Dale-
Thanks for the attachments!
I am thinking that Grant V.W. Roth may very well have been the original
designer of the Mars Lights in the sense that he worked with the inventor on
production drawings. Jerry Kennelly who was a Chicago Fire Department fireman
and came up with the idea for a rotating signal light to draw attention to fire
trucks on a call.
Mr. Roth's name does not appear on any of the several patents that were filled
under the name of Jeremiah D. Kennelly going back to 1936. Roth was apparently
very involved in the company as the details in the letter match with what we
know.
The initial money for the founding of the Mars Signal Light Company was
supposedly from a member of the Mars Candy Company hence the name.
A sidelight to the Mars connection to railroads....the term "Milky Way" was
used to describe the C&NW line out to Harvard, Illinois as there were so many
dairy farms along the route. This predates the use of "Milky Way" by the Mars
Candy Company. It is not clear if Mars was aware of the moniker before they
named the candy bar or if it was just a happy coincidence that their milk cars
emblazoned with it were used on those rails!
BTW, my research on "Mileposts to Chicago" shows that as soon as the "Chicago
Branch" was completed milk stands were erected and commutation tickets were
issued for places that did not have stations (some not for decades!), just milk
stops.
Charlie Vlk
-----Original Message-----
From: CBQ@groups.io <CBQ@groups.io> On Behalf Of Dale Grice
Sent: Tuesday, July 19, 2022 4:52 PM
To: CBQ@groups.io
Subject: [CBQ] Mars signal light letter
Hi all,
Thought you might be interested in the attached. I was poking through some of
my stored paper and stumbled across this. I don't remember it.
Looks like I wrote in to Railroad Magazine and got a nice letter in return from
Ace Foundry.
I have always had an interest in the Mars light, among many other things. I had
heard/read that the Mars light was produced by the Mars Candy company or there
was some connection to it.
Dale Grice
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