Buying "Retired" Railroad signs, signals, etc

[MP57313]

Earlier this year I went to a Railroad Swap Meet/Show, and there was a vendor selling railroad signs and signals, switchstands, lanterns, etc.

I was interested in buying one of the signs, but didn't. How do I know the sign was not stolen? How does one know if any of the stuff was stolen?

[mudchicken]

Ask vendor for copy of his bill of sale fron the railroad. If really suspicious, check with the local special agent,

[wcfan4ever]

I have heard this so many times before. Sometimes, you could ask if he/she works for the railroad and if they say yes, ask for proof.
All the stuff that me and my father have was all purchased legally for a railroad employee, including, a crossing w/bell and lights, five crossbucks (two marbled), two advanced warning signs (one ordered from company), many mileposts, (S)-Slow Board, speed limit signs, 2-stage block signal...oh man, i could go on forever. Nothing was ever stolen or boughten from a rail-show.

[Anonymous]

Are Railroad signs available to the public (like collectors) or do you have to have proof you are with the railroad?

[AlcoRS11Nut]

QUOTE: Originally posted by modelrailroader71

Are Railroad signs available to the public (like collectors) or do you have to have proof you are with the railroad?

Hopefully not...I would really like to buy some equipment (I want to start collecting). Did any of you guys (or girls) try to go to railswap.com, I get the impression it's like a Railroad E-bay type website, where, I saw a everything there, hi-rail trucks, entire locomotive (and parts of), all the way to a ancient ALCo cab heater out of an ALCo S2.

[MP57313]

This guy is a vendor and is not a railroad employee (I asked at the time). I did not think to ask for the original bill of sale but that's a good idea for next time, although I can understand his hesitation as that would give away his mark-up.

[DSchmitt]

If the stuff is of recent vintage (something the RR might still be using) I would be careful and want to find out how it was obtained.

Whether or not the vendor is a RR employee is not relevent unless he is selling the material for the RR.

Older material is more problematical. There may not be a paper trail even if the material was obtained legally. A cousin (retired BN) told me that when the BN was formed a warehouse full of material was opened to the employees who were invited to take what they wanted. He hated the RR at the time so didn't take anything. Later he became a railfan (After the merger he transfered from working in the yard to a road assignment which he liked better. He said the BN was much better to work for than the NP) and bemoaned the fact he was paying hundreds of dollars for things he could have gotten for free.

There are also many "counterfeit" items and also items made for the fan market that are not intended to be mistaken for real RR items. An antique dealer once showed a friend an ashtray "from the California Zephyr" My friend new it was not. My friend had had the ashtrays made in Korea for the US railfan market. It had his company name stamped on the bottom. The antique dealer was probably not a cheat. He was repeating what the person who had sold it to him had claimed. It is possible that person thought it was real too.

[MP57313]

One item was a standard yellow/black round railroad crossing sign. I suppose those might be available from a highway dept.
The other stuff was vintage heavy-duty hardware (a wig-wag, a crossbuck, a semaphore blade, a mile marker, some other stuff I don't recall now). It all looked "real"; he did not have small collectibles like dining car china, etc.

[Big_Boy_4005]

QUOTE: Originally posted by MP57313

One item was a standard yellow/black round railroad crossing sign. I suppose those might be available from a highway dept.
The other stuff was vintage heavy-duty hardware (a wig-wag, a crossbuck, a semaphore blade, a mile marker, some other stuff I don't recall now). It all looked "real"; he did not have small collectibles like dining car china, etc.

Actually, there are companies that supply the highway departments with standard signs.

I used to be in the apartment management business, and on occasion we needed "no parking" signs to mark the fire lanes on the property.

One time when I went in there, I picked up one of their catalogs. Of course the round railroad crossing sign was in there, as well as a number of other train related signs. All you had to do was plunk your money down, and you could have as many as you wanted.

[klmiller611]

I have purchased a number of things over the years from the N&W and later NS including a caboose. I have such things as a huge pile of diesel numberboards, business car china, signals, dining car items, etc. It is only in rare cases that the bill of sale will be very specific as to what I got. i.e. "lot scrap numberboards" "lot scrap signal material" so you may not have a specific detailed list of what you have. The only thing that I have that was specific was the caboose.

There are companies who supply the highway type signs. Try Grimco.com and search for railroad. I believe that they will sell to individuals.

Ken Miller

[wcfan4ever]

Also, TAPCO (http://www.tapconet.com/intro.html) out of Elm Grove, WI sells every sign imaginable, plus you can have them make just about anything! Speaking of TAPCO, my dad had them custom make a Wisconsin Central engine decal from a damaged one. They made the everything for it including a dye. All dimensions are correct and you can't even tell the difference. Of course it did cost some money but at least you dont have to worry about if it was stolen or not.

[csxengineer98]

im looking for a B&O dwarf CPL signal...he have any of them...and how much
csx engineer

[MP57313]

The vendor was based out of San Bernardino County somewhere; I don't think he had any midwest or east coast items. CSX does have some CPL remnants (not dwarfs) piled up near the maintenance shelters at the Point of Rocks, MD wye. Maybe you could get something from there...