I'm looking for an appropriate and useable oil can for a 1904 Porter locomotive.

I suspect the bronze ring, which measures 4-1/4 inches inside diameter and 1 inch deep, is for an oil can. The oil can in the photo doesn't fit properly because the handle is too low and the body interferes with the throttle.

I've been watching eBay but I honestly don't know what style to look for.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Dave

What about this style oil can?

For some reason I've become acutely interested in Porter locomotives as of late, and would like to know a bit more about this locomotive. What is it? Where is it? Operable or static?

Here is a photo of the Eagle oilers that an industrial supply house listed including dimensions. You need something that is 4" dia. or less and with a handle that begins at least an inch up from the bottom of the can. I have a few Eagle railroad oilers at the museum and I'll measure them when I get over there this afternoon.

I believe that can should look something like this:

Image from http://www.mainememory.net/artifact/10414/

The oil can was stored above the fire door to preheat the thick valve oil, before filling the hydrostatic lubricator. A pump oiler would be filled with machinery oil, which would not need preheating.

Jeff

his problem was the taller can hits the throttle, he needs a shorter can

He wasn't clear if it was the spout that hits or the an itself. Looks to me that the can is cocked sideways because the body is hitting the throttle rod.

A shorter valve oil can for the hydrostatic lubricator makes sense to me.

Thank you for the current comments.

Below are some dimension for the oil can which I originally posted.

The spout is about 14-1/2 inches long which would help to reach the eccentrics.
I haven't found any manufacturer's markings on it yet but it was copper color and somewhat similar to another I have, made by Eagle.

1900 Porter catalog says locomotives are furnished with tools including two screw-jacks, tallow and oil cans, monkey-wrench, flat wrenches to fit all bolts and nuts, steel and copper hammers, chisels, pinch-bar, poker, scraper and torch. These items all disappeared and I don't know exactly what they looked like.

A reprinted Davenport Repair Parts booklet, similar era, shows an "Engineers Oil Can" that is similar to the one I have shown.

The body is interfering with the throttle so I could separate the oil can at the soldered seam and shorten it. I could also possibly reform the handle to raise it up at the bottom. The spout seems to have sufficient clearance.

Who knows? Maybe the bronze ring was for the torch? The water glass lamp bolted to the other end of the shelf.

Dave

OK, just repeating a little. The can you show does not belong in the spot you put it. As you say, the engine had "tallow and oil" cans. So in the old days, "tallow" was heavy animal fat, used for steam oil, pre-superheat days. It would be solid at room temperature, and the only way to pour it into the lubricator would be to heat it first. It would be a stubby can that looked more like a pitcher.

The "oil" can would be for lubricating running gear. It would be lighter oil that would flow at outside temperatures, and that can could be on the tender, in a tool box, or even on the running board. It would not be kept hot, because it would a) burn, b) evaporate, or c) leak out through every little crack everywhere.

I've never had any problem keeping light oil warm on the backhead. Maybe I did it wrong all those years...

As a Porter enthusiast I agree that the bronze ring in question was intended to hold a tallow pot/heavy valve oil can as shown by jdelhaye and explained by softwerkslex.

Porter was known for retaining many "old-fashioned" design features like this for the sake of simplicity, as they expected many of their engines would be used in backwoods settings like mines or logging camps, and/or operated by men with limited railroad experience.

I don't think there's anything wrong with keeping light oil on the backhead, but the bronze ring was intended specifically for heavy oil.

-Philip Marshall

I imagine those old oils were more sensitive (and whale based?)

When I have a cheap oil can filled with common motor oil, it oozes. It seeps at the seams, and it seems like oil always drips out the nozzle (capillary action?).

My experience has been steam oil on the backhead, bearing oil in the tender.

If you read White's "American Locomotive", there is a section talking about how management was paranoid about wasting oil and the cost of lubricating oil. This is pre-petroleum.

Found a few catalogs, including this one, with a few variations of oil cans and tallow pots.

https://books.google.com/books?id=_3oAAAAAMAAJ&lpg=PA208&ots=geJddAfO91&dq=tallowpots%20locomotive%20OR%20railroad&pg=PA205#v=onepage&q&f=false

This catalog shows a similar locomotive on page 541. On page 215 are some headlights. Sure wish I could have ordered a No. 6 - 14 Inch Oil headlight, figure 8266C because I certainly spent a lot more than $30 to replicate one.