About Key, Lock & Lantern

In the Spring Of 1966, Paul Pietrak of North Boston, New York concluded that there should be a publication for railroad hardware collectors. He named it "Key, Lock & Lantern". The first issue was a single sheet (two sides) numbered Issue "0" which was distributed free to test the market. Paul then produced eight additional quarterly issues before turning over the Editorship in the Spring of 1968 to Walter L. George of Commerce, Texas (later Independence, Missouri). Walter put out another nine issues before determining in the Spring of 197O that he did not have the time to continue in this capacity.

Bill Lindblom then became Editor. Bill was a printer by trade and for the first time "Key, Lock and Lantern" was printed, not mimeographed. Bill's reign as Editor lasted until his untimely death on May 4, 1975. At that point, the publication went into a coma for awhile, although Forbes Hauptman put out a single sheet issue to inform people of Bill's death.

Many thought this was the end of "Key Lock and Lantern", but one person was adamant that it not die. That person was Joe Gross. One could either say that he was a catalyst or a pest, but he convinced several of his follow collectors in the Rochester, New York, area to get involved and re-start publication. Cajoled into the Editor's position was Pete Gores. Coaxed into being business manager was Dick Barrett. Joe continued to handle the ads as he had under Bill Lindblom. Others who Joe coaxed into helping were Jim Crosby who did all our photo work, and Will Seaver who handled sales of back issues. Pete became more than just Editor. He became a non-employee worker at his friend Henry Pape's print shop (H.P. Press) and did much of the work to actually get the issues through the printing process. Pete continued as Editor until the Spring of 1977. Succeeding him was Hugh Guillaume who only put out two issues before being succeeded by Jim Crosby. Jim's excellent photographic work was a real plus for "Key Lock and Lantern".

As the quality of the Issues got better, the number of subscribers increased from 325 in 1975 to 600 in 1979 when Jim turned over the Editorship to Dick Barrett. Dick produced the first folded and stapled issue transforming "KL&L" from a newsletter to a magazine. By the the Spring of 1984 when Dick relinquished the Editorship, "KL&L" was up to 980 members.

From the time "KL&L" came to Rochester in 1975 until 1982, "KL&L" was published by Joseph Gross and Dick Barrett who operated it as if it were a non-profit organization. In 1982 the Board of Regents of the State of New York granted a charter as a non-profit educational corporation to the National Association of Railroadiana Collectors which succeeded Joe and Dick as publishers of "KL&L". At that point all "KL&L" subscribers became members of N.A.R.C., a Board of Trustees was set up, and officers were elected. The founding Board of Trustees/Officers consisted of Samuel A. Ferrara, President; Joel R. Shaw, Vice President-Membership; Joseph Gross, Vice President-Public Relations; Dick Barrett, Secretary; Cal Bulman, Treasurer; Bob Burnside; Jeff Baxter; and Peter Gores.

In 1988 the Trustees re-incorporated the organization in New Jersey as Key, Lock & Lantern, Incorporated. With this new incorporation we became a non-profit membership corporation, as opposed to the former N.A.R.C. which was a non-profit educational corporation. The new organization is easier to maintain but does not have quite the range of prestige and opportunity that the old organization had.

In the Spring of 1984 Dick Barrett stepped down as Editor after 20 issues, and Sam Ferrara and Joel R. Shaw became Co-Editors of the magazine. Joel and Sam, working together, put out another 20 issues before turning over the Editorship to Gerry Geisler in the Spring of 1989. Gerry put out 12 issues before running into severe time constraints in his schedule which forced "KL&L" to take a back seat. The Board of Trustees, concerned that the organization was suffering a significant impact from the irregular schedule of publication, sought out a new (or perhaps we should say "old") Editor and drafted Dick Barrett for the job. By the time Dick took over in the Spring of 1994 membership had fallen to less than 350 members. Dick immediately set up a firm schedule for the publication, made some improvements in size and quality to the magazine, and witnessed a regrowth in the size of the organization. Today, Pat and Sam Lombardi are continuing to do a fine job as Editors and recently introduced color covers.

To help insure future growth, "KL&L" membership applications are now distributed at many of the best railroad museums and associated railroad-oriented gift shops. Our fine magazine "Key, Lock and Lantern" is also now sold over the counter in many of the leading railroad museum gift shops.

"Key, Lock & Lantern, Incorporated " is administered by a Board of Trustees from which the organizations officers are drawn. The current Board of Trustees and Officers are:

Chairman of the Board: John Brainard
President: David Hamilton
VP membership/treasurer: Marie Brainard
VP Public Relations: Patti Grey
Secretary: Sandra Shaw
General Council: Jeremy Tuke
Historian: Pete Gores
Editorship: Sam & Pat Lombardi

All of the people mentioned thus far have assisted in the success of "KL&L", but there are others who should be mentioned as well. Some that come to mind are Bob Briechle who has maintained our mailing list for many years, Phil Coffey who handles the back issues and reprint orders, and Carl Lang, Stanley Baker, and Tom Stranko who have been major contributors of photos and articles over the years. There are, of course, many others who have also helped us along the way. We thank them all for participating.

This is an organization of volunteers. Nothing happens until someone steps forward to make it happen. Our success is their success. Our ability to triumph over problems and obstacles is their triumph. We look forward to continued growth as an organization and hope to not only improve our ability to serve existing members but also to introduce others to the fascinating hobby of railroadiana collecting.

Design Copyright 2006 Key, Lock & Lantern Incorporated All Copyrights Apply