Darley 4-Way Beacon  

MFR:  W.S. Darley
Make:  4-Way Single Section Beacon 
Years Made:  1910's-1920's
Estimated Year:  1920's

Lense Size:  8"
Orig City:  Unknown, Possibly Midwestern Plains
Orig Color:  Unknown/Green
Orig Configuration:  Single Section Beacon  
Orig Visors:  Cutaway
Orig Lenses: Two Red Darley Lenses, 2 Missing
Orig Reflectors: Probably, but Missing

Current Color:  Rust-Oleum Army Green
Current Configuration:  Single Section Beacon
Current Visors:  Cutaway
Current Lenses: Three Red Darley, One Orange Darley
Current Reflectors: None

Notes, Commentary, Restoration: 
Despite it's outwardly modern appearance this lamp is by far the oldest signaling device in the collection. These were only produced for a short period of time in the early 1900's by the W. S. Darley company of Chicago, Illinois. A company which, to this day, remains an independent manufacturer and distributor of municipal equipment located in the Chicago area. Little has changed over the years though their current and historically largest focus has been on manufacturing firefighting apparatus.

This lamp is a single section, 4-way beacon. Lamp, as it is called, because unlike modern conventions there is only a single light bulb responsible for illuminating all four faces.


When I received this lamp it was in respectable condition, for its age. The bottom plate was cracked with a corresponding side also having a section missing - quite typical for low-hanging lights that meet up with tall trailers. Nearly all the paint was long gone, only a few faded flakes of an earthy green remained. Very few screws were "frozen", most removed with little effort, or simply dissolved away. Most surprisingly, two original red lenses remained with this signal and were in like-new condition. As with most of these signals, there were some voids and rough spots to the body, aluminum casting was not up to the standards of today. One porthole had an "ear" broken, and several had holes drilled either in the porthole face or the visor hoods, and the typical stress fracture near the visor-porthole interface. Interestingly, the original lamp socket was not wired up when I received it. Someone had chosen to replace it with a Southern-Autoflow style lamp socket with Iron-Lead wiring. 

There were no reflectors with this light, and here is where many disagree on the history. It is believed the earliest of these beacons were not configured for holding lamp reflectors, a single bulb was all that was required. Later models are known to have reflectors mounted to the porthole-lens assembly with a corresponding cutout at the lamp's height. Sadly, in later years many cities still using this style of light removed or discarded the reflectors completely. Such was the cost of progress, in the years from the 1920's to the 1940's light bulbs grew brighter, but also shorter. The "neck" went from the Edison longneck style down to the modern stubby bulbs we use today meaning that the bulbs no longer lined up with the reflector holes.

Restoration went quite quickly and smoothly compared to many modern lights out there in "good" condition. The biggest concern was how to replace the bottom plate. In its current state it was not structurally holding the signal together. With no replacement parts available the bottom plate was kept, with an internal steel sheet added. The steel sheet was used to stitch the two halves of the plate back together, held in place with rivets. The joints and some large scars were puttied and sanded - the entire body was not done this way as the effect was to preserve the original castings, crude and all. While the bottom plate was being reworked, a wooden block was carved down to match the missing side section. After some test-fitting it was permanently attached to the bottom plate. The rest of the reassembly went smoothly, the lens mounting tab holes were re-tapped and two more Darley style lenses, one red and one orange, were installed. Modern nylon rope was used in place of the long-gone asbestos rope gaskets. From inside the signal the body seams were filled with opaque caulk to prevent light leakage. This was used in place of the glazing putty which was used throughout all the seams during its original manufacture.


Photographic Records: 
Before


After

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This page was last modified on 04 September 2006.