One More Off The Wish List, a Denver & Rio Grand Railway Padlock!

[curbdiggercarl57]

The bottle digging sites have temporarily dried up, so it was off to do some plain old detecting.
About half an hour at the first site, this lovely item surfaced. Actually, most of it was exposed, and I
initially thought it was a common 6-Lever padlock. When I rubbed off the dirt, the first thing I read
was the word "train". Boy did that get the old heart pumping! It reads "D&R.G. RY Co., Train Box".
Contacted the owner of a railroad padlock site online, and was told it was produced from 1876-1902.
Didn't think to ask what the train box aspect meant, any help would be appreciated.
Did a light cleaning, and sprayed some gun oil on it, she's a little beat up, but I love her!
The second site I hit i managed 13 Wheaties, and one 1888 Indian. (The silver seems to be eluding me lately)
Enjoy!
Carl

 

[vpnavy]

 

[treblehunter]

Box car? I don't know just a thought. That is a really cool find, wouldn't they love that on American Pickers?

 

[arrowhead82]

wow, great find! Isn't that an awesome feeling when you can cross something off your list?
HH

 

[racer117]

That is a great find. Showcase material for sure!

 

[racer117]

Box car? I don't know just a thought. That is a really cool find, wouldn't they love that on American Pickers?

The pickers would love that , but I would love to find one of those under my coil.

 

[PikesPeakCharlie]

Carl ,CONGRATS !!!! Sweet lock !!!! I dug up the heart shaped version a few years ago.

 

[PikesPeakCharlie]

OH ,and I'm putting my vote in "BANNER" !!!!

 

[Valley Ranger]

Love it.

 

[63bkpkr]

A very unique looking lock and for sure a display piece. Those old locks were made ornate and look much nicer than modern locks.............63bkpkr

 

[curbdiggercarl57]

The pickers would love that , but I would love to find one of those under my coil.

Thanks for the banner vote! I'm still hoping for one of the heart shaped padlocks, I have to go back to the site and do some serious digging.
Carl

 

[g-olden years]

Groovy lock, & congrats on the wheaties and old Indian cent! Andi

 

[DiggerDave in Pa.]

That's a nice one! Thanks for sharing! DDinPA.

 

[Lloydd]

Great find Carl! I am in Denver and went out with John a week ago today. He said to watch for locks, but they evaded us. Got onto a nearby yard and found 12 wheaties but no silver. Will try to attend meeting this week. Oops Meeting is next week and we leave for home that morning guess I will miss you! HH Lloyd

 

[seychik]

Boys and Trains!!!
Like the Indian, and who needs silver when you are finding train locks! Congrats Carl.
Cindy

 

[curbdiggercarl57]

Thanks all! I finally finished soaking and scrapping the padlock.
Had an old, and I mean old, can of Liquid Wrench that I used to remove most of the iron,
but sadly it discolored the brass. Had to take off more of the patina that I wanted to.
Here is a photo of the end result.
Still need to do more research, I'm assuming that a train box was where they kept tools,
but need to get an definitive answer.
Carl