Qld Railway Steam Era Tail Lamp Van Lantern Ex Newstead

On offer is a vintage queensland government railways rear train tali lamp. These lamps were first designed around the turn of the century and made in qr's workshops right through the steam era. Some made it through to the diesel era and were still used occasionally on trains that did not have a guards van on the rear, as most guards vans by the 1960's were permanently fitted with smaller electric tail lamps. This lamp has return csm newstead written on the side in black marker which indicates that it was last used on the now closed newstead branch in brisbane. It was probably used on the many transfer shunt trains that moved wagons betwene newstead goods yard and nearby mayne or roma street goods yards. Many of these transfer shunt trains operated without a guards van and one of these lamps would have been attached to the rear vehicle at night. Lamps were sent there for repairs and this lamp has had soldering work done to the seams on the fuel tank. Otherwise the lamp is generally in good condition. It has a 5 inch diameter bulls eye lens on one end and a 5 clear bulls eye lens on the other end.