not introduced until the 20th century. Avoid any amber fixed globe lantern.
• There is a belief that a wide cut globe that has more of a "U" shaped mark in the glass rather than very crisp vertical sides is a good sign. Because copper wheels were used to cut these globes the outer edge on the wheel would wear out faster than the center because of added friction. This is nice to know, however, shouldn't be a "show stopper".
• If a cut globe lantern isn't heavy, be very careful. Remember that over 90% of the lantern's overall weight is in the glass. This is not true of cast gobe lanterns. They tend to be much lighter and this is not a consideration in authenticating cast globe lanterns.

FUTURE - PART II - The other types of fixed globes

 II. Star-dot-star
   A. globe types
     1. applied barrels
     2. without applied barrels
     3. how were they made
   B. Cutting styles
     1. Old English
     2. thin block wheel cut
     3. thick block wheel cut
   C. Who made them?
     1. VCRR - small pieplate cookie cutter top (NEGlass?)
     2. "Jar" style VCRR - (NEGlass?)
 

 III. Kelly style - wire protection
   A. I only have one VCRR with the top deflector
   B. I had a NYC (pre hudson river) that had no deflector
   C. I have a weird off-set vertical model (no rr mark)

 IV. Engine lamps of the B&A
   A. C.T. Ham
   B. Steam Gauge
   C. Colors

V. Etc.
   NY&NE Blue Engine
   OC&FR Cast
   Blakes Patent