1981 >> February >> Me And The 143  

Me And The 143 (#9)
by Grant Salzman, NIA #1785

Reprinted from "INSULATORS - Crown Jewels of the Wire", February 1981, page 22

I am deeply indebted to so many nice people who have helped me put together the material for these articles, and I try to mention them all. So before I begin with the section on C.P.R. 143's, I want to thank someone who has given me invaluable assistance in the C.P.R. and Canadian Pacific areas, Mr. Mel Allen of Surrey, British Columbia. Mel has visited and corresponded with me, and I hope to visit him someday and get to see his glass. He collects 143's in even greater detail than I do!!


(Drawing is by Clay Salzman) 

At some point during the production of 143's it was decided to stop embossing "Canadian Pacific Ry Co" and begin using just "C.P.R.", perhaps just to save time and money. Some of the molds were "fresh" and made to be that way, but many others were conversions of C.N.R. molds. Incidentally, the use of the embossing "Standard" on many of these seems to be sort of a general marking, perhaps simply indicating that there was no inner skirt (like early Hemingrays). The use of "Standard" seemed to be an on-again, off-again thing that perhaps could be used by itself or in combination with any other name. In my listings I treat "Standard" as a subordinate name, and list it as the backside embossing if it is used in combination with some other name on the front. If, however, "Standard" is used by itself, I treat it as a front-side embossing. 

All C.P.R. 143's are in Mold Style #1-D, and lettering is always in the larger type face, with two or three periods. (Gauchi-McDonald types II or III only.) In all instances, the embossing that has two periods is 7/16 inches tall. Embossing with three periods is usually 1/2 inch tall. However, there are a couple of instances in which three-period types have the shorter letters, and these will be noted where appropriate. 

1.   

F -- C.P.R over a blot-out of a large C N R 

   

B -- "Standard" over a blot-out of a large C N R 

   

Aqua, SCA and light purple.

2.   

F -- "C.P.R" over a blot-out of a large C N R 

   

B -- "Standard" over a blot-out of Canadian Pacific Ry Co 

   

Aqua, SCA and light purple. 

3.   

F -- "C.P.R" (7/16 inch letters)

   

B -- Blot-out of Canadian Pacific Ry Co 

   

Aqua, light blue, SCA and light purple. 

4.   

F -- "C.P.R. (7/16 inch letters) 

   

B -- Horizontal dashes over what appears to be a blot-out of a large C N R 

   

Aqua, SCA and light purple. 

5.   

F -- "C.P.R." (112 inch letters)

   

B -- Horizontal dashes--looks like it could be a blot-out.

   

Aqua, SCA and light purple. 

6.   

F -- C.P.R.

   

B -- Standard 

   

Aqua, SCA and light purple. 

7.   

F -- C.P.R. 

   

B -- Blot-out of a large C N R 

   

Aqua, SCA. 

Note the uniformity of color varieties! This would indicate to me a greater attention to quality control, more modern production, and perhaps even molds that were not used over a long period of time. This same pattern was true for G.P.R. varieties, which we will discuss soon. 

Prices: Like the C.N.R. aquas, the C.P.R. aquas are not really easy to find. The SCA's are even more desirable, and the light blues and light purples are tough.



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