Help date an old Yale lock I found?

Andyjon100

Hello everybody! I’m new to the forum (obviously). I found you while trying to research an old lock and some old keys I found in a wall during the remodel of my house. I posted the keys in the “keys” forum, and here’s the lock. I would love to find a key for it. Can anyone date it or give me more information on it?
Thank You!
Andy

Pschiffe

Andyjon100 wrote
Hello everybody! I’m new to the forum (obviously). I found you while trying to research an old lock and some old keys I found in a wall during the remodel of my house. I posted the keys in the “keys” forum, and here’s the lock. I would love to find a key for it. Can anyone date it or give me more information on it?
Thank You!
Andy

The logo on your padlock is said to have been in use from 1910-1959.* I have Yale catalogs from 1929 and 1940 and don’t see anything exactly like your image. There was the No. 650 found in the 1929 catalog which is quite similar but yours appears to have a wrought brass case whereas the 650 is steel, see thumbnail attached.

*Historical Research Series #19, May 1987 by Thomas F. Hennessy

Pete Schifferli

[unknown]

Andyjon100

Thank you for the information. A friend of mine said it could be an old railroad lock. Is it possible, even though it’s not marked as such? I thought it could be possible because the area I live in was mostly built and inhabited by railroad workers from the 1880’s until probably the late ’50s. It is called “Iron Island” because it is entirely surrounded by railroad tracks. There were large rail yards nearby, and one of the largest stockyards in the northeast just a stone’s throw from here, as well as the old N.Y. Central Terminal. The lower plate of my 1898 house is made of railroad ties, and the subflooring is wooden boxcar side planks. You can see remnants of the logos from the crawlspace. There are steel “beams” spanning brick piers under the crawlspace portion of the house that are actual rails! The way it’s built makes remodeling verrrrrry difficult!

peerless

There is no way to say with certainty if it was used by a railroad, or if it was, what it was used on. One thing though is the chain attachment was rarely ever used by homeowners. The reason being the chain option added several cents to each padlock - a fair amount of money in those days. The chain was specified for industrial applications where the lock might have had the chance to “grow legs and walk away” once unlocked from the hasp it secured. So in the myriad of things railroads needed to keep locked, it could have been used by one.

Finding a working key would be an excercise in futility, one could always be made by a skilled locksmith, however the cost would sadly exceed the cost of the padlock.

It is neat though, thanks for sharing!

Andyjon100

I appreciate the help! ! I’m going to keep it in a display I’ve made of “treasures” I’ve found while doing various projects on the house along with photos I’ve taken . Another part of the history/mystery of the old place!