All-
Looking for information on what brands of train order signals the Q used at its
depots. In particular, further on the paddle type, often referred to as the
"Swift Train Order," patented by John Ames (October 27, 1885, Patent No.
328913) and manufactured by the Ames Company through about 1940. These may have
been referred to as Butterfly or Banner train order signals.
A short bio per his patent application:
"John Hubbard Ames, the father of John McEwen Ames, was born at Housatonic,
Massachusetts, December 27, 1838, his parents being William Henry Ames of
Housatonic and Lucy Bartlett of Lee, Massachusetts. Entering Williams College
in 1856, he discontinued his course in 1858 to go abroad in company with George
Fuller, the artist of Deerfield, Massachusetts. At the outbreak of the Civil
War in 1861, he applied for examination and was commissioned in the United
States Navy as engineer of the third grade and assigned to the U.S.S.
Connecticut for blockade duty. His service continued throughout the war in this
duty, except for the time during which he, with others, was detailed by the
government to experiment with superheated steam on boats plying between
Baltimore and Fortress Monroe. At the close of the war he started on the U.S.S.
Minnesota to circle the globe, but the ship broke down and had to return to New
York. Mr. Ames resigned his commission as assistant engineer to become
superintendent of the Yale Lock Company, then located at Shelburne Falls,
Massachusetts. In 1871, he was superintendent of the Herring Safe Company, New
York, and in 1872, was made superintendent of the Grant Locomotive Works, at
Paterson, New Jersey. As representative of this concern he was sent to Odessa
to erect a consignment of locomotives purchased by the Russian government, the
first ever exported by an American concern. The Grant Company failed while he
was abroad and in 1875 he again became superintendent of the Yale Lock Company,
at that time located at Stamford, Connecticut, which position he held until
1879, when he was employed by the Northern Pacific Railroad Company in the
purchase of rails and locomotives. In 1881 he was made purchasing agent of this
company and was transferred to St. Paul, Minnesota. Mr. Ames retired from the
position in 1890, as his health was failing, and shortly thereafter moved back
to the East, dying April 14, 1908, at his home at Ware, Massachusetts. Mr. Ames
was a member of the Loyal Legion. He made the designs for the first government
post office boxes for the Yale Lock Company and secured a number of patents,
among others a steam separator for boilers, a Yale padlock, a refrigerator, an
automatic brake for railroad cars, a railway signal apparatus and a pneumatic
transmitter for store service."
Any info about Ames and the Ames Company and points where this type of signal
might have been in use is much appreciated.
RSVP
John Phillips
Seattle
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