Postby P&R Pete » Fri Dec 15, 2006 7:07 pm
Mitch, The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad. Morphed, later, into just the Reading Railroad. My interest is that it was the Reading that bought out the Bloomsburg and Sullivan Railroad, a short line that ran through Orangeville down in the valley.
Send me your address, you hobo.
Jon, this one I got off eBay.
Most of my stuff, 90%, I get from a local retired-guy who prowls flea markets and antique shops all over eastern Pennsylvania. He used to work at my hospital, and I stop by his place every so often to see what new stuff he's found and to shoot the shit. He buys some stuff in awful shape, dirty, cruddy, rusted, and as he calls it, "works them up". He's a freakin' wizard at his craft. I paid him $50 to clean up this P&R lantern, and it was a bargain. He really shined 'er up. It IS a beautiful piece of history to look at, hold, own. Those globes with cast letters are the shit, man. I guess I got this 'thing' with old glass. They are what makes a lantern. But this guy's a funny guy, he doesn't like to talk much about how he finds things, or his cleaning methods. I think he counts on this for a good part of his retirement income, and is protecting himself. Fine with me. The visits are fascinating, both for some of the amazing stuff he finds, and the history lessons I get with every visit. If I had the money, I'd have 3 times the stuff I have, for all he's shown me. He has guys that stop by to look at his stuff when they're passing through from out of state. I get to worrying that I'm missing things. LOL
