General Information

Serial #

N/A

Part Number

1

Total Parts

1

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

Metal sign

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

30.0 cm

Width

12.2 cm

Height

N/A

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Railway Transportation

Category

Miscellaneous

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Unknown

Country

Unknown

State/Province

Unknown

City

Unknown

Context

Country

Unknown

State/Province

Unknown

Period

Unknown

Canada

Builders’ plates are the “birth certificates” (Steuernagel, 1988)* of the locomotive. No matter what physical chances and renumbering occur during its operational life, the builders’ plate remains unchanged indicating the manufacturer, location, and builder’s serial number for the locomotive. The static nature of the builders’ plates means that they tend to be more important for research and proper identification of locomotives because locomotive builders’ rosters are listed by serial number and not by customer roster number. However, the customer roster number is also used extensively by railway historians as a means of identification and in many cases number plates served as a promotional piece for the locomotive purchaser. Name plates are part of earlier versions of the builders’ plates where the name of the manufacturer was separated from the location of manufacture and the serial number of the locomotive. The name plates offered represent some of the early manufacturers of locomotives in North America. Although the name plates are separated from the rest of the builders’ plates, they still acts as collection tools which document 19th century steam locomotive manufacturers. (From "Canadian Context/Historical Significance" section in Acquisition Proposal, p.12) (*Could not find reference listed in Proposal.)

Function

A sign to warn/inform passengers on a train that they are not permitted in a particular car.

Technical

The builder and locomotive plates artifacts in the collection document the existence of various companies that sold locomotives in this country, which are otherwise undocumented in our collection. (From "Technical Significance" section of Acquisition Proposal, p.12)

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

On proper front: "PASSENGERS/ ARE NOT ALLOWED/ IN THIS CAR"/ On proper back, scratched into the surface, apparently by hand: "MICH CENTRAL"/ There appear to be other similar markings on the proper back, however they are faint and partially obscured by soiling.

Missing

Appears complete

Finish

Metal sign, generally brownish in appearance, with raised markings and border on the proper front.

Decoration

N/A