Featured in this lot is a Great Northern Railway Dressel Lantern, circa 1939-1940. The Dressel Railway Lamp & Signal Company was formerly known as Dressel Railway Lamp Works, New York City and was originally established in 1882. The Great Northern Railway was an American railroad running from St. Paul, Minnesota to Seattle, Washington, it's route made it the northernmost transcontinental railroad in the U. S. from 1889 to 1970 when it merged with three other railroads to form the Burlington Northern Railroad and later in 1996 becoming the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway. In the days before city lights and GPS, railroad lanterns served a very important purpose: they communicated signals at night between trains and stations. Sometimes, a timely lantern signal meant the difference between life and death. Railroad lanterns were used by the workers of the rails to communicate with each other as they went about their daily pursuit of running the railroad line. Fixed globe lanterns were some of the first railroad lanterns made during the Civil War and had the globe inside that was not removable, thus requiring different lanterns for different signals. Short-globe lanterns had a globe that was no more than 4 inches in height. This smaller chamber size was better suited to burn kerosene, which had replaced signal oil as the main lantern fuel. It was also more portable than earlier models. Dressel lanterns with the patent stamp were made after May, 1939. Some sources indicate that Dressel may have stopped stamping the patent date after 1940. This Great Northern Dressel railroad lantern features a ribbed red Corning Glass globe, Dressel patent stamp on bottom, 6" diameter wire base with double guard, "one-day" burner with flat cotton wick and brass adjustment screw, top of chimney cap is stamped "Dressel Arlington, N.J.", chimney cap brim is stamped "G.N.RY." This lantern is in very nice preserved condition, minimal paint loss and scratches consistent with normal use and handling. Measures 13.25"H x 9.5"W, 6"W diameter base. Weight is 2lb, 8oz.