(now known) Horni 4 way 5 3/8” lenses

Picked up this little gem and thought it would look good out front. it’s a 4 way , all 5 3/8” amber corning lenses. trouble is i got know ideal who made or a year it was made. Any thoughts? only marking is HS 976 on the inside

Is this a railroad-related light at all? It looks like the typical thing that would be suspended over an intersection for caution without yield or stop signs…

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has the smaller 5 3/8 railroad lenses versus traffic lenses which is 8 3/8 or 12”. so i was thinking it’s railroad :flushed_face:

I’m not saying it isn’t, but there are very few railroad applications that would use a 4-way blinker, and none I can think of that would use one with amber lenses.

Do we have any “provenance” details that might point to how a railroad used it?

Bob, Do the RR lenses have Fresnel ribs to give concentrated focused light source? That might differentate between civilian traffic light verses RR? endmrw0613252106

From what I can see (it is very dark) the lens facing us has ‘traffic-light-style’ right-angle grid Fresnel ribs, not bulls-eye.

this what they look like 5 3/8”

Yes, but look at the other side…

That looks automotive traffic to me. Nothing about its design suggests railroad usage, imho.

With this in mind, you might have luck finding more about it by asking a community that specializes in old traffic lights. I have no doubts that such a community exists!

-El

SOMEWHERE, I have a RR lens given to me by a signal maintainer. When found, I’ll post a picture. Too, I might get results from the local light company who maintains the traffic signals. If luck there, that too will be pictured here. regards mike endmrw0616251434.

That type of lens is known as a Spredlight lens. It is designed to project a beam of light that is visible at a wider angle than an optical lens which has a smooth outer surface. They were very common in railroad service although the OP’s fixture is probably nor railroad related.
Mark Vinski

it is an early traffic signal :+1:t2:. horni from early 30’s

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