[RITSlist] Fwd: Please bring the wisdom of RITS to bear on identifying this CRI&P object

[Kobel, Karl]

Dick & Gregg,

I looks to me like a pattern for a sand mold. What the final part is I'm not sure, but I may be able to find out. It is strange that the letters aren't reversed, as they would be backward on the molded part, but it may be that they didn't have any reverse letters and just used what was available.


Karl

-----Original Message-----
From: ritslist-bounces at thunder.simpson.edu [mailto:ritslist-bounces at thunder.simpson.edu] On Behalf Of Dick Tinder
Sent: Thursday, April 24, 2008 7:26 AM
To: ritslist
Cc: gralcharb at netscape.net
Subject: [RITSlist] Fwd: Please bring the wisdom of RITS to bear on identifying this CRI&P object

List Ones,

You can see the ten images Gregg sent me at this URL:

        http://www.rits.org/CRIPThing/

Click on the thumbnails for larger images.

DT

Begin forwarded message:

> From: gralcharb at netscape.net
> Date: April 23, 2008 10:35:38 PM CDT
> To: tinder at simpson.edu
> Subject: Please bring the wisdom of RITS to bear on identifying
> this CRI&P object
>
> Hi Dick,
> I hope that the folks in RITS can help us identify an item that we
> believe was at one time associated with the Rock Island Line. My
> wife Stephanie bought the "thing" this week at a local antique/
> thrift shop here in Memphis, and neither we nor the shop staff know
> what it is or what role it may have played (if any) for the
> railroad. I'll spare you what would surely be a lengthy &
> cumbersome written description, and refer you instead to the
> attached photos.
>
> I believe that it was involved in some way with the Rock Island RR
> because of the letters "CRI&P" that are tacked to it, but I can't
> find a connection to the "4260-2" or to the "11-62-C" or to the
> crown & G logo. The circular, dome-shaped wooden piece on top is
> cracked from aging & drying, and where that piece meets the panel
> below it, there seems to be the remnants of a leather gasket of
> some sort. And in the depression on the top of that piece, the
> cylindrical red section looks as though it could have been the base
> of a pedestal that once supported a more noteworthy article. The
> dome itself has some circular scoring around it, but that must have
> been left over from its manufacture, as it's far too light to have
> been caused by wear in an operational setting.
>
> But the whole thing just doesn't seem to go together naturally, and
> I don't think that its overall construction is robust enough for it
> to have been in daily use on a railroad. My theory is that it was
> cobbled together from unrelated parts (some of which may actually
> have come from rolling stock, or a track-side structure, etc), and
> that it was designed for ceremonial use only - i.e., a centerpiece
> for an hors d'oeuvre table, a "trophy" for the top-performing
> workgroup, or a light-hearted and unique retirement award, etc.
>
> Please examine my photographs when you have some time, and let me
> know what the wizards of RITS think about our unusual object.
> Thanks !
> Gregg Charbonnet
> Memphis
>


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