PL. 11
Guard’s hand lamp from Tarrow station
1991.7.1
About 1920
Stamped "T.V.R." for the Tarrow Valley Railway
Brass, steel, glass
32 cm high including handle, 17 cm wide
Gift of Les Harker, 1991
Tarring Room (in The Branch Line, 1886 to 1958)
A guard used this lamp to signal to the driver: a turn of the inner drum showed red, green or plain light. It burned paraffin and was carried on every train on the branch line from Orwick to Tarrow.
The last passenger train left Tarrow on a Saturday in 1958. The guard, Frank Harker, took the lamp home “to keep it dry” and it sat in his shed for 33 years. His son Les gave it to the society in 1991, along with Frank’s cap and the final day’s ticket stub. All three are in the current exhibition.
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