I've done some research on who made the Vicksburg & Meridian (V&M) railroad wrench I found, and reported on, July 13, 2011.  First, the wrench was a Stillson design without any attributions. Second, the railroad only existed for 22 years, 1867 to 1889, a brief period.  Third, the railroad operated in the Deep South during the Reconstruction Era. Fourth, Mississippi was largely agricultural at that time. So who made the wrench? 

I believe the wrench was probably made by Walworth Manufacturing Company of Boston, Massachusetts.  Caleb C. Walworth owned the Stillson Patent by the time the August 8 1882 patent was issued for the 10" wrench pictured. A comparison of the size numbers for the 10" 1882 Stillson patent wrench made by Walworth and for the 14" V&M Stillson style wrench shows their virtual identity. I believe they are too close in style to be just a coincidence.

A final question. Why wasn't the manufacturer's name placed on this wrench?

Surely Walworth did some contract manufacturing. Otherwise, someone else copied the wrench almost exactly, notice the difference in  the "bolster".

Here is a later Walworth Stillson with a bolster identical to that of the V&M wrench.

>Why wasn't the manufacturer's name placed on this wrench?

Perhaps Northern companies weren't all that popular in the deep south just then?

I have seen that handle ferrule type design somewhere tho...I remember thinking it was odd..

>Mississippi was largely agricultural at that time...

They probably weren't making locomotives either.....

The guage of the railroad , if you can find it, may be meaningfull. Why? because in that era, some stuff was still being imported (eg locomotives and rolling stock), and the tools perhaps went along for the ride....

Here is a corporate record from the history of the Vermont & Massachusetts railroad. Was this the "V&M" stamped on my Massachusetts-made wrench? It would make more sense, given proximity of that railroad to the manufacturer and the fact that I found the wrench in a barn in PA. Tools travel, to be sure, but not generally from New England to the Deep South and back again to PA, do they?  And the Vermont & Massachusetts was still in business in 1923.  As a matter of fact, as a boy I traveled on the V&M tracks when I used to ride the Greenfield-Troy line back and forth to school.

What do you think?

  10.
      1903   Annual report of the directors of the Fitchburg Railroad Company to the ...
     
      May 1, 1903 - 3. To see if the Stockholders will authorize the Directors to request the Vermont and Massachusetts Railroad Company, pursuant to the terms of the lease of the Vermont and Massachusetts Railroad Company to the Fitchburg Railroad Company, to issue its bonds to ...3. To see if the Stockholders will authorize the Directors to request the Vermont and Massachusetts Railroad Company, pursuant to the terms of the lease of the Vermont and Massachusetts Railroad Company to the Fitchburg Railroad Company, to issue its bonds to an amount not exceeding seven hundred and seventy -two thousand dollars ($772000) to provide means for payment in part of bonds of the Vermont and Massachusetts Railroad Company, which mature May 1, 1903, and ...
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The Vermont and Massachusetts Railroad Company was incorporated by the Mass legislature in 1844.

They appear to have gotten off to a slow start, in 1845 the legislature is  threatening to terminate their incorporation if they do not complete their road to either Baldwinville or Athol in the next three years

They did in fact complete to Baldwinville by 1848, just in the nick of time ; P

By 1853 the legislature was authorizing them to mortgage the railroad assets to pay down the bonds..not a good sign..
(But typical, most railroads back then overspent their capitol constructing roads, more went broke than made it)

By the 1870's the V&M seems to be mostly road, leasing it's roadway to other operating companies, like the Rutland, and  Ma Northern, The relation with Fitchburg is more complex tho, there seems to be a bond exchange, perhaps to help finance the V&M out of trouble.

In 1874 the Fitchburg obtains a 999 year lease on V&M road, at this point, for all practical purposes, the V&M is a land holding company.

By 1913 Fitchburg is operated by B&M , everybody is on the path towards the eventual consolidation of the Boston & Maine...

The complication , for your wrench, is that I can't see that V&M had any actual rolling stock , other than construction equipment...(Which the wrench could, of course, be part of, but that would make it much more rare than general maintainance tools)

PS: Just be be obtuse, there was also  the Versailles & Midway RR....(Versailles-Georgetown-Midway, KY)

Rusty:

The V&M wrench is rare. Has anybody else got one in their collection, or even seen one?

Bob W.

This site gives more information on the Vermont & Massachusetts Railroad.  It continued to operate as an independent line until 1880 according to this record.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Vermont_railroads