Hello everyone
I picked up some wrenches this week and some of them have odd numbers and/or letters on them. They do not appear to be a normal marking for this type of wrench but I am not cmpletely sure. Do they have any significance? My thinking was it was an owner of the tools that marked them to identify the owner of the tool, but again, I have no idea.
In case it is hard to see from the pictures this is what the markings are:
1 - "M&STPRR"
2 - "762"
3 - "S 127"
4 - "LL"
"M&STPRR" would be a railroad marking, put there by the railroad. The others are forge marks often seen on those wrenches.
Minneapolis & St. Paul Railroad?
Thats actuall supposed to be "CM&STPRR"
from some research it looks like it is Chicago Milwaukee & St Paul
Some railroads liked to keep track of their tools, I suspect that the other numbers are toolroom numbers or such. LL is probably the fellow whose toolbox the wrench belonged in.....
(Lazy Larry's wrench.....)
The Milwaukee and St. Paul became the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad in 1874 and remained that way until the CM&StP went bankrupt in 1925 and was reorganized in 1928 as the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad Company ( commonly known as The Milwaukee Road). That might roughly date your wrench, assuming the marks were put on by the railroad and accurately reflect the name at the time.