Railroad Signal?

[hosman321]

Ok, I bought this at the antique shop tonight. But I got into a little disagreement with the shop guy and his wife. They said they have no clue what it is and that somebody just made it up on their own. That someone probably took an old vehicle signal and screwed it onto a base. My argument was that it's an old railroad signal. While I haven't seen one this ornate, it's similar to ones I have seen online. The short ones that are low to the ground. Also, the top screws in perfectly to the base and nothing looks like it has been altered or home made. I just can't tell if I'm right on this one. I seriously want to know if this is really a railroad signal! I just love the glass, it's gorgeous in person. I tried to unscrew the case that holds the light but it won't come off. Maybe with a little more elbow grease. The iron is fairly brittle though, so I don't want to break anything off!

[KC]

Haven't seen one like this...but did see portable signals over the years.

Here's a advertisement about one from the 50's
http://cgi.ebay.com/1953-Portable-Traffic-Signal-stop-light-photo-print-ad_W0QQitemZ120535865660QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20100226?IMSfp=TL100226151010r33407

http://cgi.ebay.com/1956-Portable-traffic-Signal-stop-light-photo-print-ad_W0QQitemZ370339333551QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item5639f1c5af

Some great history
http://www33.brinkster.com/iiiii/trfclt/

[talesofthesevenseas]

What are the dimensions? Overall height and diameter of the signal? Is it just my eyes or is this tabletop size?

[Vrillon]

rust makes me think the sign is possibly older then the base. Notice how black the rust is which I believe indicates it to be older then something with no black rust. I might be wrong though.

how much you paid for it?

[hosman321]

Ok, I think I know what may have happened to this light. It does apprear that this is a light from a vehicle. I lose. They were used on trolleys, cars, busses, fire trucks etc. Somebody decided to make a lamp out of it, maybe the base is from a 20's table lamp? I am just surprised it screws in so perfectly and someone actually thought of it. Some handy guy. I paid $85 for it but then they gave me all my other stuff free. $30 worth. So, in my mind I paid $55. Which is fair now that I think of it because on ebay the light alone is between $45 and $150.
http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=vintage+stop+light&_sacat=0&_trksid=p3286.m270.l1313&_dmpt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&_odkw=antique+stop+light&_osacat=0&bkBtn=1
I'm probably going to leave it nice and rusty, it just looks so cool. I am going to scrape the surface rust off though and seal it with a clear topcoat to preserve it and stop the rust. I hear a whole lot of glass inside the light, so the bulb is broken. I will rewire this and make it a cool rusty lamp, if I can ever get that cover off! Maybe even a slow blinking. I hope it still works. Oh, and the black part on top is black paint, the base has traces of old white paint. And the height is 20".

I am still a tiny bit confused on the base now that I looked at my post again. The base feet look a little "heavy duty" in person for a table lamp. They look like they really have to brace themselves for some support. Could this be a stand from something else? Maybe they cut the base off of a tall floor lamp. I don't know, the feet look kind of weird for a table lamp.

[railman44]

I think it's a vehicle rear light jerry-rigged to a stand.  I could easily be wrong.

[OLDZ06]

The way I see it not being a match is that you can see some black paint still on the outside casing of the light and none on the stand.
The stand could be the bottom part of a hall tree coat rack ? but might not be big enough.  hard to see how big it is on the bottom. Car related light is possible. Most all cars back in the old days were painted black. Just my guess.  Its different thats for sure.

[hosman321]

Base to a coat rack makes much more sense. That would explain why it would need some heavy duty support to hold those heavy wool coats. I got the light apart finally. The bulb is still good, the wire is cut. Scrubbed a lot of rust off (but it's still super rusty) and now I can straighten that annoying crooked glass. I still think it will be a cool light. Too bad I live in a crooked neighborhood or I would put it outside along the path or on the porch or something. Thanks for the ideas!

[talesofthesevenseas]

I think this would make a great bar decor item... You've had too much and on goes the light that says STOP!!!!