Conductor's Carbide Lantern

Yet another gift I recieved from a deceased railroader's daughter, namely his signal lantern. This is a standard issue Bundesbahn carbide lantern, the design of course dating back to pre WW2 times. It was manufactured by A. Sartorius in Wuppertal, 1957. Not far from where I live, but more than half a century into the past. Despite showing signs of use, it's in mint condition, just needs a little cleaning.

The first photo shows the assembled lantern with the carbide burner inside. There is a long hook on the back, with which it was attached to a rectangular piece of leather that the conductor wore around his neck. There was a little strap at the bottom of it for attaching it to a trouser's button, to stop it from dangling when the conductor leaned out the door. Here's a photo of that.

The second photo shows the actual burner. One filled the round container at the base with ground carbide and the tank with water. With the screw on top of the tank, one could adjust the flow of water from the tank into the carbide container, and we're only talking of one or two droplets per second! The gas that came into being through the chemical reaction with carbide and water, namely acetylene, could be ignited at the small nozzle on the container's top.

Finally, the third picture shows how this lamp was actually used by railroads. Apart from the clear pane of glass at the front, it had a green and red coloured one on the left and right side, normally shielded by spring loaded covers. Since I don't have any carbide arond, I used my desk lamp to show the effect of the red side.


Apparently, one of the most horrible accidents of the former Bundesbahn was caused by the improper handling of such a lantern. On a one tracked branchline, a special excursion train composed of two railbus motor cars was on it's way towards the station Dahlerau, when a freight train pulled into that station in the opposite direction.

"The dispatcher would normally step onto the platform and show the driver a green light, giving him permission to proceed. However, as the freight train was supposed to stop and wait for the special service still on the line, a red light would have to be shown. It is unclear what happened exactly, but the train did not stop at the station as supposed to, and departed toward Wuppertal. The driver later claimed that the train dispatcher had signalled him with a green light using his hand lamp. About 800 metres north of the station, behind a curve, both trains collided. The motor coach of the two-unit special train was compacted to one third of its length by the freight train locomotive, which was five times as heavy and 20 centimetres higher than the railbus."