A friend has an old brass tag that is 2 inches in diameter with a scalloped edge. There is a rectanguler hole at the top and one at the bottom. Just below the top hole inside a rectangular border is marked "Queen add Crescent Route". Below this in large capital letters it is marked "EXCESS" ,and superimposed on this the small word in capitals "LOCAL". Them below this and above the dottom hole is the number 1790. The Queen and Crescent Route was under the controle of the Southern from 1916 to 1926.I would like to know what the item is and if it falls into that time period. Thank you for any help, Rowland

-- Rowland S.J. Waylor (rwaylor@bellsouth.net), April 08, 2001

Answers

One correction on the Queen & Crescent Route. The Q&C was disbanded around the end of 1916. The Southern Railway System had majority control of two of the partners - the AGS and the CNO&TP, and minority interests in the NO&NE (I'm not sure of their interests in the A&V and VS&P). However they let the Q&C function somewhat autonomously during the early years of the Southern Railway System. During 1916, the British government leaned on the British stockholders of the NO&NE to sell out their interests in order to earn foreign exchange (presumably to help finance The Great War). When Southern had full control of NO&NE, they moved to disband the Q&C and more fully integrate the subsidiaries into the SRS.

The A&V and VS&P briefly recontituted themselves as "The Vicksburg Route" before falling under the auspices of the Yazoo & Mississippi Valley, and subsequently the IC.

-- Jack Wyatt (cjwyatt@bellsouth.net), April 08, 2001.

The item is a baggage tag, probably of pre-1900 origin. The Q&C went back to the 1890's, at least. The tag was in use before the railroads switcheed to cardboard tags. The "EXCESS" may indicate the bag was shipped on a train other that on which the bag's owner travelled.

-- Tom Underwood (tlunder@attglobal.net), April 09, 2001.

The Queen and Crescent Route was opened in March, 1880 with the completion of the Cincinnati Southern Railroad. Southern dropped use of the Queen and Crescent handle in January of 1917, but never gained title to the Cincinnati-Chattanooga line. Any item marked with the Queen and Crescent handle is pre-1917.

-- Alan Walker (awalker2002@comcast.net), November 27, 2003.

Baggage tags were paired and kept together via a small belt --- one went on your baggage with the belt when you checked your baggage with the baggage master at the railroad station at your point of origin & you received the other one to pick up your baggage at the baggage room or freight office/depot of the station at your destination.

-- George Deeming, Curator - Southern Museum (gdeeming@kennesaw.ga.us), May 25, 2004.