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The volunteers of the restored Race Point Lighthouse, located on a remote section at the end of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, have unearthed a relic of another era. But, they don’t know what it is.
The fact that they located the relic in the first place is a story unto itself. One day after a storm shifted some sand on the beach, a tiny section peaked up. With shovels in hand, Jim Walker, chairman of the Cape Cod Chapter of the American Lighthouse Foundation, along with two of his sons, his wife and John and Lisa Simmons, spent some back-breaking hours digging it out and then, with chains and a four wheel drive vehicle, pulled it out and to the lighthouse.
One thing is for certain, it is too heavy to have at one time washed up on the shore. It was just left there many years ago. But no one seems to know what it is or what it was used for.
It has 4 small narrow gauge railroad-type wheels with a fifth small wheel that goes up and down, perhaps driven by a brass cylinder at one end. They do know it was not a coal cart. It has a winch inside.
Was there at one time a narrow gauge rail system used at the lighthouse? If so, there are no photographs known to exist showing the system. How did it get there? What was it used for? If any of our readers have any ideas, Jim Walker would love to hear from you by e-mailing him at JimWalker0100@comcast.com.
This story appeared in the
May 2010 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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