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Description
Antique Adams & Westlake ADLAKE Railroad Switch Lamp – Calistoga Depot, California – Southern Pacific Provenance
Outstanding early Adams & Westlake “ADLAKE Non-Sweating” railroad switch/signal lamp with local provenance to the historic Calistoga Depot in Napa Valley, California.
The top is embossed:
THE ADLAKE
NON-SWEATING
LAMP
CHICAGO
The lamp retains all four large bullseye/Fresnel glass lenses — two blue and two red — along with its removable Adams & Westlake kerosene font, burner and glass chimney.
CALISTOGA DEPOT PROVENANCE
I acquired this lamp directly from an elderly longtime Calistoga-area resident. According to the history he provided with it, the lamp came from the Calistoga railroad depot and had been in his family for decades.
He related that his grandfather acquired it at a Southern Pacific “Equipment Reduction” public sale in 1937, when equipment and other material from the Calistoga railroad storeroom were being sold off.
According to the same family history, his grandfather purchased several items at that sale, including this railroad lamp and a cigarette machine. The family retained the lamp until I acquired it locally.
The Calistoga Depot was built in 1868 as the northern terminus of the Napa Valley Railroad. The line ultimately became part of the Southern Pacific system, making the reported provenance historically consistent with the railroad history of the depot.
FEATURES
- Adams & Westlake / ADLAKE
- “The Adlake Non-Sweating Lamp – Chicago”
- Early 20th-century railroad switch/signal lamp
- Four large bullseye/Fresnel lenses
- Two blue and two red
- Removable Adams & Westlake kerosene font
- Burner assembly
- Glass chimney
- Original black-painted metal body
- Unrestored surface and patina
- Longstanding local provenance to the Calistoga Depot
- Reportedly removed/sold during a 1937 Southern Pacific equipment sale
CONDITION
Antique, unrestored condition with considerable authentic surface character from age and railroad use. The body exhibits oxidation, surface rust, scratches, paint loss, dust and general wear. The colored lenses remain installed, and the internal kerosene font, burner and chimney are present.
It has not been restored or repainted. Burner is untested. Please examine photographs closely for condition and completeness.
A particularly interesting piece of Calistoga, Napa Valley and California railroad history, made especially desirable by its specific local provenance and survival with all four colored lenses and its internal lighting apparatus.
