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Leo:
I purchased Nick Plain's amber BR lantern from his daughters a decade ago at the St Charles June swap meet. They told me that he worked in Streator and that they knew my mother in-law & her sisters from high school.
A bonus to the story is that before as young adult & before her marriage to Grandpa Andy, Grandma Florence used to occassionally go to a dance hall with a group of friends that included Nick Plain. So I boast to my mother-in-law's family that I have "Grandma Florence's boyfriend's amber lantern!".
Grandpa Andy worked his whole carrer in the development department of Owens-Illinois in Streator. At least 5 years before I had joined BRHS, I remember asking him why Streator was the Glass Capital of the USA (no navigable rivers or expressways). He told me that it was because of the coal underneath Streator, the sand from Ottawa, and all of the railroads that brought in the raw materials & shipped out the finished product.
After I joined BRHS and O-trains, I was happy to show him my K-Line O-gauge Owens-Illinois covered hoppers in light blue and black. He told me that the light blue was used in Wisconsin for wood chips and the black was typical of their hoppers around the Streator plant.
Naturally, I have really enjoyed the BRHS Streator meets.
Bill H __._,_.___ Posted by: cbq_bill@sbcglobal.net __,_._,___ |