old locks how to ?

[Brother Paul]

First ( if this is advanced then pls delete)
i recently bought out a small lock smith shop of all there older locks and multiples of newer one @ a good price ,anyhow my question is how to approach picking the older Rail road locks is there special tools needed or am i being daft and should had picked it already ? maybe im being to careful not to destroy my picks ,,but im not sure , any info would be gr8ly appreciated

[unlisted]

Photos would help..

Also may be advanced, dependent on type of lock.

And unrelated PM inbound..

[Brother Paul]

[Solomon]

That's a lever lock. I don't think any of the commercially available lever padlock picks will work on that judging by the shape of the keyway, so you'd probably need to make a custom tensioner for it. Did you get any keys with it?

[Brother Paul]

That's a lever lock. I don't think any of the commercially available lever padlock picks will work on that judging by the shape of the keyway, so you'd probably need to make a custom tensioner for it. Did you get any keys with it?

some of them came with the keys and some did not , that is just one of 15 i got of that type

[Raymond]

This is a railroad lock. It has one lever and a VERY STIFF spring and a ward cut. Adlake may have been replaced by Klein but I am not certain about this. Keys are hard to come by as they are considered antiques.

[raimundo]

There are only a few keys to all those types, My brother works for the railroad, but I can tell you he won't get me any keys, Ive asked.

Most old railroad guys do have such keys around, at one time in the last millenium the blanks were available at reasonable prices, but now locksmiths are charging for them like they're made of platinum

But if you ask some of the older locksmiths, someone may know where the blanks can be purchased, if that happens, tell us about it.

As to picking it, you will have to make your own tools, use round wire and make L shape tip and handles, it may help to put some rubberbands around the lock and shackle to hold the shackle pressure back, I really don't know, I havent' picked one of these but Im familiar with the mechanism somewhat.

look for very stiff round wire, cold bend and don't mess with the tempering, and if you saw farmerfreaks little mirror tool for the schlage+ cylinder, such a tool might be effective in learning something about the inside, but as someone stated, the springs are strong and the mechanism is simple.

[vision688]

most major railroads switched to the sargent & greenleaf enviromental locks all the old adlakes locks were taken by railroad workers to keep as antiques

[M19SOORKB]

First ( if this is advanced then pls delete)
i recently bought out a small lock smith shop of all there older locks and multiples of newer one @ a good price ,anyhow my question is how to approach picking the older Rail road locks is there special tools needed or am i being daft and should had picked it already ? maybe im being to careful not to destroy my picks ,,but im not sure , any info would be gr8ly appreciated

I collect old Adlake railroad switch locks and keys. I have found that if you find a barrel key that fits the slot and the post inside the slot, there is a good chance that the key will open the lock. I have a Milwaukee Road Adlake key that will open Adlake switch locks for other railroads, meaning those old Adlake locks were not very secure locks. Almost all railroads today have thus gone with the very high security Sargent & Greenleaf Environmental locks, series 0881, I believe.

[unlisted]

First ( if this is advanced then pls delete)
i recently bought out a small lock smith shop of all there older locks and multiples of newer one @ a good price ,anyhow my question is how to approach picking the older Rail road locks is there special tools needed or am i being daft and should had picked it already ? maybe im being to careful not to destroy my picks ,,but im not sure , any info would be gr8ly appreciated

I collect old Adlake railroad switch locks and keys. I have found that if you find a barrel key that fits the slot and the post inside the slot, there is a good chance that the key will open the lock. I have a Milwaukee Road Adlake key that will open Adlake switch locks for other railroads, meaning those old Adlake locks were not very secure locks. Almost all railroads today have thus gone with the very high security Sargent & Greenleaf Environmental locks, series 0881, I believe.

Hey guys sorry for not responding earlier..

to Brother Paul- how have you come along with these? Managed to pick them yet?

to M19SOORKB- I collect those locks as well, also the ones from CN/CP rail. (Canada) I've found 2 of the skeleton keys for these main three (I collect) work on one another.. Just cannot recall which ones do- the other locks are packed up in storage. I've also got some of those newer rail road locks you speak of (S&G) and the two major Canadian rail companies are already phasing their use out and replacing them with Abloys.. It will be very interesting to see how they last considering the general working conditions and weather patterns up here..


Here is a photo:


(yes, they use a much larger abloy on the switch locks)

[raimundo]

back in the day when these locks were on switches all over the country, there were thousands of them keyed alike, and every brakeman and switchman had a set of the keys that probably covered most of them. those keys were probably not turned in when the locks were switched out for the 'environmental' padlocks.

Key collecting is a hobby that you can find on the internet, and there is likely a good trade in these keys and locks, dont forget to scour ebay also.

Antique stores often have a box of old keys, for furniture locks and even these. those shops are aware of whos the collector in their area.

[unlisted]

...Key collecting is a hobby that you can find on the internet, and there is likely a good trade in these keys and locks, dont forget to scour ebay also.

[raimundo]

very neat, I just use a big wooden box. throw locks and keys in it and seldom see what
is on the bottom.

[r_russo]

I have a lock box that i lost the key to, and my spare is inside the box (stupid, I know) and there are no locksmiths in my area. I have been trying to pick it all day with no luck. Could anyone help me with how to pick this type of lock? The picture I took was too big so here's a pic of the type of lock: http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&safe ... 1,s:0,i:75

[2octops]

there are no locksmiths in my area.

What area are you in?

You might want to consider starting your own topic instead of hijacking an existing one that has nothing to do with your situation.