Antique E.T. Fraim Railway Lock with key - working

I have always liked old locks. Mixing old industry with hand-made brass gears and tumblers with railroads... well, that just makes my heart skip... Dating these is sometimes difficult without a date stamp, but luckily, these old locks had their details engraved on the obverse of the shackle. But I'll get into the manufacturer's history, shortly. First, a little railroad lock history...

Historically, for railroads, security has always been of utmost importance. Even a single switch thrown the wrong way can lead to catastrophic consequences. As such, railroads always took great care in ensuring their locking mechanisms were sufficiently secure to deter theft and hooliganism to their signals and tracks. The pieces had to be robust enough to deal with heavy industry and all weather conditions, and would have to be universal, so any employee could unlock any of the locks along the route (assuming they had the right key). This particular lock is a signal lock - it guarded the controls for an interlock system. In North America, there are a set of signaling appliances and tracks interlocked together, sometimes referred to as an interlocking plant. These systems are designed to prevent cars from accessing tracks to which they are not meant. If a route is to be diverged or a track changed, switches would be changed prior to the signal, and without this sequence of events, a train would not be able to deviate from its course. It's basically traffic signals and gates, only for the railroad. Today, this is mostly controlled electronically, but in the first half of the 20th century and prior, physical switches and signals controlled the railroads. Their importance were such that these controls were always under lock and key. This lock was used to lock a railway signal station run by the General Railway Signal Company. Sometimes referred to as GRS, it was one of the largest companies in the US. Founded in Rochester, NY in 1904 through the merger of three separate companies, it was one of only 30 stocks listed when the Dow Jones Industrial Average was expanded from 20, in 1928. GRS trusted E.T. Fraim, one of the most storied and well-reputed railway lock manufacturers in the US, to guard their systems. E.T. Fraim Lock Company (originally known as the Keystone Lock Works) was founded in 1879 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania by three brothers - Edward T. Fraim, Parker K. Fraim and Miller W. Fraim - and quickly grew to one of the largest manufacturer of locks in the country. In around 1890, Parker and Miller departed to start their own ventures, but Edward remained to keep the burgeoning business going. At one point, it was claimed that Fraim was the single largest manufacturer of locks under one roof, in the world! In 1917, Edward passed and his sons Samuel and Walter stepped in to run the company. In 1920, Samuel bought out Walter and went on to run the business alone. However, in a cunning act of skullduggery, Walter bought a major interest in Slaymaker Lock Co, and formed Fraim-Slaymaker Hardware Co. This was in direct competition with brother Samuel's company! It made no difference, however, as Samuel's business far outpaced his malevolent brother's. Samuel's oldest son Samuel E. joined Fraim in his father's business and Edward T. Fraim II followed, in 1933. The lock company ended in the late 50s, when it was sold to the Safe Lock & Hardware Company, also of Lancaster.

Our brass lock, although simple, is fairly rare and immensely important. Made in 1922, of brass to withstand the elements, it guarded GRS signals from unscrupulous individuals. It had only 3 keys made to ensure there were a limited number of keepers who could change the signals. It is in very good condition and shows over a century of history under that well-earned patina. The lock works, but is a tad finicky when it comes to unlocking (it could use a jiggle or two to pop open). Nonetheless, with original #3 key intact, it is a beautiful piece of American Railway history.
Luckily, our beautiful lock is more than 100 years old and is thus exempt from duty, for our American clients!

As always, should you have any questions, please feel free to drop me a line. I'm always happy to oblige requests.
Thank you for visiting C&K!