Saturday, October 3, 2020
Online Auction Begins at 10 AM Eastern
Rail & Road auctions are proud to present an October sale filled with high-quality Railroadiana. This auction will include 360 lots of builders’ plates, lanterns, china, locks and keys, posters, ticket dater dies, signs, paper, and more. Highlights include:
- Original Milwaukee Road Hiawatha cast aluminum Indian passenger car emblem
- Milwaukee Road Peacock pattern china
- Chicago North Shore and Milwaukee ticket case
- Original GP-9 locomotive designation sign
- American Railway Express metal sign
- Kansas City Southern Caboose Marker Lamp
- New York Central – Jackson, MI ticket dater die
- Large metal New York Central System trailer/auto rack sign
The last 100 lots of the sale will feature the Historic Railroad Pass Collection of William Larrabee.
For more information, please email us at RARauctions@gmail.com or call 765-588-3400.
The Historic Railroad Pass Collection of William Larrabee
Rail & Road Auctions is proud to announce the addition of the historical railroad pass collection of William Larrabee to our October 3. 2020 Railroadiana sale. This one of a kind collection includes nearly 100 railroad passes and historical documents from the 1870’s and 1880’s
William Larrabee was an Iowa politician best known for his service as the 13th Governor of Iowa from 1886 to 1890. Before his Governorship, he was a well-known Iowa businessman, Iowa senator, and served on the board of the Iowa Eastern Railroad. It was this board position along with his desire to work closely with the railroads which led to his extensive railroad travel in the late 1870’s. He accumulated nearly 100 annual passes from railroads both standard and narrow gauge all over the Midwest.
During his two terms as Governor, Larrabee would champion railroad regulation including a very public battle with the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy. He would continue this work after his time as Governor, publishing the book, “The Railroad Question” in 1893.
Larrabee’s pass collection is a true snapshot of Midwest railroading in the late 1870’s. He traveled many standard and narrow-gauge lines throughout Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and other Eastern and Southern states. Some of these small railroads would be defunct within years of these passes being issued, others were absorbed into larger systems, and others would go on to become well known class one railroads that would survive well into the late 1900’s. We invite you to own a piece of railroad history by purchasing these passes from our October 3, 2020 sale.
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