A&S to auction 65-year collection of railroad, Old West antiques March 10-11 in Waco, Texas A remarkable 2,000-pc. collection of 19th/early 20th C. railroad antiques amassed over a 65-year period will be auctioned March 10-11 in Waco, TX. Its owner worked for Union Pacific for 40+ years.
Pacific on the other. Franks explained that the sign would be flipped over when a train crossed a state line where one or the other of the companies had jurisdiction.
A vast array of railroad tableware incorporates 200-300 pieces of marked china, including a rare dinner plate for the Great Northern Iron Mountain Route’s Sunshine Special, estimate $2,000-$3,000. Other railroad china comes from Missouri Pacific (including service plates), Texas Pacific, MKT, NY Central, Union Pacific and Southern Pacific. Additionally, there is a large assortment of blue china in B&O’s historical pattern.
Other food service goods include silver flatware and covered wares marked for dining cars or railroad companies; table linens, 65 railroad-marked sugar tongs, 2-cup pitchers for tea or coffee, creamers, sugar bowls, covered bowls, carafes, pedestaled dessert dishes, and salt and pepper sets.
Every train had a galley where beverages and other liquids were stored in crocks. One- and 2-gallon examples marked with railroad names are part of the Gay collection, as are more than 100 crocks marked for brands of whiskey and other alcoholic beverages; saloons and taverns.
“Right now, whiskey crocks are one of the hottest tickets in the auction market,” said Franks. “Mr. Gay’s crocks are marked with the name of a person or company, and also, in many cases, the location where the whiskey was distilled. They represent old-time whiskey companies from Texas all the way up to New York. We think collectors are going to really get excited when they see this selection.”
Many items kept train passengers occupied on long journeys of a century ago, and nearly all were marked with the names of particular railroads. Among the convenience articles to be auctioned are ashtrays, playing cards (some with an African-American theme), dozens of paper hand fans with advertising, blankets and numerous cast-iron footstools that ladies and children would step onto when boarding a train.
Manly metal from the steam-train era will be front and center on auction day, with such contents as railroad-branded locomotive engine bells, spittoons, and brass railroad locks and keys; plus an extremely rare cast-iron stove made by Hart Mfg. of Louisville, Ky., and embossed with the word “Caboose.” Auctioneer Franks, who has handled numerous railroad items over the years, said it is the first of its type he has ever seen.
Framed decorative artworks from train stations of a bygone era are led by a spectacular panoramic, shadowboxed wildlife photo titled “An Elk Lodge in the Jackson Hole Country Reached via the Union Pacific System.” Measuring 48 inches wide by 12 inches high, the circa-1920s picture was taken on the Steven N. Leek resort lodge and ranch, an elk refuge in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. Leek’s Lodge, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was destroyed by fire in 1998.
The auction offering contains many other desirable railroad mementos, such as caps from conductors, inspectors and engineers; railroad passes, railroad station thermometers that advertise train lines and various products, and 75-80 pieces of railroad-marked
