By the Light of the Coal Oil Lamp

There is a lot of night in the northern winters . With no electricity , the coal oil lamp was the primary source of light , if you wanted to see anything before 8:00am and after 4:30pm .

The switch lamps used coal oil to ensure that trains could see if switches in the rail were open or closed along the route . Prismatic coloured glass amplified the signal's warning distance .. Part of Dad's section job was making sure the switch lamps were full and lens cleaned of soot , using coal oil itself to do the cleaning . He checked the lamps twice a day .

As well , because there were no flashlights ,  a coal oil lantern lit Dad's way at night on his freezing walk