Railroad pin?

[halfdime]

Found today in my neighbor's yard. Is it really 1916, or does that date mean something else? Somebody knows what this is all about!

 

[GpSnoopy]

I believe the MCBA refers to the Master Car Builder's Association. They held yearly conventions and that may be what the year represents. Not finding anything concrete, though. Vague references to them merging or becoming the American Railroad Association in 1918. Quite a few large books with their name in the 1870's and up to 1916 available on amazon and ebooks.

 

[halfdime]

I did find something indicating that the organization started in Altoona, PA in 1867.

 

[GpSnoopy]

Trying to download this ebook. Seems to confirm the fact that they had conventions, which could explain why a pin with a year.

Edit, this ebook was not available, but I did find that 1916 would have been the 50th annual convention. That correlates pretty close to the timeframe of it's start that halfdime found.

 

[daroofa]

FWIW, the 1916 convention was in Atlantic City.

http://books.google.com/books?id=ca...ce=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

[halfdime]

FWIW, the 1916 convention was in Atlantic City.

http://books.google.com/books?id=ca...ce=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

Thanks!